Spirit Horse Equine Rescue

07/08/2025

Here are the charges against Brenda Serstad as well as the date and time for her initial court appearance. I plan to attend.

If a "captcha" pops up, just click on it, and you can get to the page.

07/05/2025

Yup

07/04/2025

07/04/2025

Special thanks to Shaina Nijhawan for putting this story together. She has so much compassion for animals - it was great to work with her for over an hour!

There were two tie-ins with this current seizure that may not be clear as you watch.

First, there are many parallels between this case and the one in my new book , “The Wild Ones: Memories of a Horse Rescue”. It’s available on Amazon and proceeds help fund our efforts.

Secondly, the horses in the piece are ones that came to us years ago in two different seizures (one in Missouri, one near Beloit, WI). They are now giving back by being a part of Marcy’s two programs that help humans. The dun is Raya and the bay is Izzy. Marcy adopted them a few years ago 🩵

While officials have not released full details, Spirit Horse Equine Rescue and Education Center was contacted weeks ago to prepare for the possible seizure of horses.

07/02/2025

Here is the news release -

***** NEWS RELEASE/ANIMAL NEGLECT INVESTIGATION *****

On June 27, 2025, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office began investigating a report of abuse and neglect to animals at a property in the Town of Lewiston, Columbia County.

A Sheriff's Office Deputy with specialized training in animal welfare responded to the residence with detectives. While viewing the animals at the property with the homeowner, the deputy observed serious neglect issues and determined there was a need for immediate veterinary care for several of the animals.

A search warrant was obtained, and with the help of a team of veterinarians, 21 horses at the property were evaluated. Several horses were found to be suffering from severe medical issues. Three of the horses were found to be suffering and in need of immediate euthanasia. They were euthanized by the veterinarian. The remaining 18 horses were taken into the custody of the Sheriff's Office and removed from the property. These horses were placed with equine rescue organizations throughout southern Wisconsin. One dog, 11 chickens and a guinea hen were also removed from the property and are receiving proper care.

The homeowner, Brenda Serstad, age 65, was taken into custody by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office on June 27th. Brenda is expected to appear in Columbia County Circuit Court next week.

As a result of the investigation the Columbia County Sheriff's Office is requesting the following charges be issued by the Columbia County District Attorney's Office:

-Mistreating animals resulting in death, 3 counts - Felony
-Failure to provide proper food and drink to confined animals
-Disorderly conduct, 2 counts
-Battery, 2 counts
-Intimidation of a witness - Felony
-Abuse of individuals at risk, 3 counts
-Resist/obstruct an officer

This investigation is on-going, and additional charges are possible. As the investigation is on-going, no additional information will be released at this time.

The charges are merely an accusation of criminal conduct where probable cause existed for an arrest. The individual is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Captain David Clark

07/02/2025

Here is the photo from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department.
There is a press release also, but having trouble sharing that.
We can’t share anything else because it could jeopardize the case.
We’ll do so when we can.

07/01/2025

Home safe - all went well! Horses at foster site 🩵☺️🐴

07/01/2025

Sorry to be absent for a few days, but we’ve been working with law enforcement on a very disturbing case of neglect and abuse.

We’ve been working hard to find a place that can foster some of the seized horses. We’re ok for the short term, but may reach out for assistance when we know more.

We cannot reveal any details yet, but we will when we can.

Please hold positive thoughts as we travel to pick up these precious souls 💫🐴🩵

06/28/2025

An important reminder as we head into the celebrations!

06/27/2025

THIS IS REAL.

Time to "Feel the Feels". Please stay with me as I share this heartfelt post.

Mikayla Raines, founder of Save a Fox rescue, took her life last week. According to her husband, she was overwhelmed by cyberbullying.

I can wholeheartedly relate to this. People can be so incredibly mean. Over the 17 years I've run Spirit Horse, I've been falsely accused of so many things - by people I've never even met, people who don't know me at all, other people in horse rescue .... too many to list, really.

Why? I don't know. People advise me to "consider the source", and "ignore it, they're just jealous", "grow a thicker skin", "know that people who really know you know the truth". That last one is a lot of "knowing".

What to do about it? You can choose to: a) take the high road and ignore it, or b) try to counter the accusations with the truth...I've tried both and the first is incredibly difficult for me, while the second rarely works...it just gets uglier and uglier.

When I scrutinize every single post I make to look for possible ways it can be criticized ... that's exhausting.

Truth is, even a pin cushion has limits to the number of pins it can hold. Then what? Burn out - quit - escape permanently?

Finally, WHAT HELPS? Believe it or not, every kind comment, reaction, and share acts as an antidote to the negative stuff. It confirms that I'm on the right track and most people TRULY do know and appreciate that.

Rescue is fulfilling, heart-warming, wonderful, exhausting, devastating, and soul-crushing.

Please consider what you might be doing to celebrate the highs and elevate the lows.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

RIP Mikayla. May your loss not be in vain 🩵

06/26/2025

Who’s that clever boy? He’s actually my own Mountain Pleasure Horse, Red. I’ve had him since he was 3 years old - back in 1995! He’s well-versed in the Parelli 7 games - demonstrating the “squeeze game” here 🤗 Red was a trail horse extraordinaire and lesson horse - but he’s been retired for a few years now…. so that might qualify him for sanctuary!

To keep his weight up he gets an additional mid-day meal of soaked senior feed and a fat supplement. He hasn’t got much in the way of teeth anymore - so even time on grass can’t happen because he quids and could choke 😞

But he’s lively and happy and let’s himself into the barn if I’m not quick enough getting the gate open for him.

Notice all the mud behind the barn - we got 2” of rain overnight and we went from dusty as Tombstone, Arizona to a mucky mess. But we needed the moisture, so we’ll live with it 🫤

06/24/2025

How’s Hoss?
He took the loss of Little Joe pretty hard. He retreated within himself and became quite reactive to ordinary things, like feed being dumped in a bucket.

I gave him space and offered scratches - the shoulders are his itchiest spots.

He’s coming around now and connecting with me. He started greeting me with a shy nicker and yesterday offered a full-on whinny 🩵

Physically, he’s doing well - if a little plump. He’s a super easy-keeper, and should benefit from some groundwork exercise now that we can resume work on accepting the halter.