Tamaya Horse Rehab gala reminds community of horse needs

SANTA ANA PUEBLO — The Tamaya Horses will be taken care of during the winter months with the help of the Horseshoes & Heels Gala benefitting the Tamaya Horse Rehabilitation program at the stables Nov. 30 at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa on the Santa Ana Pueblo.

Connie Collis, Tamaya Horse Rehab operator and president, explained why the gala is so important.

“The horses that we rescue have been misunderstood in some way, shape or form. They’ve either been neglected, which that abuse comes in all forms. It can be that they can be fat and they can get treats all the time. It’s really strange, but the people don’t care for them. They don’t give them any boundaries, and then they become behavioral and then somebody calls you and says, ‘I don’t want this horse anymore,’” she said.

According to Collis, thousands of horses are abandoned each year. She attributes this to people overbreeding in their herds. She says people have too much pride and refuse to spay or neuter their horses.

Most of the time the neglect or abuse horses endure is not intentional but is harmful to them all the same. The rehab, which has been around for a decade, operates on an owner surrender system where they never discuss the type of neglect or abuse and just take care of the horse at the stable. They currently have almost 300 horses, all adult, in their care both at the stables and at some of their homes. However, they will have a foal on their hands soon as one horse came to them pregnant.

Those animals all need care, whether it’s hay, water, grooming or medical care. None of that comes free. Through most of the year, the stables get funds from their trail ride program, but in the colder months, riding doesn’t happen as much.

“This fundraiser that we’re going to have is a godsend to us because it gets us through the winter, when there isn’t much trail riding,” Collis said.

Caring for the horses can cost thousands of dollars a month at times.

“It costs almost $200 a month to feed a horse now, with alfalfa and supplements and grain. Horseshoeing is a $120 every six weeks. They get wormed, they get shots; if they need the veterinarian. The trail riding business, as I said, it’s a big fundraiser for the rescue side and in the winter time, which is November, December, January and February, that really falls off,” she said.

She has the sick horses at her home and the rest are at the stables. But the well horses are put to good use.

“We no longer adopt out except for on rare occasions. That’s not our thing. So what we want to do is have the rescue horses replace the old trail-riding horses. Now, we’re almost at a 100% rescue horses on the trail,” she said.

Collis recognizes the change in interest with being outdoors with animals in general, saying most people prefer to be inside on a screen.

“You didn’t used to hear that as much, especially when you lived in an area like this; you went outside and you gardened and you lived off the land and you had a horse in the backyard that maybe you rode around the neighborhood on, but now, there’s not as much of that, and and people are thriving by staying indoors and never going outside,” she said.

Despite those changing times, Collis prefers the outdoors.

“I think getting dirty and smelling like a horse is the best thing in the whole world, but not everybody does. One thing that we’re really trying to promote out here is the youth because it is going to die off,” she said while shaking her head.

She added that working with horses teaches young people what it means to work hard because everything done is to ensure the horse’s happiness and health are in tact. She also encourages youth to look into careers around animals.

Money isn’t the only struggle they face during the winter time either.

“We are a volunteer-based program, so lack of volunteers, the price of things going up, getting stuff in a timely manner, getting people to show up, horseshoers, the hay deliveries and the weather,” are all struggles in those months, Collis said.

The main thing is lack of income, though, and the income impacts all areas at the stables.

For Collis, the gala, the stables, the care and the beautiful location are owed to the horses.

“If you look at history and even now, horses have given us everything. They were our mode of transportation. They fought wars. They’re still fighting wars. They carried the mail. The first load of locomotive trains were pulled by horses. The width of the track is two horses’ butts; you even can look up a story about the first space shuttle is the size of two horses’ butts. The cars are horsepower. They’ve given us everything, you know?” she said. “And the thing about a horse is, it doesn’t matter how many times it’s been traded around or anything, it performs for that person that’s caring for them, and when they’re not cared for, they don’t understand.”

She added that horses also provide therapy for disabled people, veterans and kids. Similar to Loving Thunder in Rio Rancho, Tamaya Horse Rehab shares those services.

She says because of these services, horses deserve to have a decent life, and the fundraiser helps ensure that.

Besides horses, Collis and her team care for donkeys, mules, goats, sheep and chickens, all of which need care.

The fundraiser gala is filling up fast, so Collis advises people to get their tickets as soon as possible. What she needs most are donations both monetary and for the silent auction that will be held.

For information about the gala, donations and more, visit tamayahorserehab.com/events.