The Horse Shelter

The Horse Shelter The Horse Shelter is a 501c3 equine rescue located in Cerrillos, NM, with up to 80 horses onsite.

The mission of The Horse Shelter is to serve as a sanctuary for New Mexico’s abandoned, abused and neglected horses. Rescued horses will be rehabilitated and adopted out whenever possible to environments that support their well-being and future long term care. The Horse Shelter has between 75 and 80 horses on site and adopts up to 30 horses per year into new homes. We have an onsite trainer that helps our horses get ready to go to new homes.

One of the three new horses that have been added to our gang, bringing our numbers to 100 - a milestone that is sad as i...
08/11/2025

One of the three new horses that have been added to our gang, bringing our numbers to 100 - a milestone that is sad as it indicates there is still a world of hurt out there for equines.

This bay stallion, whom we have named Quentin, came off the Pajarito Mesa, and appears to be unhandled. Obviously there is a lack of sufficient grazing if this is what a young wild horse looks like at this time of the year.

We have taken in a number of feral horses from this same rangeland and the truth is that these guys take the longest to get adopted because they start from zero or negative experience with humans.

We posted a story, courtesy of , that advocates for controlling wild horse populations through humane fertility methods. Better for the horses, for the environment, and for taxpayers’ dollars. Come on, New Mexico, we could do this!

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Sally and Riley love a little cooling rain, followed by a roll and mud bath. Mud is just the ticket for camouflaging a f...
08/09/2025

Sally and Riley love a little cooling rain, followed by a roll and mud bath. Mud is just the ticket for camouflaging a flea-bitten grey mare , ha ha. Plus keeps the volunteers busy with brushing practice. Life at a horse sanctuary.

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Natilla cleans up pretty nicely, doesn’t she? We have to thank for the elbow grease and shampoo!
08/07/2025

Natilla cleans up pretty nicely, doesn’t she? We have to thank for the elbow grease and shampoo!

Something about horses and young girls. Maybe it starts with a hand to the nose. A little woof of warm breath on your fa...
08/07/2025

Something about horses and young girls. Maybe it starts with a hand to the nose. A little woof of warm breath on your face. A soft sound as they greet you. And there it is, you are hooked.

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One of the most fun things to watch at is the horses coming out of quarantine and settling into paddocks with new frie...
08/04/2025

One of the most fun things to watch at is the horses coming out of quarantine and settling into paddocks with new friends, and often, with new confidence.

We received three young lads from the Ruidoso-area, post-fire, and you could see the hesitation and trauma in their eyes at first. Now they have begun to romp around the big paddock they are sharing with other young horses. They groom each other, they run to be first to the feeders. And lo and behold, they are accepting scratchies from humans.

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Our trainer Jason uses a body language and hand signals to communicate what he is asking for from the horse. He allows t...
07/30/2025

Our trainer Jason uses a body language and hand signals to communicate what he is asking for from the horse. He allows the horse to discover the release that comes from observing the trainer’s cues and choosing to accept the action which brings that release.

Here is Otter discovering that he can work less and find comfort working on a slack rope, and eventually to stand still facing Jason. The added reward is the pat from Jason at the end of the session.

Otter won’t be available for adoption until he is further along in his education but boy howdy, keep an eye on this boy if you are looking for a strong individual who will work all day in whatever way you ask.

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When you have almost 100 horses at your sanctuary on any given day, you can come across any number of combinations of eq...
07/28/2025

When you have almost 100 horses at your sanctuary on any given day, you can come across any number of combinations of equine breeds. Some can be pretty obvious, even when you don’t have papers to confirm ancestry. For example, Yahtzee (the pony in the third photo, now adopted) is clearly a Pony of the Americas.

Blaze (formerly called Ysidro by us, and adopted in 2017) looks to be mostly Quarterhorse in photo #4, but his owner had him DNA tested and the results said he is a mix of Garrano, Selle Francaise, and Belgian Drafthorse. What the heck? If this is true, and Ysidro was picked up as estray near Cuba, NM, it implies some much traveled ancestors.

The first photo shows a Mustang being ridden across a dusty plain in New Mexico, in a painting from 1888. Look at that Roman nose, quite typical of those little Spanish horses. Now look at photo #2, of Ingrid, and there is that nose, present day, pure New Mexico horse.

We never recommend that you adopt one of our horses on the basis of breeding, coloring, gender, size or other single factor. We do recommend that first and foremost you consider temperament and how you want your new horse to fit into your life.

If you must have a particular breed of horse, we are probably not the place to start your horse search. If you are open to a very deserving horse with a little bit of spice and mystery in its past, come to .

What is happening here? Is it war? Heck no, it’s Rocinante and Jericho giving each other some love in the way of scratch...
07/25/2025

What is happening here? Is it war? Heck no, it’s Rocinante and Jericho giving each other some love in the way of scratching those spots that they can’t reach themselves. It is a natural response in horses to help each other. Don’t you love horses?!

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We are slowly getting to know Lilo. Besides being around 18 years old, we can say definitely that she is a friendly, spe...
07/23/2025

We are slowly getting to know Lilo. Besides being around 18 years old, we can say definitely that she is a friendly, speckled grey mare! Ha. So much more will be revealed once she is out of quarantine but for now, her job is to eat nutritious food, relax, and enjoy the world passing by her pen.

Since a large percentage of our rescues come through the NM Livestock Board with no back story, we must wait for the horses to fill us in on what they know and who they are. If you enjoy solving puzzles, come to us when you are ready to adopt.

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Stitch looking stylish and soooo serious in his fly mask! 😂💕📸:
07/22/2025

Stitch looking stylish and soooo serious in his fly mask! 😂💕

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Our remarkable Volunteer of the Month is John D! John has been volunteering with us since last November. He has donated...
07/21/2025

Our remarkable Volunteer of the Month is John D! John has been volunteering with us since last November. He has donated almost 100 hours to THS! Thank you so much for joining our Volunteer Team, we are lucky to have you! John has been participating in our experimental ‘Sharing Territory’ program and has been sharing his territory with Jarvis (black in picture) and Jet! Jarvis has responded particularly well to this program and now allows multiple folks to pet and brush him. In this photo, Jet standing that close to John is a big step forward! Way to go!

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Yahtzee stylin’ her zebra-striped fly boots, bought for a great price .resale store, because a princess can never have t...
07/18/2025

Yahtzee stylin’ her zebra-striped fly boots, bought for a great price .resale store, because a princess can never have too much pampering. In reality, the horses really seem to appreciate the protection from flies and bitey things at this time of year and we were really lucky to find these unused and on the shelf. They are actually horse-sized but Miss Y just wears them like knee socks .

Trek on down to the store because you never know what might have just come in, plus you are helping all the horses at our sanctuary with your purchases.

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Address

100 Old Cash Ranch Road
Cerrillos, NM
87010

Opening Hours

Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+15054716179

Website

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