http://www.bluemontsanctuary.com/

Bluemont Equine Sanctuary, Colts Neck, NJ (2025)

05/07/2025

So after Cora last year we said we would put bottle babies on pause. She was like having another toddler in the house and I’m already overstimulation central over here with 2 toddlers. On top of that our med pass is easily 4-5 hours a day as we have so many aged and special needs equines.

BUT I came out of an appointment to missed calls and an urgent text message from a trusted colleague and friend. She was at a farm helping another animal and saw this baby all alone in a bucket baking in the sun. She asked if we could help and even though I swore no bottle babies this year HERE WE ARE. We simply couldn’t let this sweet boy stay at this farm for another minute. He was walking around on his own with loose dogs who are natural predators to goats.

Supposedly Mom delivered 12 hours before and had no milk so she pushed the baby off. We still pressed the farmer to release Mom but he wouldn’t. She must be a unique color.

We’re waiting on a name until the right one sticks! 💙

04/23/2025

Several years ago we found this old gelding starving in someone’s backyard in Waxahachie, TX. He stood patiently, in 100 degree heat, waiting for someone to fill his water and for food that would never come. His hooves never got trimmed. Never did he see a vet about the puncture in his eye.

Did I want to give $900 for an animal that looked like he was going to die on my trailer? No, but that’s what it took to save his life. He threw himself in the trailer before we could barely get the door open. I felt him fall down several times on the way home.

When we got home, I expected him to be dead in my trailer, or at least be down, unable to get up. But, when I opened the door, there he was, looking at me with his big soulful eyes. His rickety body seemed to sway as he tried to drag me down the hill to the barn and set up shop in his new home.

A few days later, after I fed breakfast, I was kneeling down cleaning water troughs. I remember thinking about the woman who had done all this to him as I was furiously scrubbing away. Suddenly, I could feel whiskers on the back of my neck. I looked up and there he was, staring down at me. Just staring. He wasn’t asking for treats, to be pet or for anything really, just my attention for a moment.

He stood there looking at me as if he was trying to say something. He paused for a second then touched my face, as if to thank me. I started sobbing. My heart broke for this pathetic looking bag of bones in front of me, yet, his heart was still so full of kindness. I couldn’t wrap my mind around how such a large animal could be appreciative towards any human after someone had treated him this way.

He waited until I stopped crying, then turned and went back to his food like it was nothing.

Chaplin was laid to rest this winter. He would have been 34 next month. He was partially blind in an eye, had arthritis from an injury to his knee and lost his ability to sweat. However, he was happy every day to get to work with kids.

If there was one thing that horse taught me, it’s that everyone deserves forgiveness. Forgive but don’t forget. He had every right to distrust humans after that. However, there was never an ounce of bitterness in his heart. The weight of hate will drag you down.

04/22/2025

Best friends. Lily came to us blind and Eva immediately took to her. Now they are inseparable. Lily comes into her stall in the evening and Eva still hangs out with her even though she has other friends in the paddock. 🥹💗🥹

04/15/2025

My horse-loving soul is tired.

Not just tired—worn through. Frayed from the endless justifications, the distortions and delusions, the subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways we humans continue to twist and squeeze and manipulate the truth to suit our comfort and our false reality. At the expense of the horse.

It doesn’t take a degree in animal science or a certificate in biomechanics to recognize what we all already know in our bones: that no mammal is built to bear an extra 15-20% of its own weight carried externally atop its spine as a regular part of daily life. Or to be required to hold and move our/their bodies in ways that please someone else's ideas about how we/they "should" ambulate.

Not dogs.
Not cats.
Not cows or pigs or deer.
Not elephants or camels.
Not even humans.

And yet somehow—we’ve made horses the exception. We’ve completely normalized the absolutely abnormal. Romanticized the barbaric. We've built entire industries and identities around a story that simply isn't true. And when we are honest with ourselves, we feel the dissonance. We know.

Without even needing science to prove it.

It only takes half a second of sincere reflection to realize that the horse—perhaps the most cooperative, forgiving, and exploited being on this planet—deserves better than our eternal, self-centered denial.

Continuing to perpetuate the lie that riding is beneficial to horses (or even worse, that NOT riding them is somehow detrimental to them), to defend this lie, to continue trying to justify it to the next generations as though it were sacred truth… it's exhausting.

And I'm not even personally perpetuating or justifying it anymore.

I'm simply still witnessing it being perpetuated and justified at almost every turn.

So if your horse-loving soul happens to be as tired as mine, I want you to know that you, too, have permission to put this lie to rest in your heart and soul. Once and for all.

04/07/2025

⭐️ Sunday Spotlight ⭐️
Allister’s story! This boy stole my heart when I first met him back in 2022 and a little over a year later when he was in desperate need of placement with his bonded companion Everest.

Allister is a gentle giant, a black Percheron gelding. A Percheron is a draft breed that is typically used for pulling plows, hauling hay wagons and other heavy farm equipment. The communities who use work horses like cold blooded drafts because of their power and docile temperaments.

Allister gave everything he had but was still discarded after over two decades of work. Animals are merely a tool to these communities. Horses like Allister are given to a trader at the end of their work life to either direct ship or be run through auction. Allister lost his friends and likely the only farm he ever knew so that humans could make a few hundred bucks.

Allister was run through an auction in PA where a defunct “sanctuary” bid on him. Things were ok for Allister for a while but this organization turned out to be subpar and was neglecting the animals. I assisted with the neglect case in 2022. There were hundreds of animals to place. We initially took 2 horses from this case, Jovie and Midge. It’s a very long story but the founder took the animals she wanted while we were in the middle of working the case, we were devastated 💔. This group included Allister and Everest. She transported them to a small farm in PA. Allegedly her father attempted to pay and care for the animals and couldn’t. He reached out to a Vet for help and they contacted several rescues. The original rescues who helped with the 2022 case were looped in and we committed to both Allister and Everest. They’re both senior drafts and needed true sanctuary.

We couldn’t post Allister or Everest because there was still an active case. The rescues who took animals were also receiving threats. We needed to protect our animals and ourselves. It’s quite common for true sanctuaries to take animals in under protection, especially when law enforcement is involved.

This covers how Allister came to us. But I would love to talk about his rehabilitation, emotional healing and personality in a Part 2. ❤️‍🩹

03/27/2025

I gave a tour to a lovely new team member today and we got to talking about the donkeys. After she left I reflected on the fact that I don’t show them enough love here on our page and thought I would do a post.

I’m going to go knock on alllll the wood before I get into this paragraph lol. Our donkeys are our easiest herd. Medically and herd dynamics, they’re drama free and deeply bonded.

We have two sets of mama/son pairs. Charlotte and Taz and Gemma and Jax. Gemma is in a commited relationship ship with Mason. Dixon, Jax and Taz all young johns like to play and rough house together as they are so close in age. They’re in their menace to society teen angst era. Charlotte, the smallest and oldest is the quiet matriarch of the herd.

I have the most beautiful story about Charlotte. One of my personal favorites of all time here at the sanctuary. Charlotte is a beautiful grey mini donkey who was used for breeding for years. Taz is the only baby she’s ever been able to keep and she was such a nurturing and gentle Mother to him. To this day she is his comfort and they adore one another. We don’t wean here at the sanctuary and we would never take a baby from their Mom. At 3 yrs old Taz was still nursing for comfort from time to time. Who are we to tell another Mom when to stop breastfeeding?

WELL Gemma arrived with her baby Jax and her new boyfriend Mason and decided that when Jax was 7 months old she was done nursing. That she would rather bask in the sun with her new man Mason. Also her choice. Jax was pretty upset about this but he found another option…

One day I see Jax on his knees nursing from Charlotte. Charlotte was happy as a clam to offer comfort to another youngster. Both Jax and Taz would run to Charlotte for support and nurse when they needed a little reassurance. We think Charlottes milk finally dried up but they’re all still thick as thieves.

We’re so grateful to be able to give animals like Charlotte and Gemma a free environment to make these choices for themselves.

We humans don’t deserve donkeys. They are such honest and beautiful souls. I will forever aspire to be as altruistic to my core as they are. ❤️

03/27/2025

The decline of independent, knowledgeable horsemen in favor of riders who rely entirely on full-service programs is a troubling trend for our industry. Too often, riders simply show up, ride, and leave, trusting others to manage every aspect of their horse’s care. They follow their trainer’s directives without question, missing the opportunity to develop essential horsemanship skills and personal responsibility.

Attending a show without a trainer has become taboo. The idea of independently navigating a warm-up ring, walking a course, or making strategic decisions is foreign to many riders today. Beyond competition, this reliance extends to daily care. While trainers are invaluable resources, true horsemanship demands personal engagement.

Horses thrive on consistency, personalized attention, and knowledgeable management. A rider who understands their horse’s unique needs, how they respond to different training methods, express soreness, or vary in energy levels, can advocate for them in ways that a trainer managing dozens of horses cannot. When owners blindly follow a program without understanding its rationale, it is the horse who suffers.

On that note, there is absolutely no reason for a junior rider to have full-service grooming. Learning to care for a horse is an essential part of becoming a well-rounded equestrian. Grooming, tacking up, aftercare, and basic stable management are not chores: they are an opportunity and a privilege to recognize subtle changes in their horse’s well-being and take responsibility for their animal. If a junior rider has the ability to ride, they have the ability to contribute to their horse’s daily routine. Relying on full-service programs from an early age only fosters detachment and entitlement, rather than the respect and responsibility that true horsemanship demands.

Trainers should serve as mentors, not crutches. Every horse owner has a duty to take an active role in their horse’s well-being. If this trend continues, our industry will lose independent, well-rounded horsemen. We will see a generation of riders who can function only within structured programs, lacking the critical thinking skills necessary for effective horse care. Worse, we are producing professionals who can ride and teach but who lack the basic foundational knowledge to properly develop and maintain equine athletes.

Amateurs, in particular, have a crucial role in reversing this trend. Regardless of skill level, every rider has both the ability and the responsibility to take ownership of their horse’s well-being. This starts with asking questions: why is your horse in a particular training aid? Why is a specific bit, feed, or therapy being used? The more you learn, the better you can advocate for your horse. If your trainer resents your questions or discourages your involvement, vote with your feet and find someone else: because if they won’t listen to you, they certainly aren’t listening to your horse.

Restoring true horsemanship requires a shift in mindset. Riders must take an active role in their horse’s care, trainers should foster independence rather than dependency, and owners must recognize that ultimate responsibility lies with them. If we fail to course-correct, we risk losing not only invaluable knowledge but also the very essence of horsemanship: a loss our horses cannot afford.

03/25/2025

Just a little Skipper and Cora to brighten your day. ❤️

03/22/2025

We have deleted the post due to the author’s (the vet) request and have reshared the original it on our page for you all to read and share. 🙂

Here is a poem instead

The Old Horse

Once, I was thunder, swift and free,
A shadow racing the wind through trees.
My mane a banner, my hooves a drum,
The fields and skies were mine to run.

Now the days are slower, the strides less wide,
But wisdom lingers where youth has died.
I’ve carried burdens, both light and great,
And learned the patience to stand and wait.

The world grows quiet, the pace turns mild,
And in my heart still lives the wild.
The echoes of gallops, the rush of air,
The freedom of knowing I was once there.

My body is weary, my coat turns gray,
Yet kindness keeps the cold at bay.
For those who see beyond the years,
Will find my soul still fierce, sincere.

So offer me rest, not a restless road,
A pasture of peace, not a heavy load.
For an old horse’s heart beats strong and true,
Grateful for love, and the care of you.

Unknown

03/16/2025

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Once upon a time, in a land before TikTok tutorials and matchy-matchy saddle pads, horse people actually knew how to take care of horses. Shocking, I know. Kids like me didn’t just rock up to the yard, hop on, and swan off afterward like some equestrian diva. No, we earned our time in the saddle mucking out stables that smelled like something out of a horror movie, filling haynets that somehow managed to tangle themselves around our legs, and lugging water buckets that felt heavier than our actual bodies.

And Friday nights? That was Pony Club night in Ireland, an unmissable ritual. First, the riding lesson, where we pushed ourselves to perfect our position or attempted (and often failed) to keep our ponies from launching us into orbit over a cross-pole. Then, the real fun stable management. If you thought you were leaving without knowing how to spot colic, wrap a bandage properly, or pick out hooves without losing a finger, you were sorely mistaken.

But now? Stable management is disappearing faster than your horse’s dignity when it spots a plastic bag.

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐮𝐭

These days, many young riders don’t spend hours at the yard learning the ins and outs of horse care. They arrive, their pony is miraculously tacked up and ready, they ride for an hour, and off they go probably to post a reel of their perfect canter transition. And look, I get it. Times have changed. Insurance policies have made it harder for kids to hang around stables, and busy modern life means people want things quick and easy.

But here’s the problem: a horse isn’t an Instagram prop. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙖 1,000-𝙥𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙩𝙨 𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙙𝙡𝙚. And without that old-school, hands-on education, we’re seeing the consequences. Horses suffering from preventable colic, riders unable to recognize when their tack doesn’t fit, people feeding their cob the same as a Thoroughbred and wondering why it’s suddenly the size of a small elephant.

And the worst part? People are accepting standards of care that would have been unheard of years ago.

I hear owners justifying no turnout like it’s normal. “Oh, my yard doesn’t turn out in winter.” “My horse copes fine without it.” No, they don’t. Horses are designed to move. Keeping them in a box 24/7, walking them for 20 minutes on a horse walker, and thinking that’s a substitute for actual turnout? That’s not horsemanship, it’s convenience. And it’s a ticking time bomb for their physical and mental health.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝

It’s not just kids, either. There is now an entire generation of adult horse owners who don’t actually know how to look after their horses properly. People who have spent years on riding school horses, never mucked out a stable, never bandaged a leg, never had to nurse a horse through an illness, suddenly finding themselves with their first horse and no idea what they’re doing. And instead of admitting they need help, many of them turn to social media (sometimes it’s ok, but not posts like is this colic?) for advice rather than a vet, a farrier, or an experienced horse person.

It’s terrifying. These are the same people who will argue in Facebook groups about whether their horse is “just lazy” instead of recognizing pain, who think a horse standing in a stable 24/7 is fine because ‘he doesn’t seem unhappy’, and who will spend more on a glittery saddle pad than on a proper equine dentist. Owning a horse should come with more than just a financial commitment, it should come with a commitment to education. But right now, there are too many owners who simply don’t know what they don’t know.

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

So, what’s the solution? We need to bring back the grit. Pony Clubs, riding schools, livery yards everyone needs to make stable management a non-negotiable part of equestrian life again. Not a boring add-on. Not an optional extra. An essential, just like knowing which end of the horse kicks.

And for those of us who lived through the ‘earn your saddle time’ era? It’s on us to pass that knowledge down. Teach the young ones how to tell the difference between a horse that’s playing up and a horse and a horse that’s in pain. Show them that grooming is not just a way to make your horse shiny for pictures it’s how you check for cuts, lumps, or signs of discomfort. Explain why turnout isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity.

𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

I miss those Friday nights at Pony Club. The smell of damp hay, the constant background noise of ponies trying to eat things they shouldn’t, the feeling of pride when you finally got your plaits neat enough that your instructor didn’t sigh in disappointment.

We need to bring that back, not just for nostalgia’s sake, but for the horses. Because if we don’t, we’re going to end up with a generation of riders who can execute a perfect flying change but don’t know what to do when their horse colics at 2 a.m. And that? That’s the kind of horror story no equestrian wants to live through.

Sunny and the farmer spec gate 😂

03/05/2025

Rue was born right here at Bluemont at 3am in the last stall on the left. We rescued her sweet Mama Hazel from a terrible fate. Hazel arrived heavily pregnant and we tried to work a thousand miracles to get Hazel healthy and ready to give birth to her baby.

When Hazel delivered Rue she immediately bonded with her. She nuzzled her, cleaned her and they imprinted on one another. Rue received Hazel’s colostrum which was vital to her survival. An hour later Hazel started circling her stall and wouldn’t stop. Her face had gone blank and she would step on anything in her way. It was clear that she had a stroke while delivering Rue.

We called our emergency vet who stabilized the two of them and helped us load up for New Bolton Hospital. We were delivered a crushing blow that Hazel would never come back from this. That her frontal lobe was too damaged. They suggested that we euthanize her right then and there. We decided to bring Hazel and Rue home together and take it one day at a time. Hazel was starting to eat mashes and she was allowing Rue to nurse. But that was as far as she got. We tried for 6 months to rehab Hazel but unfortunately her medical team was right. She would never have a good quality of life again. When we sent Hazel over the bridge Rue was devastated. Even though Hazel couldn’t mother Rue they were bonded. Rue is intelligent and she understood that there was a medical problem with Hazel but horses don’t understand the concept of euthanasia. They just know what they see and smell. So we left Rue with Hazel for a long time. Hours. She would graze and come back to check if Hazel was moving. I sat with them, in mourning right alongside Rue.

Thank god for Silver Song who immediately took Rue under his wing. And for Zoli who always kept careful watch over her too. She had two of the best boys in her corner and as a team we got Rue through.

Rue is a mini mule, half donkey and half mini horse. She’s a tricky one to connect with and she has her preferred herd mates and humans. Mules aren’t like horses or donkeys. They think and act differently and are very particular. Mules are my personal favorite.

Swipe right to see lil baby Rue 💕

02/11/2025

Our landscaper has been goofing off on the job. 🐴😍💜

Bluemont Equine Sanctuary

05/07/2025

04/23/2025

04/22/2025

04/15/2025

04/07/2025

03/27/2025

03/27/2025

03/25/2025

03/22/2025

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02/11/2025

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