05/22/2026
🚨 Urgent Dental Care for our Aged Herd 🚨
One of the hardest parts of running a sanctuary is that so many of the horses who come to us arrive after years of inconsistent care, being passed from home to home, or simply going without the maintenance they desperately needed. Dental care is one of those things that often gets overlooked… but for horses, it is absolutely essential to their health, comfort, weight, and overall well-being.
Right now, several of our horses are urgently needing dental work — and we are asking for help.
Tonight, Norm reminded us just how important this care is. He was eating treats strangely, ate his grain dinner, than laid down in his stall when there was hay in his paddock. Showing sign of colic Alyssa jumped into action and got in front of it to try to prevent it from getting worse. Dental pain and difficulty chewing can quickly become more than just discomfort for horses. When they cannot properly chew hay and feed, it impacts digestion, weight, and overall health. While he wasn’t going to be on this first visit of the year, we might need to move him up.
Rose being a miniature with s small, tight mouth that packs food needs hers done as we've noticed issues chewing coarser hay. Minis notoriously have small mouths and issues due to the fact they've been miniaturized
Jazzy, another mini, has not had her teeth floated in over two years and is overdue for care simply due to time and the challenges of keeping up with the overwhelming needs of a sanctuary herd.
Dental work for horses averages approximately $300 per horse, and with a large herd, these routine but critical expenses add up quickly. We could use your help by sponsoring a horse today, even $25 or $50 helps ($50 x 5 people = $300)
We are incredibly grateful that several horses already have sponsors stepping in for this visit:
❤️ Faelin — Covered by her prior owner’s family
❤️ Lucy — Covered by anonymous sponsors
❤️ Tahlia — Covered by anonymous sponsors
❤️ Val — Covered by Nova’s Family
❤️ Cat — Covered thanks to Sheila’s family, who generously donated for her long overdue dental care
Lucy especially needs this care right now. She has struggled with maintaining weight, and while we are finally getting a better handle on managing her arthritis and comfort, her weight remains a concern. We are hopeful that proper dental care will help her chew more effectively and begin gaining again.
Tahlia is also long overdue and very much in need of this care, and we are thankful she is covered for this visit as well.
And unfortunately… the needs do not stop there.
Our next dental visit will also need to include:
• Kiwi — We are closely monitoring a tooth with a hole in it. Thankfully she is not currently showing pain, but we are trying to stay ahead of it before it becomes a larger issue.
• Ty — Overdue for dental care and known to grind her teeth due to anxiety and stress, a habit she came with.
• Elena — Long overdue for her dental work.
• Britta — Needs a follow-up from her last dental visit, which was so overdue when we got her that she still had a retained wolf tooth that needed to be pulled.
• Jewel — As she works into the program, we need to make sure her teeth are maintained as we are not so sure they were before she arrived.
• Lilly — with genetic issues with her mouth including ramps and a definate need to have dental work more often she will be on the list
• Bobbi — being the oldest Herd member we've got to make sure to keep up on her teeth. While it's been amazing to see what great health she's in their teeth do expire and we need to make sure that we catch anything that could be a potential issue ahead of time as well as keeping up with your regular maintenance.
Every dollar donated toward dental care helps relieve pain, improve digestion, prevent colic, help these horses maintain healthy weight, and give them a better quality of life. These horses have already been through enough. They deserve comfort. They deserve to eat without pain. They deserve the best rest of their lives.
If you would like to help sponsor a dental visit for one of our horses, please message us or donate today. Even small donations make a difference when a community comes together. We have a QR code for each horse you can use to donate.
Because at Melody’s Haven of Hope at Oregon Horsemanship… healing happens on both ends of the lead rope. ❤️
And because the veterinarian can only safely and properly see so many horses in one day, we already have a third list started for upcoming visits as we continue trying to catch up on years of overdue care across our sanctuary herd.
The next group needing dental care includes:
• Luna
• Carmen
• Chewy
• Freda
• Red
• Solid
For many horses, routine dental care is not optional — it directly impacts their comfort, ability to eat, digestion, weight maintenance, reduces risk of colic, and overall quality of life. Sanctuary horses often come to us after years of inconsistent care, and catching up on these needs takes time, planning, and community support.
We are doing everything we can to make sure every horse receives the care they deserve… one horse at a time. ❤️
