Brent Glover has taken in abandoned, neglected and abused horses for 36 years. This past year, he says, was the worst he's seen.
Glover, a graying, lean, enthusiastic man who has taken in over 3,000 horses and adopted out some 2,500 to new homes over the years, had to turn down over 200 requests for sanctuary in 2010 because he was out of room and resources at his ranch in Viola, Idaho. He runs Orphan Acres, the oldest and largest nonprofit rescue facility in Idaho.
We rely entirely on donations, grants, and volunteer labor, says Glover, who has had as many as 138 horses in residence at one time. These days, because we are so crowded and strapped for cash, I can take only real emergencies, but those still include all comers. Even with our severe limitations, we take the young and old, injured and sick, as well as healthy, trained horses.
Among the horses in permanent residence at Orphan Acres are the white mount Graham Greene rode in Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves, almost starved to death by his subsequent owner who bought him as a trophy; the 10-year-old grandson of the famous race horse, Seattle Slew, originally purchased for $10,000 but abandoned by his owner with crippling bone chips in both knees; and countless other grade horses from miniatures to draft horses who, one way or the other, were given to or taken in by Glover because their owners didn't want to care for themor simply couldn't.
