Horse rescue group near deal for new home

Published 10:44 pm Friday, June 22, 2007

A refuge for abused and abandoned horses that faces eviction may have found a new home.

The Equine Rescue Association might have to move only a mile and a half from its current home on the Tulalip Indian Reservation to a parcel owned by the Marysville School District.

The property the group has been using for the past five years at 2506 128th Street NE is being sold, and the group has to be out by Friday.

The Equine Rescue Association takes in horses that have been abused, neglected or injured or that no longer fit into their owners’ lives.

The school district is discontinuing its agriculture program with the retirement of two of its teachers, district superintendent Larry Nyland said. The program has been operating on 18 acres of property at 2415 116th Street NE.

District officials are talking with the nonprofit horse rescue group about leasing them the land, Nyland said Friday.

It’s not a done deal, he cautioned.

“I think it’s going to work out,” Nyland said. “They have a need and we have a need and there might be something there.”

Members of the group were happy about the prospect of finding a place for their 23 horses.

“We are extremely excited and really grateful,” said volunteer Suzette Acey, 49.

About 20 volunteers help care for the horses. Many of them are teenage girls who receive inexpensive riding lessons in exchange for their work.

The group’s leader, Vel Moore, 75, said she’s not sure how long the operation will be able to stay on the district property.

“We’re safe for now, and that’s what’s making me feel better,” she said.

Nyland said liability and other issues still need to be worked out.

He said there are several factors in discontinuing the agricultural program in addition to the teachers’ retirement.

The program became “kind of a challenge for us as we put more effort into reading and math,” Nyland said.

Reporter Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439 or sheets@heraldnet.com.