Gelding Assistance Program

Two Goofy Geldings

We are both pleased and sorry to announce that our funds for 2012 have been fully taken advantage of. It has been an honor to provide this service to the residents of SW CO and we applaud everyone who participated in this responsible action.  We may apply for another grant in 2013.

As our vet always says: “A good stallion makes a great gelding!”

Foals are fun.

They grow into horses, though, which must be trained and have a use, or risk becoming unwanted. In the same spirit as spay/neuter programs for cats and dogs, Fresh Start has launched a gelding assistance program to help reduce the production of potentially unwanted horses.

The Stallion Castration Assistance Program for Southwest Colorado serves Montezuma, La Plata, Archuleta, San Juan, and Dolores Counties. The program offers rebates to residents of these areas for part or all of the cost of castration surgery. We are targeting this area because of its high horse population density, and the tough economic situation of many horse owners and breeders.

It is our hope that the program will help out by providing folks with financial incentive to geld their stallions and colts prior to sale, and in lieu of breeding.

To apply for the rebate, simply send Fresh Start your name and address, and a copy of the itemized receipt from your veterinarian, showing the surgery charge, to Fresh Start. Rebate checks will be issued based on the cost of the surgery only, and may not cover the full cost of a surgical complication such as cryptorchid.

Rebate applications for this year’s program will be accepted for castration surgeries performed by an equine veterinarian between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011.

Send information to:

Fresh Start Horse Rescue – Assistance Program
17390 County Road 23
Dolores, CO 81323

This program is funded by a grant from the Colorado Unwanted Horse Alliance.

CUHA’s mission is to reduce the number of Colorado’s unwanted horses, and to promote public and private collaboration and education concerning their welfare, ownership and disposition. Visit their website: counwantedhorse.org.

Below: Astro, an unwanted foal