2006 President Letter

I know alot of people cringe when I say we are "blessed". In today's society being blessed oftentimes has a religious connotation. I however like the word blessed because it denotes something more than fortunate. To that end, we have definitely been blessed.
The past ten years has been a real eye opener for everyone involved. We thought that we would be helping a few horses but as of today we have helped 60. Yes - 60 horses have gone through our organization. That would not have been possible without the support of our Families, Community and Volunteers.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Moritz Foundation for their continued support. They have been a cornerstone by giving us our first grant in 1999 and then again in 2001 thru the present. Their support and sharing our beliefs has helped Equine Rescue Inc. evolve as far as we have.

There are too many accomplishments to list every one, but I would like to highlight some so that you can understand why we have been so blessed.

1. We began in 1996 with a 1986 GMC 2 wheel drive truck that we used to clean out the 7 Acre paddock with 1 run in shed and a stall.

2. In 1997 we obtained our first 3 horses from the Ulster County SPCA.

3. In 1998 we adopted our first horse, a pony named Traveler.

4. 1999 marked the year we moved to our current facility. The farm as we know it has 17 stalls, 4 run in sheds, 6 large paddocks and a riding ring. When we first moved we only had 3 paddocks, 1 run in shed and 6 stalls. (Thank-you to all who worked so hard to help us make a functional facility!)

5. We had our first cruelty conviction in 2001 for the ill-treatment of a horse named Bucky. Bucky got her justice!

6. 2005 saw the donation of 13.5 Acres on Hamilton Road as well as property in Columbia County. The Hamilton Road property is currently being cleared to make into a holding/quarintine facility. This year the property was also placed on the NYS Register of Historic Places and the main house has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.

Although this was not a complete list of all our accomplishments it does show you how much we have grown. We were not founded for personal, financial, religious, or secular reasons. We were founded for what we think are good reasons - Compassion, understanding, healing, communion, charity, faith, hope and love. We stand by our mission of "Giving Horses the Love they Need and the Home they Deserve".

Thank-you all for being part of the past and supporting our organization into the future. For without your support, we would not be able to stay true to our mission.

Peace,

Mike Broas, President