In December and January, The DePonte Family Foundation gave two gifts totalling $12,500 to our three partner organizations: Tamaya Horse Rehab, Watermelon Mountain Ranch, and New Mexico Wildlife Center. We are proud to support the great work they are doing.
Tamaya Horse Rehab Update
We were delighted to get an exciting update from Connie Collis at Tamaya Horse Rehab about how those funds are going to good use in her horse rehabilitation program. Connie told us the donation “couldn’t have come at a better time.”
She wrote to us saying, “I want you to know this money will go directly to the training of Hoss. He was next in line but now that sweet boy will have a chance to become the horse of everyone’s dreams and start earning his keep. Thank You!”
Hoss is a very special horse, not only for the DePontes, but for Connie as well. When we met with Connie back in June of last year, she told us his rescue story.
Hoss was rescued three years earlier, after he had been living alone in a small stable for five years. He wasn’t shod, had rarely been touched and was well undernourished. Upon receiving a call from a neighbor, Connie contacted the owner and went out to visit.
The owner was happy to let Connie visit the horse, and she did — traveling 30 miles each way twice a day for a week to feed Hoss and socialize with him.
At first he was shy and scared of contact, but after getting some strength back and getting to know Connie, she told us he would dance when he saw her truck pull up. Connie was desperate to take the horse but didn’t have the money to support it at that time, so she just kept visiting.
Then she received a donation from a family who had come to ride at the stables and loved what she was doing there — the DePontes. With that money, she was able to adopt the horse. Since then, he has lived in a pasture outside of her home (with 37 of his good horse buddies) and greets her happily first thing every morning.
Now, thanks to the foundation’s gift, Hoss has finally gone off for training. The process will take 3 or 4 months before he will be ready for riding at the Tamaya Stables.
We are honored to be a part of Hoss’ journey, and can’t wait to hear how he’s doing upon his return! Stay tuned for updates, and if you want to read more about Tamaya and Connie’s amazing work, check out our blog post from our site visit last year here.
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