Brite91
From AlexBrownRacing
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Bio
Bright Futures Farm is a 501c3 registered charity and was established in 1999 after I took a tour of breeding farms in Kentucky. I soon learned that there were thousands of horses of all breeds in desperate situations in our country. I began this journey by adopting three Thoroughbreds from the closest rescue I could find, and soon realized I could make a difference if I started a rescue of my own.
Bright Futures Farm was incorporated in 2000 and named after the first horse I rescued, Brite Decision. We work predominantly with off the track Thoroughbreds, but also have taken surrenders from private individuals, and have purchased horses from Sugarcreek, OH and New Holland, PA auctions. We have a small main facility that I maintain which has a capacity of twelve horses (currently we have thirteen), and we are blessed to have a wonderful network of foster homes that will take one horse at a time and help us transition that horse for a new home.
We don't adopt out huge numbers of horses in a year. Our adoption rate is usually twenty or less. And that is because I truly believe that it is very important to let the horse settle in before working with him, then school him on the ground and at least evaluate him under saddle before looking for a home for him (or her:-). It is very important for us to find the right home for our horses because most of them have been through some type of abuse or trauma prior to arriving here. They need to learn to trust and we need to know their personalities so we make a good match the first time.
We provide farrier care (Amos Lee, Centerville) as needed (sometimes he's here two or three times a month)... our primary vet (Marley Veterinary Clinic, Titusville) lives a mile from us, and is here whenever needed...we have an equine dentist (Charlie Wyant, New Bethlehem) who comes at least once a year...we also use New Bolton Center, Ohio State University, Ron Genovese, and Equine Specialties Hospital when the need is beyond the scope of our local vet.
We often help horses no one else will take. We have six retirees on the farm right now starting at age 26. Gordy was near death when he arrived (emaciated). Fencer is a 26+ yo Morgan stallion pulled from Bruce Rotz's kill pen at New Holland last year and will live the rest of his life here. Those are just two of our older rescues.
I am proud to know that because of what we do, six other individuals we've met along this journey have established wonderful rescues of their own, and we know of several individuals who are now doing private rescue as a result of getting to know us and realizing how much of a need exists for these unfortunate animals.
Professional Reference contact information is available upon request.
Horse experience
I've been around horses all of my life. I have no formal schooling, but use common sense and natural horsemanship techniques to earn trust and school our horses. Each horse is an individual and each requires a different approach and a different amount of time to get the same result. I believe less is more, and however long it takes to make progress...that's how long it takes. It's not about moving horses through our program into homes in an assembly line fashion. It's about finding out what the horse is all about emotionally and physically and matching him to the person who can best complement him and help him excel and grow.
FOB activities
I have always believed in giving back to the community, and before I established Bright Futures Farm, I was active in our Butler community mostly in Golf Outing fundraisers for the American Cancer Society, Heart Association and MDA. I was a member of several committees in our Chamber of Commerce, and supported two private small pet rescues (Street Cats and Kitty's Kitties). Now that I partially support Bright Futures Farm out of pocket, I can no longer give to those charities, so I found a new way to give back. I now support other equine rescues through the sale of my handbags (Stablebags). When someone buys one of my handbags, I donate $10 to the equine rescue of THEIR CHOICE. It's the only way I can financially help anyone else due to the expenses we encounter each month.
I came to FOB's because I love Barbaro just as much as you all do. Last November I had to take Zorro to New Bolton Center for uveitis. Barbaro was there and we just missed Mrs. Jackson by five minutes. But we left carrots and signed his card. That is when I learned about you.
The only fundraiser I have started so far on FOB is the one for the 32 yo Arab stallion that a woman can no longer keep and no one wants. He is currently at her s-i-l's home, but has been given only one week to find a home or she's sending him "off to Canada".
Our other current fundraiser is a racing memorabilia (and other things) auction. It launches November 1 on ebay. Details are on our web site, www.brightfuturesfarm.org
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