Olympic Peninsula Equine Network

(Formerly Eyes That Smile)

What: Horse rehabilitation group

Phone: 360-207-1688

On the web: www.olypenequinenet.org

Quietly and steadfastly for nearly a decade, two Sequim women, Valerie Jackson and Diane Royall, have been rehabilitating horses and educating people. In 2012, the pair and their board achieved nonprofit status under the name Eyes That Smile.

This past September brought board changes and a new name, the Olympic Peninsula Equine Network or OPEN.

“One reason we changed our name to OPEN was to get back to our true mission of helping horses and people who have horses,” Jackson said. “The name better matches what and where we are — the old name really didn’t match what we do.”

The women are excited about the group’s plans for 2015 — with the help of volunteers, this spring they’ll build shelters and paddocks on a leased 5-acre piece of property so it will have a much more comfortable facility for its rescued horses. The paddocks and shelters will have crushed rock underfoot, all the better to keep Sequim’s rainy season mud at bay.

Thus far, OPEN has installed electricity and a well on the property located southwest of Sequim and plans to put in a solid perimeter fence. The facility will be able to house 6-12 horses. That will come as a welcome change for the women as many of the rescued horses have been boarders on their own private properties or in foster homes.

“We’ve had a lot of volunteers but since the horses are on private property, we can’t have them showing up there for safety reasons,” Jackson said, “but with our own facility, we’ll be able to use more volunteers.”

Since being recognized as a nonprofit two years ago, OPEN, which relies solely on donations, has networked extensively with other horse rescues nationwide.

“We talk with people in New England to Florida who fundraised to save two of our horses,” Jackson said. “There are horses in kill pens across the nation and people nationwide are trying to save them by fundraising. There are so many horses from indiscriminate breeding so 100,000 American horses go to slaughter in Canada and Mexico every year. Now we’re part of several equine networks to save them from kill pens.”

Four wide-eyed foals escaped that fate with OPEN’s intervention this fall.

“The Yakama Reservation has been a dumping ground for horses that were formerly domesticated, so now there are thousands of them and they’re overgrazing and starving,” Jackson explained. “Last winter, the tribal citizens held a roundup to ship thousands of them to slaughter but pregnant mares were allowed to give birth, their foals were taken from them and the mares then sent to slaughter.”

Jackson said the law forbids these orphaned foals to go to slaughter until they are 6 months old.

“The rescue community got involved and we paid $100-$125 for each of them and it found homes for 500 babies,” Jackson said. “We ended up with eight; three have been adopted, one is at Diane’s house and four are at mine. One was only one week old. Now they’re about 6 months old.”

Jackson said the youngsters generally are a combination of quarterhorse and thoroughbred with some paints thrown in. In Jackson’s paddock, Dusty, a 30-year-old rescued thoroughbred, serves as a surrogate mother to the Yakama foals and seems to have “adopted” one as her own baby.

But not all horse rescue cases of OPEN are life or death or abuse or neglect.

In early January, three registered Tennessee walkers, a “fancy horse” breed known for their high-stepping gait, were surrendered by the owner due to health issues. The mare, Deedee, was underweight because the owner hadn’t been able to have her teeth floated, which made eating extremely uncomfortable for her. Horses’ teeth grown constantly and spurs spike off from the sides, cutting into the horse’s cheeks. Once Deedee’s teeth were ground down, she regained her appetite and began to put on weight. During a recent visit, she was oblivious to any distractions but her hay. She shares a pasture with Nugget and Ace, her companions for the past 12 years.

Royall and Jackson said generally the horses they take in suffer from being underweight, having parasites, tooth, skin and hoof conditions and being afraid of people.

“Horses don’t need much more than consistent water, hay and shelter,” Jackson said. “We get in a lot that are slated to be put down to see if we can rehabilitate them. We quarantine them for 30 days first, worm them, do hoof trims and their teeth and call in the vet, Dr. Sean Tuley of Tacoma, if they need to see him.”

Farrier Judy Akins, a barefoot hoof care specialist, provides rehabilitation work, and Joe Marceau, a natural balance farrier, maintains proper hoof care. The women praised the trio for giving them discounts on care as well as local horse trainer Shelby Vaughn of Fox Bell Farms near Port Angeles.

“We usually have two or three of our horses in training with Shelby and she looks at each horse’s talents and abilities. If not for Shelby, we couldn’t afford to pay a trainer the $400-$600 he or she would charge,” Jackson said.

Training progresses from tolerating a saddle and rider to jumping.

Horses, admittedly, are a “luxury” item, said Royall, and when people who lost their jobs during the recent economic depression or who’ve developed health issues are forced to make hard choices for the animals they love, Royall and Jackson don’t condemn them.

“We try to be there as a support system for folks,” Royall said. “People matter, too. We become their support team and intervene in a helpful way.”

“Each animal we take in comes with a story, a history,” Jackson said.

Presently, OPEN is seeking to add board members who can write grants and are computer and horse savvy.

“Also in 2015, we need to be able to afford a ranch manager — this is a full-time job and Diane has been doing a full-time job. We’d like to pay her for doing all the management work she does,” Jackson said.

Currently, 19 horses are in OPEN’s care. To see its horses available for adoption and to learn how and where to donate, visit www.olypenequinenet.org or call 360-207-1688.