Morning light spills through stall windows, illuminating floating dust particles swirling up from hooves shuffling and lazy tails swishing through the air as pocket-sized birds flutter between legs and into the rafters, seeking seeds from the hay loft above. 

The wooden stables at Sunshine Horses’ sit among maple trees and a dozen pastures, in Clay, New York. 

“Most of us volunteer here so that we can be close to the horses. A lot of us are animal lovers but don’t have the space for a horse at home,” said Marisa Jones who discovered the rescue six years ago and has volunteered ever since. “We help them, and they help us, giving many of us a purpose, and filling us with a sense of duty.”

COVID-19 shut down much of New York endangering the symbiotic relationship between animal and handler. The safety of the volunteers, many of them older and retired and more susceptible to the illness, was jeopardized. The rescue operates entirely off of volunteers; without them, the horses would have no one. 

Since February, the rescue has had to limit the number of volunteers allowed on one shift and also reduce the number of animal take-ins. Before the pandemic, volunteers could come and go to freely to support the 34 horses, according to Martie Talley, a morning shift leader for Saturday volunteers. Now, visits are restricted, with only 95 volunteers permitted to maintain the stables and care for the horses, keeping both alive.

Twice a day, the volunteers feed and groom the horses. They let them out to pasture and clean their stalls. Some rambunctious horses need extra exercising before being put up for the night and are run around an indoor arena. Others are older and need more medical care before bedding down for the night. No matter what, the volunteers make sure it is all taken care of. 

“Some of these horses are retired racehorses that were up on a block,” said Talley. “Others, their owners couldn’t take care of or their needs weren’t being met, so they were brought here.”

Twenty-one horses currently live at the rescue facility, each with a unique diet and needs; a day without volunteers could lead to calamity for some of the horses. According to Alison Gould, member of the Equine Care Committee that over sees the horses’ health, Tito, a male horse once used for field work, was brought to the rescue with “shoe boils,” soft, squishy, swelling bubbles on his legs. The sores have to be cleaned and cared for twice a day or risk infection, and possibly his life.    

Volunteers have managed the nonprofit rescue since 2003, when it was founded. Donations, fundraisers or guests have kept the horses fed and medical bills paid.

“Normal fundraisers have not been held over the summer,” said Dianne Sestak, Sunshine Horses social media manager, who sponsors two horses that are a bounded pair. “Without donations and fundraisers, the rescue can’t operate, but with the help of the volunteers taking the horse’s needs into their hands, we’ve been able to stay afloat.”

Many of the volunteers sponsor their favorite horses, providing them with food or medical care. Sponsoring can cost from $50-$300 a month and covers various things including feed, bedding, stable maintenance and veterinarian visits. 

With COVID-19 restrictions lifting in October, Sunshine Horses was able to hold its first fundraiser since February, “Paint with a Paint.” The event, similar to a “wine and paint” night but with an Arabian Paint horse and less wine drew in 50 guests and raised $2,000 for the horses. 

“To keep the horses taken care of it costs between $2,400 to $3,000 per horse a year, this depends on if they are on any supplements, medications or vet bills. Sometimes we get donations of hay and feed but when we don’t, we have to pay for it,” said Sesak, with those costs the price to care for the horses increases significantly. “This also doesn’t cover the overhead of power, mortgage, insurance and taxes.” 

All maintenance to the stables and land is done completely by the volunteers, from fixing fences to rewiring electricity the skills of every person is used. The hands of these people also shovel wet sawdust and feces with pitchforks into beaten wheelbarrows, haul hay bales down a wooden ladder to be scattered for feedings, and brush caked-in mud from coats and manes day in and day out. The smell of horses lingers on clothes and in noses as the volunteer’s head home from their shift. This dutiful time and effort spent directly affects the wellbeing of the horses, while an uneven trade, it is willingly given.