Big Horse Herd On the Move at Duchess Sanctuary
Like 4 Dislike 0 Published on 13 May 2014
At the Duchess Sanctuary in Oregon, we care for almost 190 horses. Many of them were saved from the PMU, or Pregnant Mare Urine industry. In the PMU barns they stood pregnant in narrow tie stalls for months at a time while their urine was collected to make hormone replacement therapy drugs for women.
But now at the sanctuary, they've left that unhappy life behind, and instead spend their days out on hundreds of acres of grass, hills, and trees. They have a permanent safe home here and we will care for them to the end of their lives. During the grazing season, we rotate the big herd of about 125 horses through different pastures. This keeps the grass healthy and the horses happy. Right now it's peak grass growing season, and we are moving the herd every few days. Although I've witnessed the sight of 125 big horses galloping towards me many times now, it's never any less thrilling. What the video can't show you is how the ground shakes when they go by, but I can assure you it's like experiencing a small earthquake. The herd rumbles through the gate, a few horses kick up their heels on the way by, and 125 happy horses drop their heads to graze fresh green grass.