Animal league puts equine center up for sale

“We believe that divesting from this aspect of our operations is necessary to maintain the long-term viability of North Country Animal League and our commitment to serving animals in need, as well as the people who cherish them,” Du Preez wrote in an email.

The equine center, a 14-acre piece of land directly adjoining the animal league’s property, includes fenced-in pasture and a 29-stall barn. It currently boards 13 horses.

Previously known as the Ryder Brook Horse Farm and in operation since the 1970s, the barn was purchased in 2019 by the nonprofit under its previous director, Tracy Goldfine, with an anonymous half-million donation.

But an effort to establish a sustainable equine center has foundered in the years since, Du Preez said, with COVID-19 stymying efforts to get a horse therapy program and youth-focused programs off the ground. The animal league was ultimately unable to offset the program’s expenses with programming and, as the barn’s mission did not include rescuing horses, its expenses were not tax deductible, and it became a drain on the organization’s core mission.

After the therapeutic riding program, summer camps and youth program failed to achieve financial viability, a cooperative of horse owners has kept the lights on in the barn over the past year, but according to Du Preez, the situation was unviable in terms of dollars and cents.

“It was purchased to support our community and to create programming to support that community that’s aligned with our mission,” Du Preez, who was made director last year, said. “It was obviously a community resource, but we ended it because it wasn’t aligned with our mission, and we were actually losing some money per horse.”

Twelve of the horses were either owned by co-op members, on loan or have plans to be adopted or re-homed elsewhere, except for two beloved horses, Mirky — a very old horse who was thought to be possibly narcoleptic but may just be suffering from sleep deprivation due to other health issues — and Ollie, another horse whose utilitarian value for activities like riding is limited due to bad health. A former board member has pledged to adopt Mirky, leaving only Ollie's situation currently up in the air. 

There has been pushback from current co-op participants and frustration at how the equine center, which the region’s horse enthusiasts once had high hopes for, ended up.

In a letter submitted to the newspaper by several local residents representing the friends of the NCAL Equine Center, the group said it was “saddened to hear” about the “sudden decision” to divest from the equine center.

The letter quoted testimony from 13-year-old Morristown resident Chloe DePaul, who said the equine center was the “only place in this part of Vermont with the type of programming available” where she could “learn, and grow (her) love of horses, which is (her) passion.”

The friends revealed that the anonymous donor who funded the 2019 donation of the equine center wants to purchase the property, though they continue to withhold her identity, calling on the animal league to “work with the donor to accept the offer and safeguard this invaluable and inclusive space.”

“Some people aren’t thrilled about it, and you’re never going to be able to satisfy everybody,” Du Preez. “Yes, there aren’t a ton of spaces (for horses in the area), but I will add that a number of our existing co-op members, the majority of them, have space on their own properties where they can store horses.”

Du Preez said it will be up to the league’s 12-person board of directors, who also approved the sale, to field an appropriate buyer. Though he was not aware that any buyer had made an offer, he believes there’s a strong desire to see the property remain a horse barn.

North Country Animal League services are more in demand than ever before, he said, making divesting from the equine center essential to ensuring the stability of its cat and dog adoption mission.

The league has seen more pressure since neighboring organization Lamoille Kennels stopped accepting strays picked up by animal control officers and can’t accept animals it doesn’t believe are suitable for adoption.

Just as critical as its adoption services, Du Preez contended, are the organization’s lifeline support programs for pet owners struggling to afford food and temporary kenneling for pet owners experiencing unstable housing situations.

“We are a small shelter, we can take about 25 dogs at a time,” Du Preez said. “We can’t have open kennels at a time when six and a half million animals out there need us, so by refocusing our minds, our resources, our team’s efforts, we can really just work toward helping as many of those animals as possible.”

Updated 4/16/2024 to reflect that one horse, Mirky, has been added to the list of those who will be adopted and the number of horses currently residing at the barn.