San Mateo County’s largest horse-rescue program was ridden out
of town late last month when it lost an agreement to lease 30 acres
of prime ranch land near Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
Julia Scott
San Mateo County’s largest horse-rescue program was ridden out of town late last month when it lost an agreement to lease 30 acres of prime ranch land near Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
Monica Gavin, founder and director of the nonprofit Equine Rescue Center, was preparing to move her stable of 26 horses and three donkeys to the new pastureland when the owners told her they had changed their mind about leasing out the land. Faced with losing a home for the animals, which live on a few acres south of Pescadero, Gavin scrambled and found a new property – near Hollister.
As of Monday, most of the horses and donkeys had already been hauled away. Gavin, a Montara resident, will live with her young daughter in a house on the 3,000-acre property. Her husband will commute from the Bay Area every few days.
Gavin blames the Bay Area’s astronomical property prices, even to lease ranch land, for the decision to leave. “I couldn’t find land – I tried everything I could,” she said.
There are only a couple of minor horse-rescue operations on the San Mateo County coast, but they don’t have enough land to let the horses run free and have to make ends meet by using the horses for riding lessons and other activities.
Gavin said her head is spinning from the pace at which she’s been uprooted. But she’s not the only one. Losing the Equine Rescue Center will disappoint some school-age children who got scholarships to attend horse camp for two weeks in August.
The program was a partnership with Puente de la Costa Sur, a Pescadero-based charity. The Equine Rescue Center also worked with children with disabilities.
Gavin hopes to launch similar programs at the new site near Hollister, along with on-site camping. Hollister’s temperate weather is better for the horses, many of which have arthritis. The sheer vastness of the property will permit the nonprofit to save more horses from dangerous and abusive situations.
“It’s a big change, but we’ll make it work,” Gavin said.
Look for more in the Free Lance on Tuesday.
