The Last of the Painter Barbs

Thank you to everyone who helped get these special horses to Rosemary Farm safely. Please continue to follow the story of the Barb mares and filly on our Facebook page, along with the stories off our other 100 rescued equines. As the Barbs settle in at Rosemary Farm, learn about humans, recover and progress to being part of our larger herd, they will also have DNA testing completed to confirm identities and family connections.

UPDATE 06/22 --> THEY ARE HERE! And bonus, we learned our filly is possibly the daughter of a Painter Barb that went to All the Kings Horses Equine Rescue in Connecticut. After discussion with them, this mare has also come to Rosemary Farm to join the group. We believe in keeping family together where possible, an approach that we understand was also honored at the Painter ranch, so this is a wonderful outcome for the horses and we are grateful to all involved.

Including the original Facebook donations, we are still about $4K short of our initial goal, and the addition of the additional Barb mare will increase costs slightly so we hope #RFnation can help get us across the line. If you have already contributed to helping with this amazing project already, we thank you for making this possible.

PS. Scroll down to see PHOTOS posted at the bottom of this story.

UPDATE 06/20 --> We MET THE MATCH! Thank you to the generous donor for the $3K Matching Grant and to #RFnation donors here and on PayPal who contributed to achieve it.

A case of dire need, for one of the worlds oldest equine breeds, has been unfolding after the death of a longtime preservationist of the Barb bloodline. The death of Robert Painter, sadly without succession plans in place, left 67 of these rare horses in immediate danger. Not wild, but unhandled and lacking even halter training, many in poor health without medical care, mares in foal, babies needing to be traced back to their lineage - the case quickly escalated to the state level. The easiest way out would be hauling to auction, but rescuer Connie Moore presented a plan to provide care for them at the ranch where they lived, long enough to find homes and they could be safely removed. This incredible effort has been ongoing, straining resources and local patience. Rescues from as far away as California and Connecticut have opened their barns, as time was running out. The ranch that was home was sold to pay old debts, and a final small group of horses remaining were facing a very real tragic end.

Rosemary Farm has been watching this effort, standing on the sideline, offering to be a final safety net for those left behind; older, less flashy mares, or ones in poor condition, ones who needed us the most. It is such an enormous effort to help nearly 70 horses and as the dust settled, with the small group remaining, you know what we are going to say.... We have said YES to the very last ones!

The goals for "Operation Barb" are ambitious; this will likely be our largest rescue for 2022. We are covering the long trailer ride across the country, initial vetting and rehabilitation, and we need to open up additional area in the large mountain pasture with safe fencing to accommodate the increased herd size! Our total goal is just under $25K, to cover these three basic aspects. Then we can talk about Staydoption(TM), long term support and training, etc. (and it appears at least one of the mares enroute is in foal!). The GREAT NEWS is that via social media, we have already secured the first $10K in donations! That makes the final lift just over $14K for our success. We know with the help of #RFNation, this is possible!

We hope you are able to help us welcome the last of the Barb horses from the Painter Herd, some of just 400 remaining registered horses carrying some of the oldest recorded bloodlines in the world. (Click here for an interesting article about the breed.)

We will share their journey over the next several days leading to their arrival. We are really excited to be part of the network that has stepped in to save these special horses, and know that #RFNation will share our joy! It truly is only possible with YOU.

1/10 -- The rescue trailer loaded for the trip.

2/10 -- On the road east! Destination: Rosemary Farm!

3/10 -- Meet "Siska Dee", Barb mare. (originally identified incorrectly as "Dusky Girl")

4/10 -- Meet "Headlight", Barb mare, b 2010

5/10 -- Meet "Good Fortune", Barb mare, b 2013

6/10 -- Meet "Got Time", Barb mare, b 2010

7/10 -- Meet the yearling filly!

8/10 -- Dinner in Ohio; last stop before Rosemary Farm!

9/10 -- Got Time and the group have breakfast before loading for the final leg of the trip.

10/10 -- Home at last at Rosemary Farm, the family settles in Finn's Field!