All Breed Equine Rez-Q Must Find New Home

Location of over a decade to be sold in the spring 

The Marysville non-profit equine rescue that has been a haven to unwanted and abused horses for nearly 20 years must move by the spring because its lease will not be renewed and the property will be put up for sale.

“This is a big deal with 23 horses and everything that goes with that,” said Dale Squeglia, All Breed’s executive director. “Finding a new home is not like looking in the classified ads for apartments!”

While spring is a few months away, the complication of the move has led Squeglia and her volunteers to jump into action to deal with the move. At this point, two options drive their planning:

Option One – hope that someone steps forward and donates property already set up for horses, such as a riding stable or horse farm.

“This would be the simplest option and would allow us to start with a good foundation and use funds we raise to make any improvements that are needed,” Squeglia said. “If it was in the general vicinity, we could continue to serve the community that we have been a part of for nearly 20 years, as one of the few remaining equine rescues left in Snohomish County.”

Option Two – develop 62 acres of land donated to All Breed by a generous supporter. This is undeveloped land with only an interior road, a well and power, the latter two Squeglia personally funded. Everything else would have to be constructed, including fences, barns, volunteer staff housing, etc.

“Option Two was on a slow track until we found out about losing our current location,” she said. “Now, pending another surprise – like Option One – we feel our backs are against the proverbial wall and we need to seriously speed up development of this land.”

Squeglia said she and her volunteers are conflicted by the thought of leaving the Snohomish County community, although All Breed has donors from all over Washington state and even out of the state.

“But we do need to move forward for the good of our horses, ponies, and donkeys,” she said.

At this point, a rough estimate of the cost to develop the property based on the rescue’s current equine population is $150,000. This would buy a 4-6 stall barn, 20 fenced paddocks with enclosed stalls, a hay storage structure, a garage/shop building, and a mobile home for volunteer staff. The size of the property would allow for future expansion on an as needed basis.

Squeglia issued a thanks to all who have contributed to All Breed in the past.

“We hope you will be willing to help us in the future as we embark on the process of pursuing one of these two options for a new home, where our abused, neglected, and unwanted horses can live out their days with love and protection from our unpaid staff and volunteers.

“With help from our donors, we know there is a solution on the horizon and that we will be able to continue to care for these beautiful creatures that have given us so much and expected so little in return,” she said.

Donations may be made to All Breed Equine Rez-Q, P.O. Box 442, Snohomish, WA 98291, or via All Breed’s website at allbreedhorserescue.com. All Breed Equine Rez-Q is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit charitable organization

All Breed Equine Rez-Q raising funds for horse quarantine station

Sienna is fed by Colleen Chamberlain, weekend manager of the All Breed Equine Rez-Q, during its July 12 Kit-N-Kaboodle.— image credit: Kirk Boxleitner
Sienna is fed by Colleen Chamberlain, weekend manager of the All Breed Equine Rez-Q, during its July 12 Kit-N-Kaboodle.
— image credit: Kirk Boxleitner

By Kirk Boxleitner, The Marysville Globe

MARYSVILLE — Organizers deemed the All Breed Equine Rez-Q’s July 12 Kit-N-Kaboodle barbecue and raffle a success, but more fundraisers are needed, so an Aug. 16 open house at 2415 116th St. NE is planned.

Dale Squeglia, founder and president of the nonprofit group, explained that it needs a horse quarantine station that will cost about $20,000.

“And we’re not even close to having that amount of money,” said Squeglia, who pointed out that it costs $8,000 just to supply the horse rescue with enough hay for a year. “Our hay loft is almost down to nothing right now.”

One of the horses that will benefit from the horse quarantine station is Biscuit, whom volunteer Colbie Cooper explained is a descendant of the famous racehorse Seabiscuit.

Cooper gave visitors guided tours of the horse rescue’s stalls and pastures during the Kit-N-Kaboodle, and elaborated on the other needs faced by the horses.

“Blackberry is a miniature donkey who might be pregnant, so we need to have that checked out,” Cooper said. “If it’s a boy, we should call it Boysenberry.”

Sienna is a Western Trail riding horse who’s spent the past several months recovering from being ridden with a leg injury for years, while Toffee suffered from severe obesity. Many of the rescue’s horses, including Jim and Lucy, were abused by their former owners, while others were surrendered to the rescue because their owners no longer had the time or money to care for them.

In addition to money, the horse rescue could always use more volunteers like Cooper, who can be trained to perform basic tasks such as feeding and watering the horses, cleaning stalls, grooming and exercising them, sweeping the barn and cleaning the grounds.

For more information, log onto www.allbreedhorserescue.com.