After seeing coverage of the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene, two horsewomen in different states had the same thought: They had to help other farmers and horse owners like themselves.
Each took action, independent of each other.
In Maryland, Deana Tice, of En-Tice-Ment Stables in Harwood, figured she’d load up two 30-foot trailers with needed supplies for horses and their owners.
“Currently, we’ll be loading up five trailers, plus a tractor-trailer load of supplies to take down to Canton, North Carolina,” Tice said. They’ll be bringing it to stockyards that will serve as a staging area for distribution to people who need everything from hay to chain saws.
“We’re taking generators, we’re taking chain saws, we’re taking fencing, so they can rebuild their fencing,” she said. “We just kind of thought about what are the needs of any farm, so that’s what we’re doing.”
But Tice and her team weren’t operating in a vacuum.
“We’ve been in daily contact with the stockyards in Canton, North Carolina, who have been telling me what their needs are,” said Tice.
Go-time for the team from En-Tice-Ment will come at 3 a.m. Thursday, said Tice. She hopes that the team will be able to unload all their donated goods before dark on Thursday.
“Then, our group will stay on Friday to help for the day,” and then drive back on Saturday, she said.
Tice explained that as a horse owner and farmer: “I certainly can’t imagine what they’re going through in North Carolina, so we wanted to make sure that we could help them as much as possible.”
Veteran horse rescuer says he’s never seen anything like this
Ann Mercer has been involved in horse rescue in Virginia with her Gingersnap Girls Equine Education and Rescue Foundation for 21 years. The name stems from three horses — Chrissy, Calypso and Flag — whose favorite snacks included the spiced cookies.
Mercer said her volunteers have already been down and back to Georgia and North Carolina.
“We’ve been two times and the guys are leaving again on Thursday,” she said.
She said on the first two trips, her team delivered nearly 700 bales of hay, dog and cat food and some hygiene supplies.
The next run will include another 300 bales of hay and large jugs of water — the kind that are used for coolers. Mercer explained the water will be especially useful, because even when water service is restored, it’s likely that residents will have to boil the water until it’s determined safe.
“When people have kennels and stables and stuff, they don’t have the facility to boil that much water for animals,” she said.
Mercer said volunteers with her organization were struck by the reaction of the recipients of the donations. They were reluctant to take “too much,” said Mercer.
“They just wanted to make sure that there was going to be enough for everybody. That just really touched me,” she added.
Another thing that’s made an impression on Mercer was the reaction from her volunteers: “All three (are) retired military, and two of them have been in two wars,” and one of them told her he’d never seen anything like the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.
Mercer said she’s happy to help others, but that the supporters of her rescue, along with her volunteers, have made all the difference: “I would not have been able to do it if not for them.”
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