Connecticut Horse Draft fundraises for new home

EAST HAMPTON — A group of associated with a local nonprofit that works with retired, abused and neglected equines has found a new location to continue helping horses in need.

When volunteers at Connecticut Draft Horse Rescue got the news earlier this year they could no longer stay at the farm in Haddam Neck they had been calling home, they immediately began searching for other options, according to a press release from Eversource. In April, the nonprofit found a plot of land on Chestnut Hill Road in East Hampton to lease, but volunteers had to start from the ground up to get the operation up and running.

“It was nothing but a hayfield and brush,” CDHR volunteer Kim Weglinski said in a prepared statement. “All of us came in and started clearing the land and building the fencing and paddocks. It was a lot of work that took hours and hours, but it’s been a labor of love.”

Eversource recently supported CDHR’s initiatives with a donation to help complete its goals at the new farm, the release continued.

The group is dedicated to saving the lives of draft horses that were abused, bound for slaughter or neglected, according to the press release. CDHR Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Stacey Golub, along with volunteers who care

“This has really been a community effort. It takes an entire village. We couldn’t do this without our volunteers and without sponsors like Eversource. We are able to do what we do because of the support we have in the community.” Dr. Stacey Golub,CDHR founder and executive director

for the horse’s physical and mental well-being, help train and rehabilitate them. When the horses have recovered and are stable, they are put up for adoption and placed in loving homes, according to the organization.

Since its inception in 2011, CDHR has rescued and placed more than 70 horses and is now caring for 15 others.

“This has really been a community effort,” Golub said in the statement. “It takes an entire village. We couldn’t do this without our volunteers and without sponsors like Eversource. We are able to do what we do because of the support we have in the community.”

“Connecticut Draft Horse Rescue has such a dedicated, passionate group of volunteers who make every effort to help horses in need,” Eversource Community Relations Specialist Pat Bandzes said in the release. “We’re committed to serving the neighborhoods where we work and live, and supporting their new endeavor in East Hampton is a great way to give back to our community.”

CDHR, which is continuing fundraising efforts with a new campaign called Drive for 85, hopes to raise $85,000 for a down payment to purchase the land and eventually build a new barn. For information, visit ctdraftrescue.com.

Courtesy Eversource Connecticut Draft Horse Rescue in East Hampton has raised enough funds to purchase property and build a barn at a new location.

In April, the nonprofit found a plot of land on Chestnut Hill Road in East Hampton to lease.