Nonprofit tries to help Breathitt County feral horses

BREATHITT COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) – Earlier this week, FOX 56 reported an ongoing feral horse problem in Breathitt and surrounding counties.

In that previous report, we shared how some in Breathitt County believe groups like Appalachian Horse Project don’t actually care for the horses in the area.

“There wasn’t really help in eastern Kentucky for those horses,” said Shauneece Wade. “Some of the horses originally began on that mountain as being owned horses that the horse owner had an agreement with the landowner, to where they were allowed to put their horse on that land to let them graze.”

Wade is the Executive Director for Appalachian Horse Project, one of a few organizations working to help care for these feral horses.

Wade said the problem, however, has gotten out of hand with more than 300 horses in the area.

Through providing food and other medical treatment, Wade said the non-profit’s goal is simple.

“Our goal over the years has been to manage the population in a way that would allow them to remain free on the mountain,” Wade explained.

The organization was founded in 2016.

Since those early days, Wade said the Appalachian Horse Project did once have a positive relationship with county leaders, but things have grown more challenging over the last year.

“The county is standing fast, that you know, that the horses have become such an issue for some of the community that they prefer to just have them all removed.”

As a solution, Wade said she and her team have requested permission to take up some of the horses, remove them, and give them a healthier, more permanent living situation.

However, some in the community are not on board, and to them, Wade said, all they have to do is ask.

“Every penny of money that Appalachian Horse Project has collected through those tours, or through any donations from any individual who has gone back into that welfare fund,” Wade outlined. “Anyone who wants to know anything about the money that we’ve collected or where we have spent it is more than welcome to ask us for our financial records.”

Up until recently, Appalachian Horse Project offered tours for folks to see the horses, with portions of the fee associated going toward helping the horses, and the rest going toward the guide.

Despite not being able to take a tour, you still can donate to the organization’s website to help the horses.

One major hurdle in caring for these horses, Wade said, has been laws surrounding ownership.

“Statutes that are written regarding a stray horse are written more towards owned horses that escape from their pasture,” Wade detailed. “There’s not really any laws to help protect the horses or to allow the process for removal of the horse whenever you follow that stray hold process that’s required, it’s very stringent. There’s a lot of red tape.”

FOX 56 News reached back out to Breathitt County Judge Executive Jeff Noble on Wednesday.

We were told he didn’t have a comment at this time, but the county is working on a solution for the problem and will have more information in a few weeks.

To learn more about the Appalachian Horse Project, you can do so here.