Project ComeBack

08/26/2026

Last week we had 2 groups come out to our MA location from VanGarden to volunteer! They did a lot of gardening tasks, fence replacement and maintenance. Plus many small jobs that have added up recently, and preparing the space for our veteran weekend.

Thank you all so much!

08/21/2026

Kele update after another visit with Essential Touch Equine Therapy:
“Good afternoon! I am so amazed at the progress Kele makes every month!!! Today he let me touch him everywhere and he felt safe enough to eat his breakfast while I worked on him. (If you remember when she started he would only allow her to touch his head) I was able to get castor oil on both sides, including right stifle and both hamstrings. He also rested his right hind a few times, which means he was full weight bearing on his left! He has a long life ahead!”

We spoke bit more and she went on to say:

“I can honestly say that I don’t feel pain when I touch him. Slight discomfort in the muscles that work extra but only when I put a little too much pressure. I feel gratitude from him, especially this session, when I allow him to lead the session. When I saw him weight bearing and resting the opposite foot, I knew progress was being made. That’s not from pain, that’s from finally being able to feel a shift in his pelvis enough to trust that his left side is stable.”

While he still has a ways to go before he’s considered fully healed, we are grateful that forward progress is clear and continues to be made ❤️‍🩹

08/19/2026

Poppy and Willow had their first photo shoot today, donated by Sarah Parker Photo 📸

We could use some help towards this very unexpected miracle and the vet bills that came along with saving her mama’s life.

If you saw our post yesterday you know that Willow wasn’t able to pass the placenta on her own within the critical 3 hour window after birth.

This led to a very long day of monitoring and emergency veterinarian guided doses of oxytocin and antibiotics.

Baby Poppy also needed an e***a to pass her first meconium, as she was straining and pushing for hours with no luck of passing it on her own.

We are so blessed to be able to provide lifesaving care to our mustangs, especially these completely unhandled ones, and we can’t do that without the continued support of the people who believe in us.

If you can’t donate that’s ok, don’t forget the power of interacting with this post and sharing Willow & Poppy’s story!

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to them so far. It means so much to us.

And to Footloose Veterinary Services for always being there at a moments notice!

PayPal: [email protected]
CashApp: $HelpProjectComeBack
Venmo: (business account only)

08/18/2026

Willow is a local SC mustang who was struggling to adjust to domestic life. She had been on our waitlist for months, with her owner patiently waiting and wanting what was best for her.

After completing our fence repair project, we were finally able to bring Willow to our sanctuary in July.

And then yesterday, to our utter surprise, we discovered a tiny filly by her side.

Freshly born and still a little wet. And, incredibly, the same volunteer who found baby Briar four months ago was the one who discovered this little foal too.

Poppy’s birth day was just as eventful as baby Briar’s…If you remember, Briar was also a surprise birth, and just hours after being born, he fell into a drainage ditch and needed to be rescued.

Apparently, we have a bit of a tradition going!

Unfortunately, Willow’s delivery came with some complications. She struggled to pass her placenta within the critical three-hour window.

With the help of Footloose Veterinary Services and our incredible team, we were able to safely administer three rounds of oxytocin and a dose of antibiotics using our dart gun.

Because our mustangs are allowed to remain unhandled, we have to be prepared for emergencies that would be much simpler to treat in a domesticated horse.

Darting is not something we use casually or as a substitute for handling. Our dart gun is an emergency tool used under veterinary direction when a horse cannot be safely approached.

Proper dart placement, medication, dosage, and monitoring are critical, and these decisions are always made with our veterinarian.

The goal is to minimize stress and avoid unnecessary physical restraint while still being able to provide lifesaving care when an emergency arises.

This is one of the reasons we work so hard to preserve the trust of our mustangs. We don’t believe they need to be forced into submission in order to receive care. Trust is built slowly, without force or an agenda, with the help of our incredible team and military veteran volunteers.

Poppy needed a little help too.

She was struggling to pass her first meconium. Poppy received a Fleet e***a, provided by our veterinarian, she was able to pass it immediately and is doing well.

Willow has now completely passed her placenta and is receiving another round of antibiotics. Because she retained her placenta for so long, infection is our biggest concern right now, so we are keeping a very close eye on her.

Our veterinarian believes Willow may have stood up quickly during the birth, causing the placenta to tear high. This left the portion that remained hanging outside of her much thinner and lighter than normal. Usually, the weight of the placenta helps it continue to pass naturally.

Not every facility or farm is equipped to care for unhandled feral horses, particularly when an emergency arises. We are incredibly grateful to have the veterinary support, equipment, experience, and people necessary to care for them when they need us most.

After the surprise birth of baby Briar, I truly never imagined we’d experience something like this again. It felt like a once in a lifetime thing to rescue an unknown pregnant mare.

And yet, here we are. Another unexpected miracle.

Welcome to the world, Poppy.

If you’d like to help us care for this very unexpected little miracle, and the mustang mama who brought her here, we’d be incredibly grateful for your support.

PayPal: [email protected]
CashApp: $HelpProjectComeBack
Venmo:

08/17/2026

For the past two years, we’ve been proud to partner with Equine International Research Institute at our Holliston, MA location to provide meaningful equine experiences for veterans. This weekend, we welcomed veterans from Irreverent Warriors for an experience focused on connection, equine well-being, and human well-being.

Thanks to our partnership with EI, our programming is grounded in One Health/One Welfare and emerging research on equine behavior and well-being, creating opportunities for horses and humans to build relationships that are meaningful and mutually enriching.

We’re already looking forward to seeing this weekend’s participants at our ongoing Veteran Enrichment Team meetups, where those relationships and experiences can continue to grow.

A huge thank you to Yale Appliance Foundation for supporting this programming, the Muffin House Cafe in Medway for keeping us fueled, Warrior Within Yoga Project for joining us for yoga and mindfulness, and Breezy Hill Farm for continuing to provide the space that makes this work possible.

We’re so grateful to all of our partners, and especially grateful to the veterans who continue to show up, connect, and engage with our herd.

08/13/2026

Two veteran drop-in / enrichment days a week are keeping our Massachusetts team very busy this year!

In addition to those weekly sessions, we also offer immersive weekend programs for larger groups. This weekend, we’ll be hosting one of those events in partnership with Equine International Research Institute, Irreverent Warriors, and Warrior Within Yoga Project

All of our veteran programming is offered at no cost to the veteran, but for us, the cost per veteran is $250 per day for these larger weekend events.

Thanks to the generosity of the Yale Appliance Foundation, four veterans are already fully sponsored for this weekend!

If you’re able, please share this post to help us find sponsors for the remaining veterans. If your employer or company supports veteran initiatives, we’d love for you to share our work with them as well.

Every share helps us reach more people, sponsor more veterans, and continue this work.

To donate directly to this upcoming program, please visit: https://www.paypal.com/donate?campaign_id=WWT52PDPEF95W

08/07/2026

Please share for our upcoming veteran event in MA!

We bring veterans together using humor and camaraderie to improve mental health and prevent veteran su***de.

08/06/2026

These little hitchhikers aren’t just along for the ride, they’re also getting free snacks.

As the horses move through the pasture, they stir up insects from the grass, giving birds an easy meal. Some birds will even pick ticks and other parasites off the horses.

We are seeing this symbiotic relationship all over the farm and it’s too cute not to share 🐦 🐴

07/31/2026

Honey & Mocha Update: These are the two neglected horses who were found running loose through our neighboring town of Darlington, SC.

They’ve graduated from our small medical paddock into a much larger pasture with fresh grass, a herd to make social bonds with, and plenty of room to move.

Both girls are making progress, with Honey gaining weight a little faster than Mocha (and we just figured out why).

This week we noticed a lump had formed on the side of Mocha’s face (photo 3). During her dental exam last month, our veterinarian noted that a tooth on the right side seemed to be bothering her. After another exam yesterday we discovered the cause, it was broken.

The team at Footloose Veterinary Services did everything they could to remove it, but they’ll need some additional equipment to safely extract the remaining portion.

There’s also a chance it could work its way out on its own before they’re back, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on her and will keep everyone updated.

Her exam also revealed several small, movable bony pieces along her spine. We’ve included one of her X-rays because we know many of you enjoy following their medical journeys (photo 4).

At this point we’re not entirely sure what these fragments are, but we’ll continue monitoring them and share any new information as we learn more.

Honey and Mocha have come so far in such a short time, and we’d love for them to have their very first sponsor families. Sponsors receive updates on the horse they support and help make their ongoing care possible.

If you’re in our South Carolina community and have been thinking about sponsoring a rescue horse, Honey or Mocha would love to have you in their corner.

And if you know a local business that might be interested in sponsoring two hometown rescue horses who were saved from the streets of Darlington, we’d be incredibly grateful if you’d share their story.

PayPal: [email protected]
CashApp: $HelpProjectComeBack
Venmo: (BUSINESS ACCOUNT ONLY!)