Each week, 3 Sisters Equine Refuge receives five to six requests to surrender from horse owners around the state who can no longer care for their horses. According to Board President Amber Holm, they often have to turn them down. Volunteers are currently caring for 30 rescue horses, many of which are high needs. Some are in permanent sanctuary.
“Some of them are adoptable to the perfect home, but they have needs that maybe not every home can meet,” Holm explains. “Then some of them are ‘sanctuary,’ which means they can’t be adopted. They have needs that the rescue has to meet to know that they’re taken care of. And then there are adoptable horses.”
Cash is the refuge’s most adoptable horse. He came to them as a three-year-old, non-branded Bureau of Land Management mustang gelding from Paisley who’s had a lot of handling.
“He’s an orphan. Sometimes BLM calls us and they’re like, ‘We have this orphan.’ Now he’s four and well under saddle and doing lovely,” Holm says. “So he’s a great prospect of adoptability for the right rider, who probably needs to be an advanced rider for a young horse.”
Many of the horses at 3 Sisters can’t be ridden and are better suited as pasture pets. Most are wild, coming from BLM horse roundups, the Warm Springs Indian Reservation or removed from what Holm calls a “slaughter pipeline,” heading for Mexico or Canada. Horses are housed at foster ranches throughout Deschutes County. Volunteers work with each one for however long it takes.
“At 3 Sisters we really believe in a kindness-based method and not forceful training. So it can be one horse that could take a month, one could take a couple days, especially if they’ve had previous exposures along the way or they didn’t have a bad experience that tarnished their view of humans. Other horses…might be older or were wild longer.” Some horses take a year, she said.
The adoption process is stringent to ensure horses are placed in the right homes. The refuge requires updates annually to ensure horses continue being properly cared for over the course of their lifetimes.
Holm was a competitive dressage rider as a kid but didn’t get involved in horse rescue until someone took her to the annual Boots and Bourbon fundraiser a few years ago. “That was a really big eye-opening event where they played a video,” Holm says. “And I was like, I have to get involved. And then I got really involved.” Holms took in a couple of foster horses and did some social media at first, then ended up remodeling her barn and fields spread out over 52 acres to accommodate wild horses, training and hosting events.
Walking around the property, it’s clear the horses know and adore Holm, as each one walked over to nuzzle her.
Three Sisters Equine is 100% volunteer based. Holm says donations have been down, but their expenses haven’t, making the Boots and Bourbon dinner and auction fundraiser on Oct. 18 more important this year.
More Central Oregon rescues
There are other horse rescue groups in Central Oregon, each one filling a niche. Equine Outreach takes in older horses, many of which are 20 years old. They may be abused, neglected or medically compromised. Most of the animals are sanctuary or hospice horses remaining in the nonprofit’s care. Others may be adopted to the right home. Equine Outreach currently has 11 horses under its care. Most of the horses are either surrendered by owners who can no longer care for them, or they come from the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, which seizes horses in cases of neglect or abuse. All of the horses at Equine Outreach are available for adoption, but none are rideable. Executive Director and Board President Kurtis Hooley says most stay with the rescue until the end of life.
“Our agency primarily focuses on the elderly horses, which are wonderful companion horses or family pets,” Hooley told the Source. “Just like any animal, the older they get, the more challenging it is to take care of them, including medical issues and changes in dietary requirements.”
Finding a home that can meet the needs of a rescue horse can be challenging. Many cannot be ridden. Hooley says a rescue horse can cost between $5,000 to $7,500 a year for grain, hay, farriers, veterinarian care, medications and other horse-related items. And that’s without major medical expenses.
The relationship between volunteers and rescue horses is personal.
“Those who volunteer with us truly love these animals with all their heart, and the horses do the same in return,” Hooley says. The harmony the rescue horses at Equine Outreach are now experiencing comes through in the photos. The horses really like to mug for the camera.
Just like 3 Sisters Equine Refuge, Equine Outreach couldn’t survive without volunteers and donations.
“The people brave every weather condition, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day,” Hooley says. “Also, we are 100% supported by donations. We do not have, at this time, any endowments or benefactors to support us.”
Each of the horse rescues in Central Oregon were founded as a result of a crisis. The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office, which also rescues neglected horses, has a similar situation, though with DCSO, the crises sometimes result in criminal charges against the owner. In April of 2024, 15 horses were seized from a Bend ranch and taken to the Sheriff’s rescue ranch. In August, one of the horses, Easter, was adopted by Equine Outreach. Two other horses, including Molina, a 23-year-old Quarter horse mare, and Bub, a 14-year-old quarter horse gelding, are listed on the Sheriff’s site as available for adoption. The Sheriff’s office performs background checks, site inspections and spot checks to ensure horses are being properly cared for after being adopted. The Sheriff’s rescue ranch also has other animals from neglect cases available for adoption, including goats, chickens, roosters and ducks.
Back at 3 Sisters Equine Refuge, Holm and her volunteers are always on the move. She, like others involved in rescues, is on a mission to not only save horses, but grow public support, hosting educational events at her property. “[I want to] really get everybody involved in learning how to support horses in the best way possible for the horses.”
Update: Shortly after this article was first published, Amber Holm stepped down from 3 Sisters Equine Refuge and started her own endeavor, The Sanctuary at Varekai Ranch. Two of the horses featured in the article, Birch and Cash, are now under her care. More information can be found at: varekairanch.com/sanctuary .
This article appears in Central Oregon Pets Fall 2025.
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