Neglected Powell Butte horses moved again

Robbie Kirzy from Kirzy’s Place Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation took in 37 neglected horses in May. But she soon found out it was too much to handle for a start-up center.

So she, along with the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, took the horses to another place.

A total of 33 horses from the Powell Butte case remain in the hands of the volunteers at Equine Outreach, while the other four remain at Kirzy’s place.

And everyone involved hopes this is the final chapter in this long saga.

When Crook County was looking for someone to adopt the neglected horses from a Powell Butte ranch, Robbie Kirzy stepped up.

“I didn’t want them to go to slaughter,” Kirzy said Monday, explaining that she was just trying to do a good thing.

“I just figured, ‘You know what? I can feed them all, and I can do what I can?'” Kirzy said.

But since opening the center with her husband Bill in February, Kirzy didn’t realize how much work it would take for such a new place.

“I thought, ‘Well I’m not established enough to actually take in that many horses all at once,'” Kirzy said. “We are used to doing one or two at a time, not thirty-some horses.”

Kirzy said the county promised her some help with hay and medical costs, but it was not enough.

“We’re just overwhelmed,” Kirzy said. “We’re new — we don’t have the medical facilities like Equine Outreach had.”

So after working with Crook County officials and Equine Outreach, 33 of the horses are now at the Bend facility, where they are receiving food, love and care.”

“It’s kind of exciting to know theres going to be an end to this story,” Equine Outreach owner Joan Steelhammer said.

Steelhammer has been watching the case unfold, and while she never wishes for more horses to rehabilitate, she’s glad to have the opportunity.

“At the end of the day, they’re happy,” Steelhammer said. “They’re in a pasture, they are getting three meals a day, and we kind of consider us an expert in rehabilitation.”

And Kirzy is happy too with the new homes for the other horses, but she still retains four of the horses that she calls her babies.

Now Steelhammer’s team is in charge.

“I feel really confident that they are going to be feeling good and looking good,” Steelhammer said. “And I guess that’s a happy ending.”

Steelhammer says she believes in just 30 days, the horses will be gorgeous and ready for somebody — like you — to open their homes to some of them.

She also says she could use some hay donations.

If you would like to donate you can reach Equine Outreach at 541-419-4842 or visit their Website at www.equineoutreach.com