Mindy Lovell nears $10K goal, donors from afar

One of Mindy Lovell’s 43 rescued Thoroughbreds enjoys a roll on her farm in Ontario

A few weeks after launching a fundraiser to keep her 43 rescued T’breds fed through the brutally cold Canadian winter, Ontario equine advocate Mindy Lovell announced she is 80 percent to her goal of $10,000.

As of Dec. 11, The Transitions Thoroughbreds Fall 2013 Fundraiser has brought in approximately $8,200 in donations, with donors sending checks and email transfers from as far away as New Zealand, Australia and Europe, and also from those inside the racing industry, as well as horse fans, and personal friends, she says.

“I got a letter and a donation from a lady whose husband had worked at a racetrack for 50 years,” says Lovell, noting that all the donations, large and small, have made a tremendous difference in her effort to care for and re-home Thoroughbreds she has rescued from the slaughter pipeline.

If her fundraiser makes it to the goal, the funds will carry her 43 horses through the hardest part of the year, when revenues from sales and adoptions are at their lowest ebb.

Blanketed, fluffy horses enjoy the snow at Mindy Lovell’s Ontario re-homing farm

With the arrival of Spring, based on past trends, she expects to continue to sell horses to good homes, and diminish the herd that has already been reduced from a peak of 90 animals.

Lovell is a longtime horsemen who began rescuing slaughter-bound Thoroughbreds from a feedlot situated near her Ontario home, a mere 30 miles from the slaughterhouse.

Over the years she has rescued and re-homed many animals who were suffering greatly, including Press Exclusive, a big-winning race mare and prolific broodmare. Press Exclusive fell and was trampled in a truckload of horses on its way to the slaughterhouse before Lovell intervened and saved her. Please see the related story in Off-TrackThoroughbreds.com.

The Transitions Thoroughbreds Fall 2013 Fundraiser will use new donations specifically to purchase hay and grain for her rescue animals.

Thrilled with the response she is getting, Lovell says, “Donations are still coming in, and I have some promised checks. It will certainly make the winter much easier if we get to our goal.”

Those wishing to donate to Mindy Lovell are invited to do so through the Transitions Thoroughbreds Fall 2013 Fundraiser by clicking this link.