For the last 12 years, Ball Ground-based Equine Advocates of North Georgia has been rescuing horses from abuse, neglect and slaughter. The demand for the nonprofit’s services has only increased in more recent times due to the down economy.

“Right now, with the economy being bad, (people) can’t really afford to feed them, so they’re either starved or they’re neglected, or they’ve been abused,” said Lynley Edwards, who is executive director and the founder of the organization. “A lot of the time, the public gives us the tips. We’ll get different calls from all over. People will call in and say there are some starved horses and somebody needs to do something.”

SPECIAL Volunteer Shannon Perkins gives Penny, an abused horse that was rehabilitated, some love.

Staff members who volunteer for Equine Advocates of North Georgia will oftentimes call the owners of the horses in question who will tell them they can’t afford to keep the animal anymore. The organization currently is raising money to support taking in horses that are impounded by the state Department of Agriculture.

“They have the same basic problem,” Edwards said. “Let’s say the horses are starving and someone won’t voluntarily release the animals. (The Department of Agriculture) has to send an investigator out … some (owners) comply and some don’t.”

The state is so overwhelmed with impounded horses, that when they don’t sell at monthly auctions, horse rescue groups like Equine Advocates of North Georgia are contacted.

“The state can’t hardly give them away,” she said. “The auction in October, I think they couldn’t even sell them for $10.”

Edwards started Equine Advocates of North Georgia after she learned of horses that were bred for medical purposes. An estrogen cream for women called Premarin, she said, is made from pregnant horses’ urine in Canada.

“They were forced to be impregnated in order to capture the urine from a pregnant mare, so the foals they produce are basically considered a byproduct, and they’re unwanted and they are slaughtered and shipped overseas for meat, for countries such as Japan, Belgium, France and others that actually eat horse meat,” she said. “So, I rescued and brought foals from Canada.”

One that she kept, a four-month-old, received training and went on to become a grand champion. The organization grew from there, taking in local horses that were abused and neglected. Penny was one such horse — badly abused, injured and left for dead because the owner didn’t want to provide the treatment she needed for life-threatening injuries. Since Equine Advocates took her in, she continued to thrive from rehabilitation.

“We are completely anti-horse slaughter for human consumption,” Edwards added. She said she’s disappointed in the U.S. ban that recently was lifted that allows slaughtering to occur in the country, after a five-year prohibition, and shipping of horse meat overseas.

Many of the horses Equine Advocates takes in have extensive medical problems, like one that was picked up a couple months ago from a home that had been foreclosed on. Edwards said the water had been shut off and the horse was basically stranded, in “deplorable” condition, with ringworm and a degenerative condition on his back feet. The organization works with a Canton veterinary office, Horner & Nash, and particularly Dr. Megan Kraski, who has been treating the rescue group’s horses for the past 12 years of its history.

Equine Advocates has a farm in Ball Ground, with a barn, pasture land for the horses to roam, a pen for training and a paddock.

“We are basically run with four people: two people on the board of directors, myself and a volunteer coordinator, and everyone else is a volunteer,” said Edwards, who’s day job is as a paralegal, adding that a couple attorneys are part of the board. “It’s all unpaid work that we do; no one takes a salary for this.”

SPECIAL Volunteers stand with two rescued miniature horses at a recent fundraiser for Equine Advocates of North Georgia, held at Sacketts Western Wear, Tack & Feed in Jasper.

Currently, 11 horses reside there. Other horses are fostered out, and a store, Horse Crazy Couture, selling all things “equine” raises money for the group’s operation. The store is also where those interested can find out more information about adoption.

“Some are adoptable, some aren’t. It just depends on their condition,” Edwards said. “Some have medical problems, some are lame and suffer from arthritic conditions in their legs, so they’re not really ‘rideable’ type of horses.”

But, horses such as those are perfect for educational purposes with children.

“We have a volunteer program with kids where they can walk them and pet them and learn about the horses, which is really positive,” she said.

Located at 9972 Ball Ground Hwy., in downtown Ball Ground, Horse Crazy Couture is the chief fundraising source for Equine Advocates, aside from other fundraisers.

“It was set up to help fund the rescue operation because it is costly,” Edwards said. “We have to have several horse trailers to pick up the horses. Sometimes we’ll get calls on the other side of the state. Most of the money that we raised through the store and our other fundraising efforts, we’ve put 100 percent back into every horse to treat it medically.”

Other costs include farrier work, such as corrective trimming or shoeing the horse’s feet because they are in such bad shape.

Edwards said it can be a challenge to place even horses that can be ridden because of boarding costs the animals require.

“They may want it, but if you’re going to board a horse, it’s going to cost money to have it boarded,” she said. “Problem is, a lot of people don’t have the land or facility. North Georgia, fortunately we’ve been really lucky because a lot of the people do have land or they will take another horse or they’ll take one as a companion horse, so that’s really good.”

Horse Crazy Couture sells a variety of horse-related merchandise, from consignment saddles to show clothes, horse blankets, lounge pillows and novelty and gift items such as sweatshirts, T-shirts, bedspreads, jewelry and even Christmas stockings.

The store is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Call (678) 454-32-1 or visit the shop’s Facebook page by putting “Horse Crazy Couture” in the search bar.

For information about the rescue organization or adoption, call 1-800-976-9192.