DECEMBER 2023
Note that our current email address is SpiritKeeperEquineSanctuary@gmail.com and our current website is SpiritKeeperAnimalSanctuary.org
Please use PayPal Giving Fund to make donations. PayPal Giving Fund will NOT take any fees out, the horses and other animals get 100% of your donation and PayPal Giving Fund will generate a receipt for you. We are currently making modifications and improvements to the facility for PACFA Licensing which is required of us now that we have more than 15 dogs and cats. This is not licensing we needed until we took in Sissy and Bear, two elderly Norwegian Elkhounds who were surrendered by their owners to a North Carolina shelter. After spending a year there with no adopters overcrowding placed them at risk for euthanasia. Norwegian Elkhound Rescue asked us to admit them into our sanctuary for life program and they arrived in April 2023. This does not impact horses or other livestock but impacts companion animals here such as dogs, cats, reptiles, and small pet mammals.
We began a project this summer to create an additional pasture for horses and began fence installation and ordered a loafing shed. That project is on-going, about half-way to completion, but now we have a deadline to create additional yard, shelters, and make modifications to our office and living space to be PACFA compliant. We are seeking donations specifically for this project and ask that donations be made through PayPal Giving Fund which is online, easy to use, secure, tax-deductible, will generate an automatic receipt for you and no fees are taken out, the animals receive 100% of donations made.
We are also a Chewy approved charity, so if you prefer to donation supplies directly to us we have a Chewy's Wishlist you can find at this link: https://www.chewy.com/g/spirit-keeper-animal-sanctuary_b119374783
Thank you!
We train cooperative care behaviors. Least intrusive, most effective is our policy!
We train cooperative care behaviors. Least intrusive, most effective is our policy!
Pictured above with Waylon is founding board member Jim Barrentine who puts in endless hours of physical labor at the ranch in addition to working full-time outside the ranch to financially support the non-profit which at this time is not recieving support or sufficient donations to be self-sustaining.
Pictured above with our mascot Babbie Royale Nymeris is Lori Torrini, founding board member. She is a credentialed animal trainer and behavioist with an applied science degree in zookeeping. She is a Fear Free Certified Trainer and completed the Fear Free Shelters program. 100% of money she earns through her training and behavior goes into the non-profit. Consider supportuing her Patreon at: www.Patreon.com/BehaviorEducation
"Rapture" 24 February 1982 - 26 October 2020
Our longest-lived resident, Arabian gelding.
"Rapture" 24 February 1982 - 26 October 2020
Our longest-lived resident, Arabian gelding.
Featured Article
Featured Article
Check out our Spirit Keeper Equine Sanctuary YouTube channel!
On our channel we introduce you to individual horses; and, we also post videos about our daily operations, interviews, equine educational topics, details about hay/feed, fundraising, and any current news! Like our videos and be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our channel so you don't miss out on anything! Our goal is to reach the 1000 subscriber mark which is when our non-profit can start earning revenue for ads that run before and after our videos. THANK YOU!
Featured Video: Equine Enrichment at Spirit Keeper
Featured Video: Equine Enrichment at Spirit Keeper
Resident Animals and Services
Resident Animals and Services
Spirit Keeper Equine Sanctuary is unable to admit horses into our sanctuary program at this time due to limited resources and lack of sufficient funding. Current resources and funds are being used to provide hay/feed, veterinary services, dental and hoof care to maintain our population horses and other animals. We ARE still providing special needs boarding, re-homing assistance, and training.
Although started in 2014 to be a sanctuary for special needs and at-risk equines we have been accepting other species on a case by case basis. As of November 2022 our current population of animals includes 44 horses, 15 dogs, 14 cats, and 115 reptiles. Sadly we lost our last chickens, goats, and pigs over the last two years to normal age-related causes; Cordelia, our last pot-belly pig was 19 years old.
If you would like to help we accept donations of equipment, shelters/loafing sheds, storage sheds, feed, hay, and services. Please check with us to find out about our greatest needs prior to donating. Financial donations may be made via PayPal Giving, Facebook, GoFundMe, Benevity, or direct mail. You may also choose us as your eBay, Good Search, or Amazon Smile charity!
Please consider monthly donations, if we could get 1000 people to give just $5 a month the horse's feed and hay would be covered, leaving us able to focus on dentals, additional veterinary diagnostics, facility maintenance and improvements, and equipment.
Spirit Keeper Equine Sanctuary, where we help elderly and special needs horses THRIVE!
Spirit Keeper Equine Sanctuary, where we help elderly and special needs horses THRIVE!
Pictured at left in August 2018: Brownie, age 29
Pictured at left in August 2018: Brownie, age 29
Spirit Keeper Equine Sanctuary is committed to caring for special needs equines and other species at risk of being abandoned, neglected, sold at auction, sold into the slaughter industry, or euthanized needlessly. We provide these horses and other animals with a safe place to live out the rest of their lives.
Spirit Keeper Equine Sanctuary provides the veterinary care, dental care, hoof care, individualized nutrition, enrichment, cooperative care training, and psychological support needed to ensure animals experience optimal welfare.
We offer remote and virtual education classes, workshops, and clinics in science-based animal husbandry, general animal behavior, training, basic equine behavior and handling, and animal emergency preparedness.
At-Risk Equines
At-Risk Equines
Spirit Keeper Equine Sanctuary provides a safe environment and comprehensive care for at-risk equines. These are horses in danger of slaughter, euthanasia, abandonment, abuse, and neglect. Resident equines include those that are elderly, have special nutritional requirements, chronic medical conditions, physical disabilities, psychological trauma, or behavioral issues. Their conditions typically prevent them from "wanted" by certain individuals and make them poor candidates for adoption. These animals may still enjoy an excellent quality of life when properly loved and cared for.
Other Species
Other Species
Spirit Keeper Equine provides special needs care, training, rehabilitation, and sanctuary for other animal species on a case by case basis. We are a Rocky Mountain Collie-Sheltie Rescue approved foster home. We assist by providing transport for collies and occasionally other animals from their current location to an approved rescue facility.
We currently provide for or have provided for ferrets, guinea pigs, ducks, goats, llamas, sheep, chinchillas, potbelly pigs, dogs, cats, snakes and other reptiles, chickens, parrots and other birds, fish, hamsters, gerbils, mice, rats, rabbits, and burros.
Education & Conservation
Education & Conservation
Spirit Keeper Equine Sanctuary strongly supports science-based medicine, training, animal care, husbandry, rehabilitation, behavioral research, and conservation. We are dedicated to educating our staff and volunteers, board, community members, the general public, emergency responders, and anyone working with animals.
We require all working interns and staff to complete the Fear Free Shelters program and the Animal Welfare Professional Program through SDZGA.
Just a few of the horses at Spirit Keeper
Just a few of the horses at Spirit Keeper
THANK YOU FOR VISITING OUR SITE!