Giving Horses Hope, One Rescue at a Time
Since 2005, Gerda's Equine Rescue has saved more than 2,000 horses, minis, and long-ears.
Horse Rescue Adoption
Every horse on our Adopt page is listed with their name, breed, sex, and age — start there to see who's ready to come home.
Horse Foster Program
Fostering gives a rescued horse a safe, loving place to land while a permanent home is found.
Volunteer
Hands-on help at the barn in the southern Vermont hills makes a direct difference for horses pulled from auction.
Visit
Come stay the weekend at the farm and meet the horses that Gerda's Equine Rescue has brought back from the road to slaughter.
Rescue Horses Pulled From Auction
A Vermont 501(c)(3) saving horses, minis, and long-ears since 2005
Gerda's Equine Rescue works from a barn in the southern Vermont hills, intercepting horses at auction before they board the transport to slaughter in Mexico and Canada. Since 2005, GER has rescued, rehabilitated, and rehomed more than 2,000 horses, minis, and long-ears — a figure built one animal at a time, often with hours to spare. If you've landed here wondering whether there's something real you can do, there is.
The horses currently in GER's care are listed on the Adopt page with their name, breed, sex, and age — concrete details that help you picture a real animal, not an abstract cause. Whether you're in a position to adopt permanently or simply want to open your pasture through the Foster Program, both paths are available and both change outcomes for horses whose lives were at stake.
Gerda's Equine Rescue is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that embraces a community of supporters with a wide range of backgrounds, skills, and views — because the more inclusive the effort, the more horses can be helped. Whatever your capacity to contribute, GER offers a way in that fits.
Give a Rescued Horse a Second Life
Adopt, foster, volunteer, or visit — every path leads to horses that need you.
From Auction Block to Safe Ground
GER's work begins at the auction, where horses facing imminent slaughter are identified and pulled before they can be loaded for transport. Understanding that timeline — and where a horse stands within it — shapes every decision the rescue makes about intake, rehabilitation, and placement. When you engage with GER, whether to adopt, foster, or volunteer, you're stepping into a process that's been running since 2005 and moves with real urgency.
Transparency about each animal matters here: the Adopt page lists individual horses by name, breed, sex, and age so you can make an informed, grounded decision rather than a sentimental one. GER welcomes supporters with diverse backgrounds and skillsets, knowing that a wider community means more horses reached and more outcomes changed.
Here's what getting involved with Gerda's Equine Rescue can look like:
- Browse horses currently available through the Horse Rescue Adoption program, each listed with name, breed, sex, and age.
- Open your home temporarily through the Horse Foster Program while a horse awaits permanent placement.
- Donate or Sponsor to fund auction interventions and on-farm rehabilitation for horses, minis, and long-ears.
- Visit the farm in Townshend and stay the weekend in the guest accommodation to see the rescue's work firsthand.
Head to the Adopt page to meet the horses available right now and find the path that fits your situation.
Rescue. Restore. Rehome.
Gerda's Equine Rescue has operated as a Vermont-based 501(c)(3) since 2005, and the 2,000-plus animals rehomed over that span aren't a marketing figure — they represent individual horses, minis, and long-ears that were pulled from auction and given a rehabilitated life. GER's foundation is that accountability: a rescue nonprofit in Townshend that does the work rather than describing it.
The mission extends beyond the barn. GER is committed to building a community that reflects genuine diversity and inclusion, recognizing that a broader base of volunteers, adopters, and foster families directly expands the number of horses the organization can reach. Every person who joins — regardless of background — increases what's possible for animals whose alternative was a slaughter-bound transport.
If you're ready to be part of that work, the Volunteer and Donate pages show you exactly where support makes a difference.
Gerdas rescues, rehabilitates, and rehomes horses in a kind and respectful manner. Her goal is to match all horses with the right fitting home.
Susan
This is such a loving and thoughtful rescue.
I would highly recommend!!
Chris Christoforo
Wonderful equine rescue who saves a ton of horses. We stopped into their tack room and got a tour of the barn and Tiny Town.
Jerod Tier
Our Service Area
