Horse Haven of Southern Michigan

We are an all breed equine rescue with tax exempt status under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Our rescue and sanctuary is located in Jackson County, Michigan.

We provide second chances for unwanted and slaughterbound horses.

We rescue unwanted, owner surrendered, abused, neglected or slaughter-bound horses and try to find them forever homes. Many of our intakes will end up remaining with us forever as sanctuary horses due to medical or soundness issues that make it difficult to find adopters. However, we are always looking for good homes for healthy companion horses who may have soundness issues that make them unsuitable for riding or driving. In most cases, there is no fee for such horses to approved homes.

What are the requirements for foster and adoptive homes? You can message the page or email us at info@horsehavensmi.org to get a copy of our foster/adopter application. It has about 4 pages and, unfortunately, if Facebook offers a good way to post documents, I am too techno-amish to figure it out. But we are happy to send a copy of our application to interested parties.
You need not have fancy barns or facilities to qualify as a foster or adoptive home. Basically safe, with no barbed wire fencing and adequate fencing to contain the horse you adopt--and sometimes a facilities assessment can be "horse specific" so that a facility might be approved for an older well mannered horse, but be considered to have inadequate fencing for a young green, "hotter" horse. (We will always tell you about any facilities related concern and see if you are willing or able to make the desired changes.) We do check vet, farrier and personal references (please include a trainer if you have one) for their perception about your suitability to provide a good forever home for the specific type of horse you are interested in adopting. Our policies preclude us from adopting horses to people who are in the business of selling or brokering horses. We have no criticism or disputes with such professions; however, all of our horses were at one time unwanted and/or ended up in the slaughter pipeline, so we are very stringent about retaining a partial interest in the animal, prohibiting the sale or transfer of the animal, and requiring it be returned to the rescue if the adopter can longer keep it, or no longer wishes to keep it. We are looking for people offering "forever homes."

We offer foster opportunities which are essentially a free lease of the horse with the added benefit of being able to deduct your reasonable expenses for tax purposes in the same manner as if you actually donated the feed, supplies, etc., to the rescue. Foster homes must meet the same standards and are subject to the same stringent terms and must also be willing to let potential adopters visit the horse, or be willing to return the horse (at least temporarily) to the rescue for visits with prospective adopters.

it is best to contact us by PMing this page, or sending an email to info@horsehavensmi.org While we have an excellent group of volunteers and supporters, the rescue is run primarily as a "mom and pop" outfit, and we work full time outside the rescue in order to be able to help support so many horses. During the weekdays especially, there are volunteers or employees working outside only and you will often not get a response on the phone (517)304-0837, which is Robin's cell phone. However, if you text the number, we are able to check it at lunch time and breaks and it is generally easier to reach us by text, at least initially.

We have many volunteer opportunities for people interested in fundraising, helping handle horses--such as exercising, riding, training, or just helping manage horses for farrier and vet work. We also are looking for a few individuals located nearby who are interested in being part of our medical support team. In addition to being comfortable handling horses, these volunteers can handle feet and provide hoof/foot treatments and wraps, do initial medical assessments (i.e., temp, pulse, assess general health), provide initial wound treatment/dressing, assist in vet visits and treatments, and give vaccinations and wormer. (We provide additional training beyond the basic volunteer training to medical support volunteers).
We also have a great need for volunteers to help with grounds keeping such as mucking stalls, cleaning the common areas, dragging the pasture, repairing fences, latches and other minor repairs to shelters.

We are also always in need of, and very grateful for any donations of feed, hay, new or used tack, new or used lumber, sheet metal, or materials for shelters and stalls. Most of our shelter projects rely heavily on the use of donated or recycled materials.

From December to April we are open by appointment on the weekends. From April through November we are always open to the public on Sunday afternoons from 1 to 5pm, and other times by appointment.

Thank you for your interest in supporting your local horse rescues.

2932 Eaton Rapids Rd
Albion, MI 49224
United States