Equine rescue home to orphaned horses

At the easternmost edge of Culpeper County, Charmer, Elvis, Dennis the Menace and Luna are some of "Annie's little orphans" who are saved from what could otherwise be a grim existence.

These orphaned horses live on a rolling 40-acre farm, just past Richardsville on the line between Culpeper County and Fredericksburg.

Four years ago, Annie and Steve Delp bought Eagle Hill Farm in hopes of retiring. When Annie adopted three horses from California, 12 came in the truck and the farm soon became an equine rescue and adoption facility.

It is open to the public every weekend but also participated in the Culpeper Harvest Days Farm Tour Saturday and Sunday.

While Eagle Hill does work with Culpeper County Animal Control to help abused or neglected horses, it primarily works with nurse mare foals that are orphaned from their mothers sent to "nanny" thoroughbred foals in the racing industry.

Thoroughbred mares have one job in the racing industry: to produce thoroughbred foals. As early as 10 days after birthing, they are sent to another breeding farm. Nurse mares are then brought in to serve as surrogate mothers and care for the valuable thoroughbred foals.

But the offspring of the nurse mares are unwanted and orphaned. While Annie will not say that her orphaned horses might have been sent to the slaughterhouse or the tanner if Eagle Hill did not come to the rescue, she does say, "this is the positive to a very negative situation."

In one case the Delps were told the nurse mare foals were going to go to the tanner if they didn't buy them. Now the Delps visit a farm in Kentucky three or four times each spring to pick up orphaned horses and bring them to Culpeper.

The foals are between five days and two weeks old when the Delps get them. They care for them for five months - the natural weaning age - and then adopt them out. Some of the horses are adopted the minute they reach the farm, but the Delps make sure they are eating a regular grain diet, have all the necessary shots and are running and jumping the way they should before they go to new homes.

"We give them artificial mares' milk, special grains and hay," Annie said. "And they grow to be great big huge monsters (some more than 15 hands tall)."

Since humans raise the horses they are quite docile and friendly.

"At four or five days old, they don't know what a mommy is," Annie said. "Anyone who has a round face and walks on their back legs, they are loved because that's who they get their food, compassion and love from."

All the horses are trained and those that still live on the farm at three years old are sent to professionals for riding training.
Just because they are not thoroughbreds does not mean they can't compete, Annie said.

"There is nothing inferior about them at all," she said, adding that many of the center's horses can compete in dressage and jumping.

Adoption prices can range from $900 to $6,000 but the equine rescue allows volunteers and families to see what caring for a horse is like before committing to purchasing it.

"Three weeks of working every Saturday out here will either convince them this is what they want to do or it's too much work," Annie said. "For us, if someone is displeased with the horse or loses interest, then we haven't done our part in finding the right home."

For Heidi Jones, that "no-pressure" attitude and ability to work with the horses before buying one was a relief. Her daughter, Morgen, wanted a horse.

After first visiting Eagle Hill with 4-H and then volunteering there for a couple years, Morgen now owns one: Miracle.

Heidi said as soon as Morgen hopped the fence at Eagle Hill, a blue-eyed pony gravitated toward her daughter.

"I fed it some clovers and she had blue eyes and I just fell in love with her," Morgen Jones said about Miracle. "She was kind of special and unique."

Morgen, 13, would go and care for Miracle and learned to ride at Eagle Hill. When her dad told her they would purchase the pony, she thought he was joking. Now the family has three horses - all from Eagle Hill.

Morgen Jones is a member of the facility's Junior Council that volunteers there and helps get the word out about Eagle Hill and the orphaned horses in need of homes.

Annie said she does have some criteria for the families that want to adopt. She will contact their family vet to check on the other animals they own. She will also check for the appropriate fencing and stables, as well as the family's general knowledge of horse care.

The Delps require the new parents to send photos every three months in the first year and twice a year in the second year to ensure proper care. They have taken horses back in the past when the horses were not cared for properly, but that does not happen often.

The equine rescue usually brings in about 70 horses per year, and hopes all will get adopted as soon as possible. They also work to bring awareness about the rescue operation and are trying to establish a nationwide group to share information and generate interest in adopting orphan foals. A Web site is in the works: grievingmaresorphanfoals.com.

Germanna Community College has also partnered with the rescue to offer classes in equine technology, which are now underway.

Aside from the Delps' compassion for the orphaned horses, Heidi Jones said they create a family and kinship with all their volunteers and the children who want to learn about horses and how to care for them.

Eagle Hill is just as positive for the volunteers as it is for the horses, Annie said.

"Though this is a rescue for horses, it has made a difference in the lives of volunteers here," she said.

Liz Mitchell can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 110 or

Want to go-

What: Eagle Hill Equine Rescue

Where: 31584 Eleys Ford Road

When: Open to the public Tuesdays and Fridays - Sundays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Contact: 399-1982 or visit             eaglehillequinerescue.org