Washington, DC – September 13, 2012 – The Unwanted Horse Coalition [UHC] welcomes its newest member, The EQUUS Foundation.

The EQUUS Foundation is a 501c3 national charitable foundation that is dedicated to improving the quality of life of horses, promoting the use of horses to enrich the lives of those in need, and educating the public about the horse’s unique ability to empower, teach and heal.

The Foundation provides financial support through grants to horse related charities across the United States, operating a network of equine organizations and equine enthusiasts providing scholarships to reward volunteer service on behalf of horses, and conducting information outreach to educate the public about horses.

In 2012 the EQUUS Foundation awarded over $290,000 in grants to charities dedicated to the wellbeing of horses, and improving the quality of life of people through equine assisted activities and therapies.

The EQUUS Foundation has also been selected as the newest member of the Animal Planet’s Reach Out. Act. Respond. [R.O.A.R.] Campaign. From September 1 through October 31, Animal Planet will provide each participating partner with money based on the donations that they receive in association with the R.O.A.R. eight week matching campaign. The donations received will be used to rescue, retrain, and rehome unwanted and abandoned horses as therapy horses. Animal Planet is also awarding a bonus to the charity with the highest number of Facebook shares. To donate, follow this link: http://www.equusfoundation.org/ROAR – click ‘share’ to spread the word.

“We are pleased to be joining forces with the EQUUS Foundation. It is truly a pleasure to work with an organization that does such wonderful things for unwanted horses in our industry. We look forward to helping many of our nation’s unwanted horses and horse rescues together,” said Ericka Caslin, Director of the UHC.

The Unwanted Horse Coalition is a broad alliance of equine organizations that have joined together under the umbrella of the American Horse Council. The Coalition’s mission is to reduce the number of unwanted horses and to improve their welfare through education and the efforts of organizations committed to the health, safety, and responsible care and disposition of these horses.

For more information about joining the UHC or unwanted horses, please visit the UHC website at www.unwantedhorsecoalition.org or contact Ericka Caslin at ecaslin@horsecouncil.org.

The Unwanted Horse Coalition

The mission of the Unwanted Horse Coalition is to reduce the number of unwanted horses and improve their welfare through education and the efforts of organizations committed to the health, safety and responsible care and disposition of these horses. The UHC grew out of the Unwanted Horse Summit, which was organized by the American Association of Equine Practitioners and held in conjunction with the American Horse Council’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in April 2005. The summit was held to bring key stakeholders together to start a dialogue on the unwanted horse in America. Its purpose was to develop consensus on the most effective way to work together to address the issue. In June 2006, the UHC was folded into the AHC and now operates under its auspices.