By Vita Duva
COLTS NECK – For local animal rescuer Lesley Luckhardt, the story begins with a horse named Roxy. A then 21-year-old imported Hanoverian with an accomplished show jumping career well behind her, the 17.3 hands high (nearly 6 feet) elegant warmblood found herself in an unfortunate situation and in need of retirement.
“She is about a $100,000 horse,” Luckhardt said. But “Roxy needed a home when she could not ride anymore due to chronic illness and arthritis, so we took her on without hesitation,” she explained about her first rescue.
Roxy is now the lead mare and beating heart behind Luckahardt’s Bluemont Equine and Rescue Sanctuary, a nonprofit equine rescue privately nestled on a sprawling 10 acres in Colts Neck.
Since that first rescue, Luckhardt and her husband Carl Quaglia have tirelessly dedicated their efforts to providing a safe place for discarded equines to have a second chance at life, a peaceful retirement, a place to heal and be loved and, for some, a soft landing spot to live out their final days in peace.
According to the Bluemont Sanctuary website, on average a horse may potentially see over seven different owners in one lifetime. Approximately 100,000 horses are exported to Mexico and Canada to be slaughtered each year.
Bluemont Sanctuary has housed 31 permanent residents and is currently at capacity with a waiting list. Residents range from horses to miniature horses and even miniature donkeys and mules. According to Luckhardt, mules are the unsung heroes of the equine world and deserve reconsideration despite their stubborn stereotype.
In addition to the animals currently living at Bluemont Sanctuary, Luckhardt works closely with other local rescue groups to help re-home abandoned equines and those that find themselves at risk for slaughter.
“There is a maximum size to the care we can offer to our animals in order to make sure each resident gets exactly what they need,” Luckhardt said. “While each one of our animals have come to us under different circumstances, the one commonality is that we focus heavily on animals that would have no other option if we did not step in. A lot of times we take on more complex cases or animals with health issues that others would not consider taking.”
For Luckhardt and her family, the biggest lesson they have learned since starting this venture is how different the equine industry is from any other.
“There are a lot of really good horse owners out there, but there is also a large amount of the industry that will sell and trade their horses the second they are no longer sound or profitable,” the mother of four boys explained.
“There are definitely tough days, but in the end, it is all worth it. The same amount of love and care needs to be given to our animals whether it’s 70-degrees and sunny outside or if we are faced with a 2-foot snow-storm,” she said about the work on the sanctuary.
“What I love the most is the energy that comes from our equines, as they all have such a loving and calming spirit,” Luckhardt said.
In April, the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS) – the only globally recognized organization providing standards for identifying legitimate animal sanctuaries – awarded accredited status to Bluemont Sanctuary.
According to a press re- lease then issued by GFAS, accreditation signifies that Bluemont Sanctuary meets GFAS’s rigorous and peer-reviewed animal care standards, which are confirmed by a comprehensive site visit. Accreditation also signifies adherence to standards addressing the sustainability of the organization, ethical principles, finances, staffing, education outreach, security and safety and other operational aspects. The accreditation status also provides a clear and trusted means for the public, donors and grant- ors to recognize Bluemont Sanctuary as an exceptional organization.
“It is such an honor to be recognized by this amazing organization whose commit- ment to animal welfare is both humbling and inspiring. The GFAS has rigorous accreditation standards that include transparency, excellent care and a focus on safety for both the animals and their human caregivers,” Luckhardt said. “This was a big moment for us, and it put a level of validation to the hard work we have done over the last number of years. We also learned a ton from the process, which helped us make our sanctuary even better for our residents.”
“Although (Bluemont Sanctuary) is a young organization, they are clearly committed to providing equine care best practices and nonprofit management,” said GFAS program director Daryl Tropea, Ph.D. “They are dedicated to providing lifelong care for equines of all breeds, most of whom have medical issues that may impact daily care management, but not the quality of their lives.”
More recently, Bluemont Sanctuary, along with almost a dozen other New Jersey and Pennsylvania animal rescues, worked in collaboration with the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office, Raritan
Township Police and the New Jersey Department of Agriculture after a man from Flemington faced charges of animal cruelty in which over 70 livestock were seized from his property. Two of those horses – Stevie and Jane – are now forever residents at Bluemont Sanctuary.
“As this is an ongoing case with the state of New Jersey; there are limitations to what I can share,” Luck- hardt said. “But when Stevie and Jane first arrived, they were on the verge of starvation and needed to go through a re-feeding program. Their hooves were covered with lice and their skin had rain rot. Today, we have got a good amount of weight on both of them and we have their coats almost back to normal.”
While Bluemont Sanctuary currently has approximately 25 volunteers who rotate based on their own availability, there is still more work to be done. Additional volunteers are always welcome at Bluemont Sanctuary. No experience is required, but dedication is. Direct monetary donations are tax deductible and even acceptable in the form of goods, Quaglia said.
“Mazza Recycling Services of Tinton Falls just recently donated a 20-yard dumpster, which has been a big savings to Bluemont Sanctuary,” he said.
Bluemont Sanctuary has also recently put in place a sponsorship program where people can go to a third-party platform called Patreon directly from the Bluemont Sanctuary website and choose to sponsor any one of their 31 residents. The money donated will go directly to the animal of choice’s care on a monthly basis.
“We have also partnered with Amazon,” Quaglia explained, “both with Amazon Smile, where someone can allow a portion of their purchase to be donated directly to Bluemont Sanctuary at no cost to them, and with Amazon Wish List, where people can purchase items we need at the farm and send it directly to us.”
The family will continue to work to make life for their rescues as comfortable as possible, but Luckhardt had advice for anyone owning or considering owning an animal: “Take care of your animals throughout their en- tire life,” Luckhardt said. “It is a scary place out there for re-homed animals, and help support your local rescues.”
The article originally appeared in the July 7 – 13, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
