We have a PASSION for getting mustangs out of holding and into loving, permanent homes. YOU CAN HELP us do that!!

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There are several ways YOU can help get these amazing horses out of holding facilities!


First, consider adopting one! You can adopt mustangs through several programs, including our TIP program here at Red Gate Farm, where you can adopt a gentled and easier-to-handle horse for the same BLM adoption fee as a wild one--$125!!


Second, pray for us! We always welcome prayers for our safety as we work with the new arrivals, still in a wild and very frightened, defensive state. Pray for the horses to settle in quickly and that we can offer them a peaceful environment as they adjust to domestic life. Finally, pray for adopters to find us and that the adoption process goes smoothly, without any hiccups.


Third, help spread the word! Visit our facebook page and share our posts regarding available horses, and our Youtube page where you can share our TIP Mustang videos to help educate others on what we do here. Additionally, every time someone watches our YouTube videos, we receives a tiny commision for ads shown. Every penny helps!


Finally, we realize not everyone can adopt. But we also know that there are some good-hearted folks out there that would like to be directly involved. You can do that by helping us fund this program. Through the TIP program, we are compensated a flat rate of $1000 for each mustang that we place for adoption. That may sound like a lot, but we have to ration that money towards all the expenses involved. If you consider we can potentially have these horses up to 3 months (our average is about 6 weeks), and the expenses involved in building and maintaining our new facility, purchasing or installing the heavy-duty fencing required, paying for any needed vet care, purchasing the training supplies, hay, supplemental feed for underweight horses, high-quality minerals, and more, it is easy to see how we have to carefully ration the limited funds we receive. Our greatest limitation towards helping more horses is finances. Please read the following, and consider assisting us in getting more of these living legends placed in homes!


Please Contact Us if you have any questions.



Bedding $6/bag


We purchase the lowest cost bagged shavings we have found in our area, plus we cut costs by using shavings from our woodmill and planer. Until we can construct a structure for bulk loose shavings, this is our only option. At this time, we go through roughly 3-4 bags per horse per week. Messy horses require more to ensure they always have a dry stall area to lay in. Since we usually have 2-3 mustangs here in training (plus our resident horse who helps calm them or give confidence to youngsters), our bedding expense is roughly $250-300 per month.



Hay $7-10/bale


Horses risk losing weight due to the stress hauling, changing locations, and the energy requirements of training. Additionally, in the wild, horses are able to graze at will, and maintain food in their bellies almost 24 hours a day. This helps prevent many health issues, including stress-related ulcers. As a result, ensure they have fresh hay available at all times. To save money, we try to purchase our hay in bulk, but our facilities limit us to small square bales at this time. Each horse consumes roughly 3 bales per week, so our hay expense is roughly $250-350 per month.



Supplemental Feed $75/horse/month


Many of the horses are slightly underweight upon arrival. In order to get them off to a good start and help them reach optimum health, we supplement with alfalfa pellets and/or a low-sugar, high quality senior feed. While the amount varies with the horse's needs, we have found this system to work very well in our program. On average, though, for 3 mustangs, we invest roughly $225 per month in this additional feed.



Minerals $220/bag


Once horses are rounded up and placed in holding facilities, it is nearly impossible to ensure each horse receives the necessary minerals required for optimum health. We have found an excellent mineral supplement, California Trace Plus, that helps balance their systems and get them on the road to good weight, shiny hair, healthy hooves, and so much more! In addition, the particular "Plus" formula we use contains yeast and probiotics to improve gut health and aid in digestion--a much needed addition due to the stresses of being hauled, changing faicilites, adapting to domestic life, and entering a training program. One bag typically lasts us about 4 months with our current horse numbers.



Hoof Trimming Tools $25/month


We are blessed to have the knowledge and ability to trim hooves ourselves, not only improving horse health, but also ensuring each mustang has a good experience for its first hoof trim. These tools are very costly though, and between replacements and sharpening, the expense adds up quickly!



Training Supplies $25/month


In order to train, we must have the proper tools! We go through a regular rotation of specialized rope halters and lead ropes, training sticks, treats, toys, lunge ropes, desensitizing aids, grooming supplies, gloves (for the handler), fly spray, dewormers, vetericyn spray, mane and tail detangling spray, and so much more. Although not used as regularly, other commonly used items include saddle pads, bareback pads, tarps, bridles, bits, and more. Our training ability is often limited by our limited supplies of the latter items (due to variable horse sizes). We would also love to add to our collection by purchasing items such as protective leg boots, basic harness system, safety vests, helmets, etc. As our program expands, we hope to increase our training program to really give these horses the best start possible!



Training Saddle $300-1000


With much of our personal finances wrapped up in the construction of our new facility, we have been very limited in our ability to saddle train the mustangs due to not having a proper all-purpose training saddle. We currently use a youth saddle due to it being light weight, but we need an adult sized one. We have a few ideas in mind, but it is an item we would love to add to our tack room!



Pea Gravel Paddock Footing $600


We have found the absolute BEST surface for our individual stall paddocks to be pea gravel. Often, the mustangs have long, overgrown hooves as a result of being in holding, and this causes their frogs to contract and deterioriate as well as puts stress on their fetlock joints. Having an area in their pen with a deep layer of pea gravel allows them stand much more comfortably when they first arrive, and stimulates the blood flow in their soles and frogs until they are ready for their first trim. In addition, it drains well and is easy to clean, so even in the wettest conditions, it provides them a clean area to stand and rest, while offering what almost amounts to a hoof massage! The horses absolutely love it, but unfortunately, it does get cleaned out with the manure and scattered over time. We need to replace it periodically (every 1-2 years), and each 3-stall area requires a minimum of a $600 investment to keep it in good, deep condition.



Pasture Fencing $2400


We dream of offering the mustangs more room to roam, run, kick up their heels, play, interact with each other, and even graze fresh grass! In addition, this designated space will be divided to include an obstacle course for improved training and clinic offerings. We've also sited this particular pasture so one side will serve as part of an alley for the horses, to help us unload safely on arrival, and give us a safe area to load into adopter trailers. However, due to their recently wild nature, we must have 6' high fencing with wood posts. 2x4 horse safe wire fence and extra long treated posts (for part of the fence) is the most economical way for us to go. We are also trying to cut costs by doing the work ourselves, and using, at least in part, cedar posts cut from our property. That said, this is a project we would love to implement as soon as possible. We've already worked out a deal with a local farm store to give us a discount rate on the fencing and we've even dug the corner post holes. At this point, we just need the funding to complete the job!



Arena Footing $6000


One of our next big projects is building an arena. An arena will give us an area to exercise mustangs, turn out mustangs, and finally restart our clinic offerings at this new location to help current owners of mustangs increase their knowledge! WE are very excited about this project and all it will allow us to do. We've already had the arena site graded, packed, and the initial base brought in. To cut costs, Sean has milled the lumber on our mill for the fence rails, and we will be using cedar posts cut from our property, saving us thousands of dollars. Additionally, we are doing the work ourselves to save on labor costs, but we will need to rent some equipment for the bigger jobs. The major expense for this project is hauling in the arena footing. It will require approximately 10-12 truck loads of base and sand to complete.



Holding Corral and Shelter $2000


This project is a little further down the list, but we have plans in place to construct an additional shelter with attached corral, adjacent to our current stall alley and intended arena. This new structure will include a much-needed feed room, and an additional space to bring in additional TIP horses, clinic horses, offer a larger quarantine area if needed, and other potential uses. It would also give us a bigger space for younger horses to be housed together so they can get necessary play time and stimulation.



How will your Donation be used?



We understand that you have many options when it comes to donating your hard-earned money, and are honored that you are even considering our program. Over the years, we have practiced good financial methods, in both business and life. We keep careful records of how money is allocated, and maintain a debt-free lifestyle. This is one of the reasons progress in our new facility is so slow--we do everything in our power to avoid debt, and only expand or improve as we can afford to do so out of pocket, or with the compensation money we receive from the TIP program.


Because the primary focus on our farm is public education through our clinics, and the adoption of TIP horses, we have checked with our financial advisor about becoming a non-profit farm. With all things considered, he recommended we NOT go that route at this time. It is an extremely involved process, and would offer no benefit to the farm at this time, while stealing away precious time that could be spent helping the horses. So, based on his recommendation, be aware that your donation is not tax deductible. For our tax purposes, it will reduce our expense reporting. You could, however, talk with your tax advisor about the possibility of your larger donation qualifying under the IRS Gift tax rules.


In the past, we were partially funded by generous supporters through our Patreon membership program. Unfortunately, we discovered that Patreon had some issues, and kept a significant percentage of the moneys donated through their platform. Our donors were understandably not happy with this, as they wanted 100% of their donation to go toward the farm, and we agreed! We cancelled that platform and have been working on establishing a new donation program since. The simplest and easiest method for both us and our donors is a simple check or cash donation. While we do offer Paypal if you prefer to use a credit card, be aware that Paypal also keeps a percentage of every donation.


That being said, we understand that if you choose to donate towards our program, you may want to know how your funds are being utilized. We can offer several options:


1. Donate to our "General Mustang Fund". This is essentially a seperate bank account that pools funds to help us with every-day, Mustang-related expenses. This is ideal for donors who may only have a few dollars to offer. You can simply send us a check (written to "Red Gate Farm" and write "General Mustang Fund" in the memo line). We add that to the pool of smaller donations to cover whatever expenses arise--be it facility maintenance, bedding, hay, training supplies, etc.


2. Donate to a specific project listed above. Whether you can offer a small amount or desire to cover the entire cost of a large project, you can send a check (again, written to "Red Gate Farm" and write the desired project title as listed above in the memo line). If your donation doesn't quite cover the cost, we will deposit the check, but keep track of donations towards that specific project. When we have the funds to complete it, we will do so. You will get to see the result, in time, on our facebook page, on our YouTube channel, and/or even in person through our clinics and other events (once we finish the needed facilities to kick those off again!)


3. If you desire to know exactly how your donation is used, and would like to see it put to use immediately without being added to the larger fund pool, we are happy to give a list of our vendors. You can call and work through the vendor directly to purchase the needed items, let us know, and depending on the vendor, they will either ship or we can go pick the items up. For example, we can give you the details for our deal with a local vendor for rolls of 6' tall 2x4 horse safe fencing. You can call and order the fencing, pay the vendor directly, and we will go pick it up! We have established vendors for our bedding, supplements, minerals, fencing, treated structural posts, tack, and training supplies, and we are always willing to offer that info!


Thanks again for considering our program, and for your desire to help get mustangs out of holding and into adoptive homes! Over the years, we have mentored dozens of adopters, and either personally adopted or gentled and adopted out nearly 40 BLM mustangs, with almost 30 in just the last 3 years! With your help, we look forward to watching our program grow and help even more!


Ready to Donate?


Paypal donations can be sent to "manager@redgatefarmllc.com"


Checks should be addressed to "Red Gate Farm, LLC" and mailed to:


Red Gate Farm, LLC

PO Box 304

Creal Springs, IL 62922


For a specific vendor purchase, please contact us directly.

Let us know your interest, and we will be happy to offer all the needed information.