Equi-librium, Inc.

Edward the Great (a.k.a. Eddie), a 24-year-old Percheron cross, started his new career at Equi-librium in December 2021. At Equi-librium, Eddie has an important job: helping children and adults with physical and developmental disabilities, as well as social and emotional needs. His sweet and friendly disposition makes him the perfect man for the job, and he's already well-loved by staff, volunteers, and participants.

 

Eddie's background is an impressive one! Prior to arriving at Equi-librium, Eddie was a member of a theatrical jousting troupe for many years, traveling the Renfaire circuit from Kentucky to Michigan and competing at the New York Renaissance Faire.

 

Early this month, this sweet boy experienced a series of choking episodes that were able to be treated on the farm. Unfortunately on February 13th, he experienced a more severe choke and was transported for emergency care at the Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center. The team at Mid-Atlantic quickly stabilized him and made him comfortable, but also sought to determine the cause of his choking. On an ultrasound, they found a mass on his esophagus that is believed to be a chronic abscess. This has caused his esophagus to narrow and become extremely irritated, making solid food an impossibility.

 

The team at Mid-Atlantic is working hard to treat the infection and preserve Eddie's quality of life, but it will be a long process. He is not yet able to swallow mash without choking, and is on a largely liquid diet until the size of the abscess decreases considerably. Due to Eddie's age and the placement of the abscess, removing the mass is not a viable option.

 

At Equi-librium, our horses are loved beyond measure and are at the core of all we do. We are also a non-profit organization that relies heavily on community support, especially in times of unforeseen expenses. Eddie's treatment at Mid-Atlantic was originally quoted between $3,000-4,000, not including the medicinal needs he will come home with. We have now learned that he will likely stay at Mid-Atlantic longer than anticipated, which will drive this cost up further. Additional expenses include the emergency call charge for the first vet who triaged Eddie's choke on the farm, as well as a special diet that we will likely need to maintain for the foreseeable future.

 

Any donation towards Eddie's care and medical bills is appreciated so that we can focus on getting our sweet boy healthy and bring him back home to Equi-librium! For more information about Equi-librium, please visit www.equi-librium.org.

 

Thank you!

 

With Gratitude,

Jessie Shappell

Executive Director, Equi-librium

Equi-librium is a non-profit organization in Nazareth, PA offering healing through horses to over 100 individuals each week with physical, developmental, and behavioral challenges. Summer is a busy time on the farm at Equi-librium between summer camps, increased program offerings, and facilities projects across our 18-acre property. While this summer is no exception, uncharacteristic weather patterns have created atypical expenses and program challenges.

This summer, we have had over 90 program cancellations, the majority of which were related to weather and air quality issues. While we are used to adapting to the occasional heat wave, the air quality concerns that our county has faced due to the forest fires in Canada have meant days of canceled services and therapies. While fees for service only cover about 40% of the true cost of our programs, many of ourprogram expenses are constant – including the care and keeping of our herd of therapy horses. A decrease in program revenue of this scope - approximately $4,000 - is significant as veterinary care, feed, and farrier needs do not take a break when the air quality index reaches a certain number.

In fact, quite the opposite has proved true. In the past two months, we have incurred approximately $2,400 in veterinary expenses outside of normally scheduled vaccine visits, compared to about $250 in the first quarter of the year. Many of these visits were related to sudden changes in weather or air quality.

In addition to increased expenses directly related to the horses, recent flooding has been the latest in a string of weather-related incidents. During the recent flood, damage was sustained throughout our property, including the driveway and parking areas, the outdoor arena, and the office basement. Thankfully due to our incredible staff, volunteers, and help from the township, we were able to quickly mitigate many of these issues, but they did not come without a cost.

As a nonprofit organization with a history of serving our community that dates back over 40 years, we are no strangers to adversity. We plan and we budget, but so many factors are out of our control, including extreme weather. We know there are better – and cooler – days ahead, but we need our community’s help to support our operations through the summer so that we can continue to grow and develop our programs to the highest quality this fall.

Contributions are tax-deductible and make a very tangible difference to our organization, our horses, and ultimately, our participants. Thank you for your generosity.

With Gratitude,

Jessie Shappell

Executive Director

Pictured Below: Flooding damage across the property

Pictured below: an unfiltered view near our highway exit during the worst of the air quality issues this summer.

Help keep our horses safe, dry, and warm this winter!

Equi-librium is a non-profit therapeutic horsemanship center in Nazareth, PA, offering healing through horses in a tranquil and enjoyable farm setting to more than 120 people of all ages with physical, developmental, and mental health challenges. It is the only center of its kind in the Lehigh Valley and Pocono region, offering therapeutic riding, driving, groundwork, education, and vocational training from credentialed, professional staff and premier accredited by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International. We are helped by a dedicated and invaluable group of volunteers, and our equine staff includes 15 specially trained therapy horses.

We are grateful to inhabit a beautiful 18-acre farm that houses many structures with a lot of history! One is our 1850 red barn, perhaps the most prominent building on the property. This barn is home to seven horses, our therapeutic driving carts and wagons, and our hay loft. Unfortunately, an old, leaky roof threatens the protection and well-being of everything inside it. In addition to installing new gutters, it is vital to replace the roof before winter. Old shingles and rotted plywood will be removed, and the barn will receive a new metal roof to better withstand the elements. Due to the increasing deterioration of the existing roof, we are up against the clock to re-roof before the threat of snow exacerbates the existing issues.

As a non-profit organization, funds for large capital projects such as this are limited. Private donations, grants, special events, and program revenue fund program operations and the daily care and keeping of our horses. Thankfully, we have received a pledge from a generous donor to match all money fundraised for the new roof up to $10,000. The total cost of the roof replacement is $23,318; any donations raised will help us to offset that cost, and with the 1:1 match from our donor, every gift received will make double the impact.

Equi-librium will continue this fundraiser through Giving Tuesday on November 29th. Throughout the month, we will post pictures and updates from the special horses who will benefit from a warm, dry home! Thank you so much for your help!

This beautiful barn is worth saving....but we need some help to do it!