Crystal Beach horse rescue opens gates for Saturday fundraiser

Last Chance Horse and Pony Rescue helped the Fort Erie SPCA rescue Starr and Butterscotch, a pregnant pony and goat, after finding them abandoned near Nigh and Point Abino roads last month.

Founder Sharon Wallace told Fort Erie Radio the Crystal Beach sanctuary keeps injured and elderly horses for life and brings them into hospitals and nursing homes free of charge, but its donations have dropped sharply under cost-of-living pressures.

“Without the support of donations, it’s really hard for us to carry on,” said Wallace.

Last Chance will open its property at 4269 Rebstock Road to the public from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday for Hooves and Harvest, an afternoon fall fair fundraiser where visitors can meet Starr and Butterscotch and ride the sanctuary’s ponies and horses.

Money raised at the fair will pay for the animals’ feed and veterinary care, Wallace said.

Last Chance’s costs have climbed by more than $30,000 in a year, and the sanctuary is currently filled to capacity with 42 animals in its care.

There will also be a potato sack race at 3 p.m., a bouncy castle, face painting and a cornhole game customized by late volunteer Roseanne Keaton, who died three weeks after falling ill. Visitors can also grab roasted corn and hot dogs.

Niagara Dog Rescue plans to bring four dogs to the fair that are looking for new homes.

Many of the sanctuary’s horses are thoroughbreds that retired from racing with injuries.

“They have calcified foot, leg joints, knee slab injuries, suspensory injuries, but that does not mean they need to be put down,” said Wallace. “What it means is they can be resocialized, which we have done, and they can have a purpose.”

Young volunteers bring those horses and the sanctuary’s ponies to hospitals and retirement homes across Niagara, but Last Chance stopped its visits to Hamilton hospitals this year because of fuel costs.

Two of those volunteers earned post-secondary scholarships this year for the hours they spent at the sanctuary.

“I’ve had elderly people come in and start crying or war veterans come in and they just go in the stall or get in with an animal. They’re very healing,” said Wallace.

Hooves and Harvest will go ahead rain or shine, with most activities moving into the sanctuary’s indoor arena if it rains.

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