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WHo WE Are
Mid America Horse Rescue was founded in 2008 to fill a void in the horse racing industry. We rescue, rehabilitate and retrain ex-racehorses for adoption, or for therapy programs to serve people in need. We also assist the racing industry by encouraging the development of retirement funds to support horses after their racing career is finished (often retired at only four-years-old). Although horse racing is a thriving industry in the U.S. and numerous horses are bred each year to compete, nothing protects the lives of these noble creatures once they stop winning. The organization officially began when Mid America Horse Rescue, led by Founder Margo Sutter, saved 13 horses from a 2008 Fairmount Park paddock sale. (At a paddock sale, racehorses who are no longer running at peak performance can be put up for sale. Agents, known as "killer buyers," are contracted by slaughter plants to attend these local auctions to purchase horses for their meat.) After transitioning many of the 80 horses at the sale that day into caring homes, the high-energy group swiftly secured a temporary residence at Diamond J Stables in Millstadt, Ill., and began raising funds to support the herd. Later that year, Mid America Horse Rescue saved 25 more horses, helped birth three new foals and successfully saw our highest risk mare, Princess, through a tracheotomy surgery and the birth of her baby girl, Pea. Sutter often gives true founding credit to a beloved gray gelding known as Sir Anthony. Sutter met Sir Anthony as a weanling (a baby horse just weaned from his mother), thanks to a friend who bred and raced Thoroughbreds. After cheering Sir Anthony on throughout his racing career, Sutter witnessed the horse injure his knee and narrowly escape a paddock sale. Two months later, Anthony was hers – all 16 ½ hands and 1,400 pounds of him! Sutter's Sir Anthony was present the day the 13 horses were rescued from slaughter and helped welcome them into the caring hands at Mid America Horse Rescue.
Mid America Horse Rescue is one of only 13 licensed equine rescue facilities in Illinois, and the southern-most facility in the U.S. The horse rescue facility encompasses 77 acres in Millstadt, Ill., and serves the greater Midwestern region.
Mid America Horse Rescue cares for a herd of anywhere from 50 to 80 Thoroughbreds annually, with needs ranging from simply love and attention, to moderate medical care. We need financial support in order to continue saving lives. Please join our mission by donating today.
WHAT WE DO Our mission is to rescue and rehabilitate horses that are abandoned, abused and/or neglected, and to facilitate their adoption. To this end, we endeavor to build the premier equine educational facility in the United States, as we continue to field a full scope of educational programs for the horse-loving community, in addition to housing a well-established rehabilitation center. |
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Mid America Horse Rescue's unofficial mascot is another big boy named Buck, known on the racetrack as “Letdetrumpetblare.” Buck was rescued from a killer truck bound for Mexico when he was just a yearling. Destined for slaughter due to a front leg injury and a shoulder wound, Buck was rescued by Sutter and then rehabilitated. He went on to win third-place at Arlington Park and more than $3,000 for his furry friends back at the barn. Buck's triumphant story appeared nationwide from 
Since 2008, Mid America Horse Rescue has transitioned more than 200 horses into loving homes. Currently, Mid America Horse Rescue is raising funding to purchase the 77 acre facility, seeking corporate sponsors and beginning equine therapy training programs to assist people with disabilities. In the long-term, Mid America Horse Rescue hopes to establish industry regulations and funding to support aftercare programs, in addition to building America's premier equine rescue and rehabilitation facility.