We brand our horses so they are less likely to be target of thieves and so we can easily identify them if they ever become at-risk horses again (which unfortunately has happened before). Think of it like your horse, pony or mule having its own registration plate. We use freeze branding which is a safe and virtually painless, economical process. Other methods of branding can be painful and quite often result in an uneven and unreadable brand.

Freeze branding, as the name suggests, is carried out by freezing the brand using liquid nitrogen and then applying to the skin for only a few seconds. This destroys the hair pigment so when the hair grows back it is white. White or grey horses will need a slightly longer application; this will destroy the hair follicle which will result in a hairless brand.

You can identify the Drifter's Hearts of Hope horse brand by seeing a capital D followed by a Heart symbol on the horses left front shoulder.

Today is #coloradogivesday - our biggest fundraising day of the year. Funds raised today go directly to rescuing, feeding and caring for new intakes.

Rescue is hard, as you can imagine. There are great days and ok days and there are bad days. It’s the good days that keep you going. And sometimes you have to look past what is directly in front of you. Not every horse makes it. Some are too far gone or in too much pain. What we can do, though, is give those horses love, good food and a peaceful and dignified ending.

Sometimes even the losses are considered successes.

“Ella” came into our rescue in August of this year. This poor horse had suffered for many years and the best we could do for her was to love her and peacefully send her on her way to greener pastures. This is also rescue. This is what we do. RIP beautiful Ella.

Please consider donating today to help us continue our mission. Everyone here both 2 legged and four legged are incredibly grateful for our supporters!

Rescued horse number 298... who is that?

We certainly don’t refer to him as a number... his name is “TIMMY TIPTOES”! And his beautiful momma, “Miss Moppet”.

Miss Moppet was saved out of the kill pen on May 4th, 2018.... she was only 3 years old and she was pregnant. Less than 70 hours later, Miss Moppet gave birth to a stunning colt, Timmy Tiptoes. At first all seemed great but within 12 hours Timmy started to deteriorate rapidly and couldn’t stand. He was rushed to CSU where he was treated for dummy foal syndrome and sepsis. It was touch and go for a few days but thank goodness little Timmy was a fighter.... he made it through and never looked back!

Timmy always lived up to his name and loved to stand on his hind legs.... he was always into something and causing trouble... I am sure his now mom would love to share some stories 

Miss Moppet went on to get professionally started under saddle and also found a wonderful forever home. A beautiful and athletic mare that was discarded for no apparent reason... she is seriously amazing.

DHOH invested a lot of heart, soul, tears, joy, time and money into these 2 beautiful animals and every penny and second was worth it. This is what we do and this is where your donations go... to horses like Miss Moppet and Timmy Tiptoes.

Tonight we will share the story of rescued horse number 121.... a different type of success story!

#coloradogivesday2020 is tomorrow.... we hope to raise enough funds to keep allowing us to go above and beyond for these deserving animals. If you have it in your heart and are financially able, we would so appreciate your donation! The horses will thank you too! ​

People often ask how Drifter’s Hearts of Hope started. Well, it all started with this magnificent horse right here. Drifter. We didn’t rescue Drifter, he rescued us. He inspired us to create something that would help horses like him. Drifter was a champion roping horse in his day... he even won his owner a truck and trailer! Drifter was discarded when he was only 9 because he was no longer sound. Drifter found his way to a rescue and was adopted by the Strachan family. And then it all began.

Drifter met Bella and the Kirshner family. Bella, a young girl with cerebral palsy, fell in love with Drifter and soon enough all Bella’s friends fell in love with Drifter. Bella and her friends started baking heart-shaped horse cookies to sell in local feed stores to raise money to save a horse just like Drifter. And they succeeded.
In July of 2014, these inspiring, special kids took the money they had raised and went to the auction to save a horse. Well, how do you pick JUST ONE HORSE? It broke all of our hearts to choose just one life to save.... so we came home with 5!!! Hope, Clarity, Spirit, Noddy Long Ears and Festus the mini.

A rescue was born.#coloradogivesday2020 is on Tuesday. Over the next couple of days we want to share with you what we give to the horses we rescue. We hope that on Tuesday you might feel inspired to give to us so that we can continue to give to more horses.
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“Hope” was rescued horse number 1, tomorrow we will tell the story of rescued horse number 298