MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — More owners are giving up their horses because they can no longer afford to take care of them, according to the Equine Welfare Data Collective. 

Robin Cain cares for horses like they’re part of her family. She always wanted to own a horse as a kid, but her family couldn’t afford it.

“I didn’t think this is what I wanted to do, but I can’t think of anything else,” she said. “My dream is totally different from what I have now.”

Cain moved to Manatee County in 1995 soon after she got her first horse. In 2011, she went from being a horse owner to a horse rescuer, starting the Sixteen Hands Horse Sanctuary.

“People were saying, ‘There’s this horse, can you take it?’” she said.

Cain said there’s always been a demand for horse rescues, but this year she’s seen a notable increase. She attributes this to the rising costs associated with horse ownership.

“It costs horse owners a lot of money to care for horses,” she said. “It costs us twice as much because they’re usually damaged in some way — they’re older, have health issues, or whatever.” 

Almost all the 27 horses at the Sixteen Hands Horse Sanctuary need medicine.

“We’re crushing a pain pill for Charlie because he has radial nerve damage from an old injury,” Cain said, discussing the treatment for one animal. 

But each horse has its own story.

Take Lexi, for example, who was going to be put down before being rescued. Now she has to wear a mask because of an old ear injury. Cain said she rescued Lexi from a family in Myakka City.

“The father of the household had been diagnosed with a terminal illness,” Cain said. “We went over there…they weren’t in horrible condition, but they were running out of energy. Out of all the things when you’re sick.”

Cain said almost all of her horses were rescued due to the owner’s illness and financial issues.

“I’m getting calls on a daily basis. ‘I can’t afford to keep this horse. I can’t afford to do the surgery it needs. I can’t afford the feed,’” she said.

Her most recent rescues were in 2022, when the annual inflation rate reached 8 percent in the U.S.

“Inflation — it’s just everything has tripled, doubled,” she said. “You have fuel prices that are high.” 

Now, the expenses are finally impacting Cain, who said she’s reached the limit of horses she can keep at her sanctuary.

It takes hard work to heal her horses, but it’s a commitment she won’t back away from. To make ends meet, the Sixteen Hands Horse Sanctuary has a horse sponsorship program where you can donate $100 a month.

“It takes everything,” Cain said. “I have to say no to people because I have to make sure that I can take care of these guys. I lose sleep at night because I have to tell somebody, ‘No, I can’t take your horse.’”