About Our Organization

The inspiration behind the name, Tina Jo’s Promise, came from the heartbreaking loss of a beautiful white horse that came to our sanctuary, Tina Jo named Promise. Promise bravely endured a life of suffering before her brief respite at our sanctuary.  

Promise, came to us with a volleyball-sized hernia on her lower flank resulting from an untended gunshot wound. This gorgeous animal was in tremendous pain and, though her life span seemed short and bleak, we had hope, and could not just ignore her suffering. For weeks Tina Jo bonded with Promise trying to comfort her, while we gave vital nutrition, vitamins and daily medical care, to prepare her for surgery.

During surgery it was discovered that, Promise had two very large adhesions between the bowel and the outer skin tissues. Though the doctor was able to release all of the smaller ones, these were just too thick and could not be released without resectioning the bowel. Dr. Gonzalez did everything he could to try to save Promise, yet the internal damage proved too severe. According to Dr. Gonzalez, Promise’s gunshot wound was left untreated for more than a year, resulting in this level of severe internal damage.

There was nothing left to do, other than help put her down to save her from a short life of endless pain and suffering. It was one of the most difficult decisions of our lives, yet the only humane choice for Promise.

We had promised her a healthy and pain-free life, yet at that moment we knew it was a promise we’d never be able to keep. As Tina Jo cradled Promise’s head in her arms on that cold winter night, Promise drifted away from us. Tina Jo tearfully vowed that we would do whatever it took to ensure that this did not happen to another animal on our watch again. Out of that fatefully tragic night our vision was born.

There were two equally significant promises made that evening; the one made by Tina Jo to Promise and Dawn’s promise to our beloved friend, Dr. Gonzalez. Dawn’s promise was that we would build a sterile operating room on our land where we could bring horses in need of surgery and recovery. This is one of the major projects that we hope to complete at Tina Jo’s Promise in 2023.

Maintaining and caring for these horses is very time consuming and an expensive endeavor. Most spend months, if not years, at the sanctuary so we can be sure that their physical health condition is managed well and, in cases of mental and training problems (sometimes stemming from being in abusive or uneducated hands), can be corrected. Many can be rehabilitated and live a normal and happy life.

Each day we come across new cases and would love to rescue more horses in need, yet we need your support! Please do not take on more of a commitment than you can afford. It costs the rescue approximately $225 per month to care for one horse that has a stall at the sanctuary (due to increased cleaning, maintenance and specialized exercise regimens) and $175 per month for a horse that stays in the pasture.

While overall costs to run the rescue fluctuate each month, average costs run about $3500 per month. Of course, feed and supplementation are the highest monthly costs, followed by ranch maintenance, veterinary care and outreach to the community. With your continued support, together we can end the suffering of these horses.