4-H Fundraiser for Penny From Heaven's medical bills

Welcome to Pony Up Rescue Collective, a grassroots non-profit entering our second year with eleven horses and ponies thus far saved from slaughter. We believe in community access and participation in this extraordinary process of saving and rehabilitating horses. The Collective offers public horse grooming workshops and volunteer opportunities in addition to intellectual disability and addiction prevention partner programming.

The Animal Whisperers 4-H Club, part of the Ulster County 4-H program, is collaborating with Pony Up Rescue Collective in naming and fundraising for a 20-year-old small bay pony mare in western New York who needed immediate medical attention and was slated for slaughter. In October, under the guidance of club leader Vanessa Secore, the Animal Whisperers unanimously named her ‘Penny From Heaven’ and are fundraising to help pay her $1200 in medical expenses. Club members are planning regular visits to learn about and assist with handling and grooming Penny. A discarded, injured former driving and riding pony, she arrived at Pony Up scared, lame, unable to bend her neck and bearing a badly infected eye and deep puncture wound on her hindquarters. Penny's rehabilitation is going well, and come Spring/Summer 2024, she will become available for adoption as a child's beginner riding pony.

The Animal Whisperers are a 4-H club of 11-18 year olds who meet (usually) on the 2nd and 4th Sunday at the Reformed Church of Port Ewen. The club focuses on community service, crafts, and project areas such as animals, cooking, fiber arts and STEM.