By: LiliAnn Paras | August 27, 2021 | | Colts Neck
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FEATURED PHOTO CREDIT: Tara Moore, Farm & Fir
A sprawling Monmouth County farm is dotted with grazing horses, donkeys, and ponies.
Behind this peaceful, bucolic scene are incredible, diverse back stories of each animal’s arrival. The farm is Bluemont Equine Rescue and Sanctuary in Colts Neck, founded by Lesley Luckhardt to rescue, rehabilitate, and provide a forever home for equines who, no longer considered “useful”, are destined for kill pens. There, Lesley Luckhardt and husband Carl Quaglia are raising their four sons, CJ 13, Aidan 12, Cole 2, and Greyson 7 months, along with 21 equines (and counting). Bluemont is truly a family labor of love. The days can be long and arduous, but, above-all, very rewarding.
PHOTO CREDIT: Tara Moore, Farm & Fir
CM: How did Bluemont come to fruition?
Lesley: I always wanted to have a rescue farm; I just didn’t know it would be horses. We found an old horse farm that needed refurbishing and while we were remodeling, a neighbor reached out to us about Roxy, a Hanoverian horse that needed a home. She was our first horse and is a big sassy girl at 17.3 hands high. She struggled with lameness so no one really wanted her anymore. We quickly fell in love and decided our focus would be horses moving forward.
CM: When did you first realize that you wanted to help animals in a meaningful way?
Lesley: I was a little girl growing up on a dairy farm. When I was 5 years old, my farm chore was to bottle feed the veal calves. They would cry for their mamas and I was always so sad for them. I would beg my uncle to put them back in with their moms so they could nurse. I knew from an early age I wanted to help ease their suffering.
CM: What is a typical day like at Bluemont?
Lesley: We wake up really early like all farmers do! Coffee, feed the littles and it’s outside for chores. Our boys are out on the farm with us every day doing morning and evening chores. Our chores can be hard especially in extreme weather, but we are also spending valuable family time together out on the farm. After chores it’s time for school. I’ll spend more time with the horses during the day: grooming, giving treats, hosing down, or, blanketing if it is winter. It’s definitely a full-time job. We do our second round of chores when the boys get out of school. Ava, our first-ever staff member who now is more like family, comes and helps us with afternoon chores. We also are building an incredible network of volunteers who do all sorts of things from PEMF therapy and reiki, to the down- and-dirty chores that no one really wants to do, like mucking poop! Our boys know that what we’re doing is important, that we’re helping animals in need. It teaches them selflessness and empathy along with fostering a strong work ethic. Then we come in for dinner, homework, and bed. Some days are harder than others but our whole family loves this life.
PHOTO CREDIT: Amie Retzlaff
CM: What surprised you about the treatment of equines?
Lesley: I came into this with a fresh set of eyes. I didn’t grow up riding and I wasn’t exposed to the equestrian world at a young and impressionable age. I really thought horses were treated like most companion animals are. I was surprised to find that many are treated like an asset or sports equipment and once they wear out their usefulness, many owners don’t want the expense of feeding them. The average horse in America has seven different homes. Once a horse has limitations or is no longer rideable, they without a doubt become an at-risk horse, facing neglect, auction, and ultimately slaughter. I’ve seen six-figure horses in kill pens, discarded without a second thought.
CM: How do you now generally acquire the rescues?
Lesley: We have acquired our equines from owner turn-ins, hoarding cases, partnering with other rescues, and from kill pens, where horses sit before they are sent over the border for slaughter.
CM: Is there a rescue that is particularly memorable?
Lesley: A giant Belgian draft mule that we named Sully. We pulled him from a kill pen in Pennsylvania. He was a plow mule and had worked for the Amish for 20+ years. It was clear he had just come out of work: his mane was roached, he was muscular, and had good body mass. I could see there was something wrong with his back right leg. We knew we had to immediately get the veterinarian, but Sully was very frightened. He would start shaking when we approached him and was clearly traumatized. The Amish field mules work in pairs; it is very likely he was on the same farm for his entire life and was deeply bonded to his plow teammates. I spent a day in his paddock with him just reading and letting him get comfortable with my presence, and put two gentle horses in the paddock right next to his for companionship. He calmed down enough to have our vet look at him. It turned out he had a severely fractured leg. We had to put him down that day. Our entire family was devastated, but especially our boys. Sully got his lucky break only to have it slip away. I remember talking to him as he passed and telling him what a good boy he was. The unfairness of it all really stuck with me. I called him The Giving Tree (after the kids book); he just gave and gave until nothing was left anymore. The next week we pulled our draft mule, Moses, out of the same pen in Sully’s honor.
PHOTO CREDIT: Amie Retzlaff
CM: With all the care you are giving, what do you enjoy for yourself in your “spare time”?
Lesley: It’s sparse! (laughs) I love to do yoga. I used to be a yoga teacher and I crave the relaxation it brings me. I’m also an herbalist and I’m always fiddling with preparing herbs and coming up with protocols for friends or family members and even our four-legged guys too.
CM: Favorite Quote?
Lesley: “The purpose of life is to not be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
To meet the animals and to donate, visit bluemontsanctuary.com.
See this story in print!
Colts Neck – Holmdel – Lincroft Edition – view here.
Rumson – Fair Haven – Little Silver – Red Bank – Locust – Sea Bright Edition – view here.
