Who We Are, A 501c3 Rescue

G A I T, Inc. was founded by a team of gaited horse enthusiasts who began working as  individuals with various rehabilitation of at-risk gaited horses, in addition to training gaited horses in traditional and non-traditional gaited horse disciplines.  All of our officers and volunteers are SOUND horse advocates and only train flat-shod or barefoot horses.  GAIT, Inc. became a 501c3 in 2016.

We have contacts located around the country but focus our direct rescue efforts in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern California areas.  We have contacts throughout the United States and talk with folks from around the country offering advice when possible. This national presence allows us to work with a huge network of folks to help with our endeavors, however our direct rescue work focuses on horses in the Mid-Atlantic region with our satellite location in So. California. 

The majority of our team met through our work as sound horse advocates trying to stop soring in the Tennessee Walking Horse industry.  Those of us active in that facet of the industry found that we needed to do more than work on the humane issues facing the TWH and soring. We decided to expand that work and focus on gaited horses that are at risk of going to slaughter, suffering in the hands of uneducated owners or unhealthy environments, as well as being a safe haven for horses whose owners are unable to continue caring for them due to circumstance, illness or death.  Along the way, the team has expanded to include many other individuals that have a similar mindset: helping the gaited horse.

We are a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation but not a traditional rescue as many think of it. We do not have a central location where we house horses for rehab and rehoming like some rescues, instead, individual volunteers, trainers and boarding barns work with our program horses, we use local boarding barns and local professional trainers as well as private fosters. These folks give our horses the care and the training that they need until they find their forever homes. Gaited Advocate Intervention Team, Inc. is a registered Tax Exempt, Non-Stock Corporation both federally recognized and licensed in the state of Maryland.  Our Federal EIN number 81-3550579. Our officers of record are President, Denise Parsons, of Boyds, Maryland and Vice-President, Lyn Montgomery of Fallbrook, California and Board Member, Deb Bauer of Westminster, MD. Articles of Incorporation have been filed and accepted in the state of Maryland. Those Articles as well as our Bi-Laws and any other related documents are available to anyone that requests to see them - please email us for those files.

Overall, we are about the HORSE.  We have no agenda other than to save these animals from dire situations and help owners who may have no other options available to them to provide safe haven for horses. However, we do not support brokers or slaughter buyers by advertising horses for them. Our goal is to help horses and promote the naturally gaited horse as a versatile pleasure horse.
What Happens With Your Donation?
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What We Do

​Since our team is a diverse group of people from around the country, we can DO a lot! Each member of our team is a very experienced horse owner, and all of them contribute in different ways. We have team members with skills in graphic arts, legal issues, business professionals, trainers, and more, all with a common background in horses. With this experience and skill set, we are able to help the horse in the following ways.  Our team looks forward to working with you!

Networking

This is an area where we make can make an impact, we can't save them all ourselves. While we do not share or post horses owned by brokers or kill buyers, we do share private posts for gaited horses that may be at risk of entering the auction or slaughter pipeline. We also use our networking to identify horses that we may be able to help by intervening before the end up at auctions.

    Work With Other Rescues

    Our board members, volunteers and contacts work directly with other established non-profit rescues that might not have a network for a gaited horse they have in their program or they have found that is at risk. This work includes offering evaluation of videos of horses they have as well as networking these horses to try to match riders looking for a horse.  We also cooperate with area rescues in intake rescue transfers. Our goal is always to make sure both the horse and the rider are completely happy and stay together as long as possible.

    Rehab/Retrain/Ride

    Horses come to GAIT, Inc through a variety of sources.  Board members and volunteers act as fosters for the GAIT, Inc. program horses or they are placed in capable boarding or training facility depending on their need. We obtain at risk horses from a range of places including from private owners that are having problems that need to rehome horses quickly, ones that are selling at below meat prices and auction purchases and intercepts.  Each horse receives one-on-one attention, rehabilitation and if needed retraining.

    Rehoming

    Horses that are brought into our program for rehab and retraining are then adopted to private homes, most well below the cost of the actual care and rehabilitation. Each horse is carefully evaluated for their skill and training level and is properly retrained using natural horsemanship methods as needed. Potential homes are carefully screened to make sure the horse and potential owner will match. We stand behind any horse that we place so that they are not at risk of returning to an unsafe situation. Funds obtained from the placement of the rehabilitated horses are then used to help future horses or pay for the care of horses that are in our program that are not yet adoptable.

    Collective Resource

    We have a vast collective knowledge of training and rehabilitating horses. Many of us actively post on sites and forums giving advice to those who have or would like to help a gaited horse. This helps transition the horse from being at-risk to a happy and healthy member of your equine family. As a collective resource, we are able to advise folks on how they might improve their relationship with their own horse, or improve the care that horse is receiving - thus keeping horses in homes and out of the hands of dealers. There are so many folks who want to help but have no idea where to start. 

    Matchmaking

    Many of our team members have become a go-to source for folks who are looking for that very special horse in their lives. We maintain a list of these people, but the horse's health and welfare is always the most important to us. These are usually people who want something specific and are current or potential good homes for horses. Many don't even know where to start looking. So we keep an eye out for quality horses from reliable sources and become matchmakers for the rider looking for a horse and the horse looking for a new home. We can usually find the perfect fit through the work we do through saving at-risk horses.

    Ready to help?  Click here to learn more.