FOUNTAIN— What used to be a horse pasture is now underwater. A rainy June has brought lots of severe weather to Southern Colorado. The Dreamcatchers Equine Rescue is a horse ranch in Fountain that has experienced how powerful storms can be.
During the month of June, two huge floods soaked the ranch. The Fountain Creek, which runs through the ranch property, overflowed into their hay fields and horse pasture due to all the rain.
Julie Demuesy is the owner and CEO of Dreamcatcher Equine Rescue. Demuesy said she was shocked when she saw the flood damage.
“I'm shocked because we've had floods before. I mean, we've had Fountain Creek flooded before, but never to this extent and never creating something like this. This is just unbelievable,” Demuesy said.
The ground was so saturated with water that a sinkhole was formed. For almost a month now, where water continues to pour where a horse pasture used to be. There was so much water in the hay fields and in pasture, the horses had to be moved to a different area on the south side of the property.
“We have a south pasture, we have about 300 acres on the south part of the property that we've moved all the horses to. It's safe from flooding,” Demuesy said.
No horses got hurt, but their food was damaged. Demuesy said over half of their first hay bales this summer were ruined because of the water.
“The loss is almost incalculable. Just this loss of the hay alone, we probably bail 300 bales in the first cutting, which is usually your best cutting. We lost probably over half of that,” Demuesy said.
The list of repairs included fixing a number of large metal fences, replacing miles-long of barbed wire fences, and fixing or buying hundreds of new fence posts.
“We also have to get rid of the debris in this field and somehow get rid of the crop that is unstable,” Demusey said.
Demusey said it's important to get the property fixed no matter how long it takes, but she is not sad about it.
“Disbelief, for one thing. I don't feel desperation. I don't feel defeated. I don't feel anything like that because we will rebuild. It's important. It's important to have this for these horses. Many of the horses that we have are horses that nobody wants. They deserve to have their retirement. They deserve to have their lives,” Demusey said.
Demusey's passion is to take care of horses and founding the Dreamcatchers Equine Rescue has allowed her to do that.
“Its purpose is to rescue horses from all situations. Provide them with a safe and happy environment to live in. Lots of food, lots of love and care, and share that with our community if we can. Inevitably, if we’re able to find the horses good homes with solid families, that will take care of them for the rest of their lives,”
Dreamcatchers Equine Rescue has over 100 horses. Demusey says that was their mission when she started it back in the early two-thousands, but it has also grown into a property the community loves and a place to board horses.
“We have people that come out here and sit at the pond when it's nice and calm and enjoy a piece. I mean it's peaceful. They come out and they take pictures. They hike our field. It's important all the way around just to get this back up and running and for us to be able to continue to live here, to do the horses here, to have people come and visit us,” Demusey said.
Even in July, the water continues to flow through the north side of the property. There are multiple waterfalls that are still rushing water down into the sinkhole. What used to be a small quiet pond on the property overflowed with water coming out of the sinkhole.
Demusey hopes to get everything fixed before winter but it is going to cost her a hefty penny. Demusey said they lost thousands of dollars in damages and it's going to take thousands more to get it back. To learn more about Dreamcatchers Equine Rescue or to find a way to help visit their Facebook page.
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