After being forced to shut down carriage tours in downtown Victoria, one company is now struggling to sustain their 18 draft horses.
Tally-Ho Carriage Tours has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to take care of their horses after realizing that the company will have no income for about 12 months.
The horses live with their owners at Hidden Acres Farm, but the cost of their upkeep does not come cheap even in the best of times.
Now, after laying off all staff and cutting non-essential costs, the family-run business is still facing a shortage of $120,000 necessary to maintain a high standard of care for the draft horses.
“Our savings will not cover the horsesˊfeed, foot care, veterinarian care, shelter and base needs for long,” writes owner Donna Friedlander.
“Only one of the Federal assistance programs applies to our situation and, if we qualify, it will only be enough to cover some non-horse care business expenses.”
As a way to raise money to cover these expenses, Tally Ho has set up a GoFundMe campaign with the following donation options:
- Sponsor a Tally-Ho horse – pick your favorite: $600/month
- Adopt the Tally-Ho herd for a day: $350
- One regular vet visit – an important check-up: $200
- One farrier visit – time for toes: $100
- One bag of grain – super food for horses: $20
“We remain hopeful that the COVID-19 crisis passes faster than anticipated and if we are able to resume operations sooner we will forward all unused donations to other equine causes in the province of British Columbia,” says Friedlander.
The business promises to post regular updates about how the herd is doing and what the donated funds are being used to purchase.
The campaign was created on Monday and hopes to raise $120,000. As of the time of publication, nearly $3,000 have been donated.
