Gus's Girls, a group of local teenagers committed to saving horses from slaughter, will be fundraising in Newburyport on Saturday, Nov. 8, at Market Basket on Storey Ave. from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The girls will be selling cookbooks, soy candles, handmade scarves, photo greeting cards, horsehair jewelry and other goodies. All the proceeds go to New England Equine Rescue (NEER).
Megan Mitchell, a West Newbury teen who started riding horses when she was 7, founded Gus's Girls in early October. Jamie Roberts of Newburyport, Rowan Hanson of West Newbury, Alexis Daneau of Lawrence and Krista Pertone of Tewksbury round out the group.
"I met Jamie and Rowan through riding, and I met Alexis and Krista through school," said Megan, who attends the Presentation of Mary School in Lawrence. "They don't ride, but they thought the anti-slaughter thing was a good cause."
The group took its moniker from a horse named Gus that had a rough life and is currently stabled at Megan's house. She first encountered Gus while working at a stable in New Hampshire.
"I really liked him and felt bad for him," Megan said.
Gus had been saved from a Pennsylvania broker pen, where workers were fattening him up for slaughter. Christy Sheidy, president of Another Chance for Horses (AC4H), and Beth Hill-Ross, president of New England Equine Rescues (NEER), helped raise funds to buy him from the pen. Through NEER, he was shipped to Maine for quarantine and rehab, then Gus was sent to the barn in New Hampshire to be trained as a lesson horse.
"We have three horses that we board with C & C Equine in Stratham," said Megan's mother, Eileen. "They'd taken Gus from a barn in New Hampshire, where he was being trained as a lesson horse. He couldn't make it as a lesson horse because of the abuse he endured in the past."
Megan saw past the scars on Gus' face and the brand on his shoulder, and a bond developed with the abused and homely horse.
"Megan fell in love with him, so we decided we could house him in our barn," Mitchell said.
The lively Gus now lives in much greener pastures than what he was destined for.
"In just a short period of time, Gus has come a long way," Mitchell said. "He didn't trust anybody when we first got him, but he's really friendly now, and he's only been at the house for two months."
Gus will stay with the Mitchells, who are also temporarily housing a second horse in their two-stall barn, until he finds a more permanent home.
"We just have so many horses in Massachusetts right now," said Mary Martin, director of NEER. "We're in desperate need of funding."
Gus's Girls say the fundraiser this weekend at Market Basket is just the beginning of their efforts to save horses.
"I've always wanted to help horses since I was little," Megan said. "I think that slaughter is wrong, and it's really unnecessary."
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Donations can be made to New England Equine Rescues and are tax deductible. Visit their Web site for more information, www.newenglandequinerescues.com.
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