WEST NEWBURY - A group of local girls who rescued a horse by selling lemonade all summer are at it again. The "lemonade girls": Lydia LeDonne and Emily Dresser, both 12, of West Newbury; Carissa Fitzgerald, 15, Cara Shaw, 15, and Emma Kate Symonds, 12, of Groveland; and Madison Masi, 12, of Amesbury sold lemonade throughout the summer on Bridge Road in West Newbury in order to rescue a horse.

Too cold for lemonade, the girls, in collaboration with New England Equine Rescue, have come up with another creative way of saving their favorite animal.

"The lemonade girls, along with local horse owners, have helped by clipping some hair off local horses in order to make horse hair bracelets," President of NEER Mary Martin said noting the bracelets, crafted by a woman in New York, will be sold at local equine shops.

Proceeds from the bracelets will go toward a rescued horse in North Andover in need of medical treatment.

In addition, the girls continue to rescue horses earmarked for slaughter, and they are within steps of saving another.

"The lemonade girls are still fundraising to help horses in need. They recently donated toward saving an old horse from a kill pen in Pennsylvania. The money will go toward having the horse shipped to Rhode Island," Martin said.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures, 108,000 horses were slaughtered last year alone, an increase from 90,277 the previous year.

"Just because horse slaughter is illegal in the U.S. it doesn't mean the horses are not being sent to Mexico or Canada to be slaughtered," Martin said.

Horses too slow to race, sick or the byproduct of animal testing are all sent to kill pens where they are bought at auction and often sent across the border to be killed and exported for human consumption.

Animal rights groups are currently pushing for federal legislation that would forbid the sale and transport of horses for human consumption, thereby banning the export market. Bills await action in both houses of Congress.

On April 19, NEER will participate in the Essex County Trail Association Equine Expo at the Topsfield Fairgrounds. At the expo, a rescued trick horse will do a demonstration, and the lemonade girls will be at the booth to help sell bracelets.

Bracelets are being sold at Essex County Co-op in Topsfield, Unique Equine in Topsfield and The Equestrian Shop in North Andover, and the Hallmark store in Haverhill at the Rivers Edge Plaza.