Marion stable offers homeless horses shelter from the storm

Oct 28, 2021

MARION — A cure for equestrian in-stable-ity.

As this week’s nor’easter tore through the region, high speed winds caused widespread damage to structures of all shapes and sizes, including stables that provided shelter to horses and livestock.

Without a place to store their homeless animals, some livestock owners reached out to Jess Costa, owner of Washburn Stables in Marion, to see if she had any space to take them in — and got more generosity than they bargained for.

“I had a couple calls from people looking [for places to bring their animals],” she said. “So I thought I’d make the offer to anyone in town, too.”

Costa made a post on Facebook the same day offering up free space in her family’s stables to any horses or other livestock who needed it.

So far, she has one horse from Falmouth already, and a couple more people who have been in contact.

“He’s here for free right now,” she said. “So [his owner] can sort out what she needs to at home and not have to worry about it.”

The horse is being kept in the family’s extra stable, which they keep empty for new horses that need to be separated from the others at first.

Costa even offered to help with transportation for any horse owners that needed it.

“I know for a lot of people, they don’t have a truck and trailer, so that’s why I thought I’d offer,” she said.

Costa said this isn’t the first time her family has offered horses shelter after a storm, either.

“We had the same thing happen a couple years ago,” she said. “It happens all the time.”