"I'm getting about four calls per month from horse owners who can't find or can't afford quality hay," Hord said.

Katselas and two other supporters, Beth Helms from Pound Ridge, N.Y., and Sara Gruen, a Chicago area novelist, then committed $7,000 to purchase hay from Amish farmers in Pennsylvania to ship to Murfreesboro Friday, so Hord can distribute it from her farm on Florence Road near Old Nashville Highway.

All of the hay from this shipment has been spoken for. The donation was needed because all of the high-priced hay is going to wealthy horse stable owners, Katselas said.

"What happens to rescue services or backyard horse owners?" said Katselas, noting how hay production has dropped about 30 percent.

Rutherford County's Farmer's Co-op donated use of its loading dock to receive the hay and then delivered it to Hord's farm.

"The drought is so widespread," said Kyle Hickerson, the manager of the agricultural department for the Co-Op. "All of Tennessee is pretty much short (on quality hay)."

Hickerson noted how Hord's father, C.W. "Bubba" Hord, is a well known farmer at the Co-Op.
Mary Hord, who owns three horses and is taking care of five rescue horses, stopped by the Co-Op with fellow Almost Home Animal Rescue member Lacey Berns Friday to coordinate shipment plans.
The organization also plans to help Katselas raise money to buy hay to ship to North Carolina to help other horse owners.

"A lot of them are either paying double for hay, or they're giving their horses away," Hord said.

— Scott Broden, 615-278-5158
http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008801260314