10/01/2026
I’m happy to share this fundraiser for Tree of Life Hollow, a nonprofit doing meaningful work to preserve the endangered Choctaw Horses.
If you’re able, please consider supporting their fundraiser or sharing this post to help spread the word. Every bit of support helps. ❤️
Virginia is short a billion pounds of hay this winter.
On September 16, Governor Spanberger declared a state of emergency over the statewide hay shortage caused by this year's drought. Hay yields are down 35 percent across the Commonwealth, and in some places as much as 70. Many farms, including ours, started feeding winter hay in summer because the pastures gave out.
As our stores stand today, we have enough hay to last through January at best. Winter doesn't end in January. February, March, and April still have to be fed, and local farmers won't start cutting next year's hay until May at the earliest. The longer we wait, the more it costs: hay bought late in winter has to come from farther away or through resellers, and the price rises with every mile and every middleman.
A horse can't get through winter without hay. Its digestive system is built to run on forage around the clock. When the grass is gone, hay is their food, their body heat, and what keeps their gut working through the cold months. Nothing else replaces it, and a thin supply is not an option.
This winter will be hardest on the horses who need the most. Our mares are nursing this spring's two foals and are already carrying next year's, due in May and June. A mare doing both needs more than enough hay. This year's foals and the rest of our youngstock are still building the bone and frame they'll carry for the rest of their lives. They are the next generation of a critically endangered Choctaw bloodline, and they cannot go short.
We are a young program. The groundwork of bloodlines, pairings, and years of careful planning is only now beginning to bear fruit. A shortage this severe does more than make a hard winter. It can stop a conservation program before it has fully begun.
We had planned to spend this fall rebuilding the Rapha Fund, our emergency veterinary reserve, which we emptied this year to save Manny's life. That work will have to wait. Hay can't.
Our goal: $4,860 by November 15.
That's four months of hay for all ten of our horses, and about twice what we'd normally spend. Prices are up, hay has to travel farther to reach us, and our pregnant mares need more than the bare minimum.
Every gift feeds a horse:
$4 feeds one horse for a day.
$28 feeds one horse for a week.
$40 feeds the whole herd for a day.
$122 feeds one horse for a month.
$280 feeds the whole herd for a week.
Here's how you can help:
🌾 Give. Every dollar goes to hay. https://treeoflifehollow.com/support-the-farm/
🌾 Shop. Every purchase from our merch store feeds the herd: https://www.bonfire.com/store/tree-of-life-hollow/
🌾 Donate hay. If you have quality hay to spare, or know someone who does, message us.
🌾 Lend a hand. We need help finding hay sources and hauling loads to the farm. If you have a truck and trailer, or just good leads, we'd be grateful to hear from you.
Winter comes whether we're ready or not. We intend to have the barn full when it does.
