The Quest Shelter
Currently Quest's shelter operates from a private property belonging to our President. One of Quest's long term goals is for the organisation to acquire its own property, where we can purpose-build suitable infrastructure. While ever we operate from a private property, improvements to infrastructure are necessarily limited to those which are removable/portable, and our available places for horses are limited.
The philosophy at our shelter is that every equine, regardless of age, health status, breed, or perceived 'value', be afforded the highest standard of care possible. Each animal is assessed as an individual, and great effort is made to accommodate each animal's own idiosyncrasies and preferences as regards their living arrangements. Each resident is acknowledged and handled on a daily basis. Our Vice President, Dr. Jude Mulholland is always on call for the Quest horses, and being both a Vet and a qualified Farrier, Jude provides great holistic professional care for each of them. Our Equine Dentist Esther Davis attends on a regular basis. Our President works on the property, and is on hand for the horses 24/7.
Horses are made welcome for whatever period is necessary to restore their health and to source them the right home. Depending upon the status of each horse on arrival, this length of stay has varied from a matter of weeks, to a matter of years. Horses only remain at the primary care facility however whilst they are requiring daily feeding/treatment and/or ground work. After this time they are either re-homed, relocated to our Sanctuary prior to re-homing, or in some cases, sent for starting and/or education under saddle. The ultimate aim is to equip each horse with the health, demeanour and training to give it every chance at a successful future. Of course many of our aged and permanently debilitated graduates are simply seeking retirement/companion homes.
The Quest Shelter is located in Central Victoria, 40 minutes from Bendigo. Unfortunately the property is very small, but it is well fenced and laid out, enabling the housing of a good number of horses if required. Sadly the area in which it is located is not known for the quality of its grazing! All equine residents are hard-fed year round regardless of the season, the bulk of the horse's diets being hay, to replace the roughage that they do not attain through access to good grazing. This amounts to a LOT of hay, and makes up the bulk of Quest's expenditure. We are very fortunate to have access to our 'Sanctuary' as we call it, which does serve to ease the burden on our primary facility at times.
Facilities at our shelter include safely fenced (electric) paddocks, an arena, a good sized round yard, and some portable steel yarding. Each paddock also contains a large airy shelter shed. Manure is removed daily from occupied paddocks, and the facility is maintained in a clean and professional manner.
Being a private home, we are unable to open the facility for visits from the public, something that we look forward to changing when one day Quest has its own property.
