{"id":96816,"date":"2023-08-09T14:13:31","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T18:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/editionap.ca\/?p=96816"},"modified":"2026-02-17T21:53:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T20:53:32","slug":"a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/","title":{"rendered":"A safe home for horses in need"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Everyone needs somewhere they can call home when they\u2019re sick or alone with no one to care for them or who cares about them. That is the reason for Refuge: Les chevaux d\u2019espoir, the Horses of Hope Shelter.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The former farm on Patt\u00e9e Road between both Hawkesbury and Champlain Township provides a home now for more than a dozen horses. N\u00e8ve Lavigne, a professional horse therapist, created the shelter about two years ago. It felt like the right thing to do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always loved horses,\u201d Lavigne said, \u201cever since I was five. When I was young, I\u2019d always wanted to operate a shelter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Originally from Chatham-Brownsburg, across the Ottawa River in Qu\u00e9bec, Lavigne now lives in Hawkesbury and travels around Ontario and parts of Qu\u00e9bec, working with clients whose horses need special treatment to help get over injuries or else recover from some diseases that have left them physically weakened.<\/p>\n<p>Her work over the past five years as a physical therapist for horses helped fuel her desire to set up a shelter. She has seen cases where some horses were neglected or not getting the proper care and treatment needed when they were sick or hurt. She\u2019s also seen how increasing expenses forced some former horse owners to give up their animals because they can no longer afford them.<\/p>\n<p>Lavigne looked around and found an old farm that had become dilapidated but had a good 20 acres of open pasture and a barn and outbuildings that were built solid, even if their wooden exteriors were weathered and worn. She began, with help later from volunteers, to fix up the buildings for storage of hay for winter feeding, and create roomy stalls and common holding areas for the horses who found their way to the shelter.<\/p>\n<p>There is an assignment schedule for volunteers about horses that they are responsible for feed and care. Lavigne herself deals with each and every one of her equine charges. Julie Lelievre, one of the volunteers, noted that often Lavigne will get up in the middle of the night to check on a particular horse that is recovering from a past injury or some sickness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis really a great cause,\u201d Lelievre said, about the shelter. \u201cWe get to save them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some of the horses at the shelter are temporary residents. Lavigne and her volunteers run an adoption program to help find suitable new homes for horses that are young and healthy enough to become someone\u2019s new friend. For some horses, though, the shelter serves as both hospice and home them, someplace they can spend their final years in comfort and care.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a connection with horses and people,\u201d said Lavigne. \u201cWhen you save a horse, then there\u2019s a different connection than with a horse that\u2019s always had a good life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The biggest challenge to operating a shelter for horses is financial. Lavigne\u2019s operation depends on donations and grants, when available, to cover simple expenses like buying hay for winter feed and dealing with any veterinary costs for some of the horses. A corn roast-and-music fundraiser over the August long weekend has provided at least $2000 towards shelter costs.<\/p>\n<p>Anyone wishing to donate to the shelter or become a volunteer can email refugeleschevauxdespoir@gmail.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone needs somewhere they can call home when they\u2019re sick or alone with no one to care for them or who cares about them. That is the reason for Refuge: Les chevaux d\u2019espoir, the Horses of Hope Shelter. The former farm on Patt\u00e9e Road between both Hawkesbury and Champlain Township provides a home now for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":96817,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-justice-faits-divers"],"acf":[],"featured_media_global":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A safe home for horses in need - Tribune-Express<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A safe home for horses in need - Tribune-Express\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everyone needs somewhere they can call home when they\u2019re sick or alone with no one to care for them or who cares about them. That is the reason for Refuge: Les chevaux d\u2019espoir, the Horses of Hope Shelter. The former farm on Patt\u00e9e Road between both Hawkesbury and Champlain Township provides a home now for [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tribune-Express\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-09T18:13:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T20:53:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn.editionap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gregg Chamberlain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gregg Chamberlain\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gregg Chamberlain\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c03784f36585a6d796cecef66b57dda4\"},\"headline\":\"A safe home for horses in need\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-09T18:13:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T20:53:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":557,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.editionap.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Faits divers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/\",\"name\":\"A safe home for horses in need - Tribune-Express\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.editionap.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-08-09T18:13:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T20:53:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c03784f36585a6d796cecef66b57dda4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.editionap.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cdn.editionap.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"N\u00e8ve Lavigne loves horses and her passion for their welfare and safety inspired her to create the Refuge: Les chevaux d\u2019espoir horse shelter near Hawkesbury.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/justice-faits-divers\\\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A safe home for horses in need\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tribune-Express\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tribune-express.ca\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c03784f36585a6d796cecef66b57dda4\",\"name\":\"Gregg Chamberlain\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/366c870ac357116b852c4c9f2c9889005f8ebfab44da2136a5234c0f7b9c8565?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/366c870ac357116b852c4c9f2c9889005f8ebfab44da2136a5234c0f7b9c8565?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/366c870ac357116b852c4c9f2c9889005f8ebfab44da2136a5234c0f7b9c8565?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gregg Chamberlain\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A safe home for horses in need - Tribune-Express","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"A safe home for horses in need - Tribune-Express","og_description":"Everyone needs somewhere they can call home when they\u2019re sick or alone with no one to care for them or who cares about them. That is the reason for Refuge: Les chevaux d\u2019espoir, the Horses of Hope Shelter. The former farm on Patt\u00e9e Road between both Hawkesbury and Champlain Township provides a home now for [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/","og_site_name":"Tribune-Express","article_published_time":"2023-08-09T18:13:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-02-17T20:53:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1706,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.editionap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gregg Chamberlain","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gregg Chamberlain","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/"},"author":{"name":"Gregg Chamberlain","@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c03784f36585a6d796cecef66b57dda4"},"headline":"A safe home for horses in need","datePublished":"2023-08-09T18:13:31+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-17T20:53:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/"},"wordCount":557,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.editionap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg","articleSection":["Faits divers"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/","url":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/","name":"A safe home for horses in need - Tribune-Express","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.editionap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg","datePublished":"2023-08-09T18:13:31+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-17T20:53:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c03784f36585a6d796cecef66b57dda4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdn.editionap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.editionap.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/08\/HORSE-SHELTER-7-scaled-1.jpg","width":2560,"height":1706,"caption":"N\u00e8ve Lavigne loves horses and her passion for their welfare and safety inspired her to create the Refuge: Les chevaux d\u2019espoir horse shelter near Hawkesbury."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/justice-faits-divers\/a-safe-home-for-horses-in-need\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"A safe home for horses in need"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/","name":"Tribune-Express","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/c03784f36585a6d796cecef66b57dda4","name":"Gregg Chamberlain","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/366c870ac357116b852c4c9f2c9889005f8ebfab44da2136a5234c0f7b9c8565?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/366c870ac357116b852c4c9f2c9889005f8ebfab44da2136a5234c0f7b9c8565?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/366c870ac357116b852c4c9f2c9889005f8ebfab44da2136a5234c0f7b9c8565?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gregg Chamberlain"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":133207,"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96816\/revisions\/133207"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tribune-express.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}