Their Compassion Spurred Action: How Two Hearts Helped Save a Herd of 90 Horses

When Quincy L. and his girlfriend, Hope P., set out to help a herd of 90 suffering horses in Madison County, Montana, they had no idea that the scope of the operation would lead him to quit school, her to quit her job, and both to almost go broke.

Quincy, a lifelong horse lover and a student at the University of Montana Western, learned about the horses from a fellow student who had been working at the property. In October 2024, the horses’ owner hired Quincy to care for the herd.

“It was a herd of Morgans, a breeding operation, and their conditions were pretty rough,” said Quincy. “We tried bringing our concerns to the owner, but he wasn’t having any of it. He wanted to breed them, but they were in no condition for that.”

Part of the herd and property as they looked before the ASPCA arrived.

Malnourished and with no food, the herd had resorted to eating the bark off cottonwood trees and wooden fencing. Others ate their own manure, which was everywhere: six inches deep in some holding pens. The freezing temperatures often hovered in the single digits and teens.

“The barnyard was a real heartbreaker,” said Quincy. “Colts, fillies and studs were crammed into 10’-by-10’ wood corrals and couldn’t lie down. One filly at the back of the barn was standing in three feet of manure. Another had a softball-sized knee. There were 16 studs in wooden corrals, and the round pen was full.”

Quincy soon realized he was in over his head if he wanted to care for the herd.

“I had no one to help me,” he said. “So, I recruited Hope.”

A Challenging Endeavor

On their first full day at the site, Quincy and Hope began deworming the horses.

“They all had potbellies and were skinny,” said Hope. “The fillies were the thinnest, the worst off. They had winter coats so you couldn’t always see their ribs, but you could run your hands across them, and it was like playing the xylophone on their ribs.”

Ribs were visible on many of the horses.

Quincy phoned a local veterinarian whose number was on a whiteboard in the barn.

“The vet said she quit going out there because the horse owner wouldn’t pay her,” he said.

Problems continued to mount.

“We only had three bales of hay and had to find a way to get more hay to the herd,” said Quincy, who managed to get one of two tractors running to transport a bale to the herd on the second day.

Quincy and Hope spent weeks mucking stalls, layer upon layer of manure, into 15-foot piles. The 500-gallon water tanks were bone dry.

Without food, water or medication, much of the herd was shut down and unwilling to socialize.

“One filly, separated from her mother, was terrified and tried to kick us,” Hope said. “They had no sparkle. Their eyes looked like they were just ready to die.”

“At first, you could see the sadness; they didn’t care about us or anything,” Quincy said. “As soon as we got water and hay to them, piece by piece, their personalities came out. Toward the end, we had 90 different personalities. We were constantly learning about every horse, every day.

A Desperate Call

The 10-hour days with no help and dwindling funds took their toll. Quincy quit school, and Hope, a certified nurse’s assistant, left her job.

“It affected how much time we could spend with our own horses,” Quincy said. “It was hard on our relationships. We were almost out of money, and the property was an hour from home. We ran out of hay, and I pulled strings to do whatever I could to get feed. We put a lot of miles on Hope’s car, and my truck broke down.”

Horses suffered from neglect and malnourishment.

“We were also stressed because we didn’t know if the horses were going to live or die,” Hope said. “But it wouldn’t have been right to leave them. We were their voice. There was no one but us.”

On December 12, 2024, more than a month after their saga with the Morgans began, Hope and Quincy made a desperate call to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.

“I had $3 in my bank account,” said Quincy. “And for grain and everything else, we were living off a bonus Hope got at work a couple of months back.”

Deputy Tim Jurgonski opened a case and contacted the Humane Society of Western Montana, which immediately sprang into action.

Lifesaving Help

“When I first saw the horses, I was deeply saddened by their condition,” said Marta Pierpoint, executive director of the Humane Society of Western Montana. “I have horses and recognized the severity of their conditions and signs of stress. What struck me most was the dullness of their eyes and their lack of energy.”

With help from a generous donor and its board’s support, the Humane Society of Western Montana provided hay and added Hope and Quincy to their payroll. But the organization doesn’t have the capacity for equine rescue, so Marta contacted the ASPCA.

Hope helped feed while the ASPCA’s Dr. Maggie Joel conducted an examination on one of the horses.

“Our relationship has always been positive, our approach to animal welfare issues aligned, and I trust and respect the ASPCA’s teams,” she explained. “I knew if you could help, you’d do it well.”

When the ASPCA team arrived on January 9, Hope and Quincy introduced them to each horse, one at a time.

“It was like all of our prayers had been answered,” said Hope. “The ASPCA was a life-changer. They completely turned everything around, and that’s why these horses are alive today. It was such a relief to take a step back and know that everything was going to be okay.”

While the herd had gained weight, challenges remained.

“The hoof neglect in some was the worst I’d ever seen,” said Kylie McGarity, a senior manager on the ASPCA’s National Field & Disaster Response team who was onsite for much of the operation. “Some exhibited unsocial behavior that made them difficult to examine and care for.”

Many horses in the herd suffered from hoof neglect.

The ASPCA supplied grain, building materials for pens, generators to heat water troughs, straw and sand, and enrichment items like Jolly Balls coated with unsweetened apple sauce. We arranged for two local veterinarians and three farriers to provide long-overdue care. A total of 65 ASPCA responders logged 7,800 hours of work and care at the site.

Toward the end of the case, Marta visited the herd again.

“I was overjoyed to see some sass in the horses and their strong desire to check my pockets for treats,” she said. “Bright-eyed and well-fed, this was a different herd.”

On to Adoption

In compelling testimony, Quincy spoke at the legal hearing that led to the owner's forfeiture of the horses and the ASPCA’s ultimate ownership of the herd.

As the horses were prepared for adoption, Hope and Quincy had their eyes on two: Cassie and Sundance.

Quincy, left, and Hope, with Sundance and below, with Cassie.

“With 90 of them, we were bound to fall in love with a couple,” Hope said. “We loved them all like they were our own.”

An adoption event took place over six days in April 2025. Hope and Quincy were the first to adopt. More than 60 horses found new families, and the others were transported to ASPCA partners in the region to continue their journeys to new homes.

“The studs left first; they were my boys,” Quincy said. “I shed a few tears in the barn. I felt like no one else knew the herd like Hope and me. Seeing it dwindle was bittersweet.”

“It was gut-wrenching,” adds Hope. “We put so much emotion and physical work into those horses and spent one-on-one time with each one, getting to know their personalities. But we also got to be part of the adoption process and match people with horses, which felt good.”

When the last three horses were adopted by the same family, Hope shed tears of joy.

Transformation and Renewal

Cassie, 6, and Sundance, 3, joined Hope and Quincy’s other horses, Waylon and Sam, and share their 30 acres.

Initially crabby and antisocial, Cassie’s personality has completely changed. She is being trained to ride.

From left: Sundance and Quincy; Cassie and Hope.

“Before, you couldn’t catch her unless you had grain,” Hope said. “Now she approaches and will put her head in a halter. She’s so smart, and she sidesteps so I can mount her. She’s a level-headed horse and a real lovebug.”

Sundance was once very timid, but after working with him all summer, Quincy said he loves attention and petting. Spunky and opinionated, he can be ridden and loves chasing cows.

“Cassie and Sundance both knew when they got in that trailer that they were going somewhere better,” Quincy said. “It was like they won the lottery. Pretty much every horse out there knew that.”

Reflections and Ripple Effects

For everyone involved, the case prompted serious reflection.

“It made me realize I want to work with horses and make a difference in that world,” says Hope, who is now enrolled in the natural horsemanship program at the University of Montana Western.

Quincy joined the Madison County Sheriff’s Office as a deputy.

“This cruelty case is an example of how things can be done right when collaborating,” said Marta. “The Humane Society of Western Montana held a conference in the spring, and Deputy Jurgonski shared his learnings with a large group of law enforcement and animal welfare organizations. It was one of the most popular presentations, and I can confirm it is having positive ripple effects across Montana.”

The ASPCA’s Kylie McGarity helped tend to the herd.

“Watching these horses come from such terrible conditions and then seeing them recover, show their personalities and confidently walk onto trailers toward brighter futures has been one of the highlights of my career,” said Kylie.

If they had it to do over, both Hope and Quincy emphatically say they would.

“My mom was proud of me for stepping up and drawing a line in the sand, for standing up for what I thought was right,” Quincy said. “We had to see it through. It was our world for months, from the time we woke up until the time we went to bed. And we stayed until the last horse left the property.”

Quincy and Sundance.

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