10/09/2026
Dear Friends of Horses of Tir Na Nog
As of this writing, San Diego Humane Society has eight Villa Chardonnay horses left in their care. San Diego Humane Society launched a large-scale rescue and investigation at this sanctuary in Julian on May 1, 2026. Since this rescue began, there has been a great deal of speculation about what lead to San Diego Humane Society taking over the operations of the sanctuary, caring for 728 animals.
We have heard that a lack of veterinary care was a significant issue at Vila Chardonnay. Dr. Oman from East County Large Animal Practice (ECLAP) was one of the first large animal veterinarians to lend his expertise to San Diego Humane Society for this case. In an effort to understand how an organization that successfully raised over a million dollars a year were unable to sustain their operations; we met with Dr. Oman. During this meeting he agreed to visit us in order to apply any lessons learned from Villa Chardonnay. Dr. Oman had not been at our ranch in quite a while, so it was an opportunity to have "fresh eyes" check the animals in our care.
Overall Dr. Oman's visit was positive. He was very pleased to see significant improvement in the horses he had first met at Villa Chardonnay. He suggested some products and treatments we had not tried for a few of our ranch residents.
The strongest takeaway from Dr. Oman's visit is that we need to return to our annual Dental Day. We hosted these for years, but as a cost-savings effort, we have taken a more targeted approach in recent years. We focused on new arrivals and horses that show signs of dental issues. According to Dr. Oman, studies indicate that horses who have annual dental floats see a 20% reduction in feed needs.
Dr. Oman hopes we can schedule our Dental Day before 2026 draws to a close. The staff at ECLAP is hard at work trying to find a date that works for their team of four veterinarians and veterinary technicians to preform 84 dental floats on our domestic equines.
Dental Day, including dental floats, dewormers and vaccines costs $443 per equine! We are so pleased to announce that the Remiatte Foundation has offered a $10,000 match for Dental Day! This means that every dollar donated will be matched, up to $10,000.
Please consider a gift to fund Dental Day. Help us continue to provide much needed veterinary care for ALL of our domestic horses, from our miniature horse Missy to our big, beautiful draft Gracie, all of our horses require dental.
Give Today: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=RP5SQGQR3QSZN
We hope we can count on you to make this Dental Day Match by Oct. 31, 2026.
Your gift towards Dental Day will be matched. Your compassion is an investment in the health of our entire herd.
In gratitude,
Amy Pat Rigney
Administrator
