Lockhart residents bring water to equine sanctuary in the nick of time

By Kristen Meriwether, Editor LPR

When the water stopped dripping from the taps at the South Texas Equine Sanctuary in Seguin on Feb. 15, caretaker Jennifer Freytag knew she had a problem. 

Horses consume very large amounts of water daily to properly digest hay. When they don’t get enough water the hay can impact the digestive tract leading to colic or even death. 

With over 50 horses to tend to, Freytag knew she would have to be creative to get water to the animals. The sanctuary focuses on unwanted horses, those not typically suited for riding, and senior horses. Freytag said they often come to her injured and they rehabilitate them and keep them out of the slaughter houses.

“A lot of them were literally banging at the ice in the empty water troughs, and kicking the empty water troughs,” Freytag said in a Feb. 18 phone interview with LPR. “It breaks my heart because we are here to help the horses, and I was helpless.”

Beginning on Tuesday Freytag used buckets to collect melting snow coming from the barn roofs, rotating full and empty buckets until dark. Some of the horses learned to eat the snow, according to Freytag. But after two days, the snow was nearly gone, and water had not returned to the taps. 

On Feb. 17 at 9:30 p.m. Lynn Parks posted to the Lockhart Caldwell County discussion Facebook group: “911 Situation!  Anyone know of a bulk water hauler that can get water to a horse sanctuary in Seguin? The water supply is down. We are having to melt snow and get runoff from ice to water the 50+ horses. If you can help please post here or PM me.”

Caldwell County residents Blake and Jamie Stone saw the message and sent Parks a direct message offering to help. Jamie is an equine osteopath and owns PROformance Advantage Equine in Lockhart. Her husband Blake owns a construction company and has a 1000 gallon water tank and trailer. It was a perfect match.  

“We had [the tank] here, we’re used to getting around in this type of weather, we had it all available, so we wanted to help,” a very humble Jamie said in a Feb. 18 phone interview with LPR. “It wasn’t anything big. We filled it up with water and went over there.”

For Freytag, who had endured several sleepless nights, it meant the world. She had poured out the last bottles of water she had the night before to give to the animals and was unsure what she was going to do.  

“I didn’t have an ounce left in me,” Freytag said. “It was a huge relief, bigger than anyone knows.”

The water was enough to fill every trough on the property. Freytag reported some of the horses ran to drink the much-needed water. 

The relief will, however, be short-lived unless service is returned. The water the Stone’s delivered will last for two days. Freytag said Blake has offered to come back if needed, and a neighbor has offered to help with his small tank that will bring a few hundred gallons in an emergency. But until service is returned, Freytag will have to continue to work to find water for the horses.

The Stones will continue sharing their good fortune with not only Freytag at the sanctuary, but neighbors in need as well. After they left the sanctuary Jamie said they were driving back to filled up the tank to deliver non-potable water to residents in Luling at the Napa Auto Parts parking lot.

Jamie told LPR they will fill up the tank, which takes three hours to fill, and deliver water to residents in Lockhart on Friday Feb. 19. She did not have a location at the time of our interview, but we will update this post as the information becomes available. 

“We’ve been very blessed. We haven’t lost electricity and we haven’t lost water,” Jamie said. “Anything we can do to help.”