TRYON – Residents and local equestrian organizations have opened their stalls and doors to those who have horses along the coast in the path of Hurricane Matthew.

Tracie Hanson is the executive director of the Foothills Equestrian Nature Center (FENCE) and said she opened more than 300 stalls for residents from as far away as Charleston and Wilmington who have horses and need to evacuate.

“We are on the North Carolina Equine Emergency list for North Carolina and South Carolina for evacuations in the case of emergency for horses,” Hanson said. “We have 301 stalls available and when they give us a call they tell us how many stalls, when they are going to arrive and they are told there’s no charge for use of the facility. It’s free and, once they get here, it’s all hands on deck to help in any way that we can.”

As of Wednesday, Oct. 5 the FENCE Facebook page posted the facility has 150 stalls available out of the 301 stalls available. Hanson said on Friday the number has decreased to 120. Hanson said the stall fees are waived and bags of shavings are sold at $6 per bag from The Hay Rack in Landrum.

“The community has done such amazing outreach to us in saying where can they help and when they can be here,” Hanson said. “That has been just amazing, and it makes me proud of where I live a little bit more every day. The community, especially the horse community, there has just been an outpour of help to arrive.”

Travis Aldred works with Harmon Field and said that facility has approximately 125 stalls open on site and that the facility will not charge those who are evacuating.

Kris Caldwell manages Dragonfly Stables, Inc. at the Block House in Tryon and said she has opened her five stalls for people who need to evacuate north. According to Caldwell, a Facebook page has been set up called “East Coast Equine Evacuation and Assistance Group/Fleet of Angels.” Residents from as far away as Canada like Greg Boyce have been offering assistance in finding stables on this page.

“I’ve not had anyone call me as of yet, but I have feeling my phone will be ringing off the hook Saturday,” Caldwell explained. “It’s rare that people won’t already have some kind of plans in place in this event and have arrangements made.”

Libbie Johnson, resident of Tryon, has been at FENCE to greet those coming from the coast and volunteered to help find a temporary home for the horses until the storm passes through. Johnson said horses are precarious in storms with falling structures and rising rivers.

“No one knows exactly how bad a storm is going to be, whether it’s just going to be a bad storm or horrendous,” Johnson said. “They need to evacuate their horses whether it’s just a family pet, a competition horse or a work horse. We have the luxury here of having all of our infrastructure in place. So, we have lots of empty stalls and we have lots of people who are involved with horses here.”

Johnson said the Foothills Riding Club put out a call for people to volunteer and said “a whole mess of people” came in to feed and walk horses.

“Our county emergency management is ready for whatever they need to do, the sheriff’s department has been patrolling the barn areas at night to keep them secure and the equine ambulance is ready if they need to be called,” Johnson said. “Homeowners are also taking horses into their homes and they’ll say ‘I’ve got a spare bedroom, bring your dog.’ I can’t think of any other place that would do that.”

Patti Lovelace works with the Foothills Equestrian Rescue Association in conjunction with the Foothills Humane Society and said the association is providing food, hay and volunteers to those who are evacuating and need assistance.

“FERA is not a rescue, it’s a equine assistance program, and we have donated feed and hay that we can offer to these people,” Lovelace said. “We’ve also got connections through the Foothills Humane Society and FERA and can find people who are offering places to stay like Harmon Field and FENCE who are offering their stalls. We don’t have a facility that we can bring them to.”

FENCE is looking for volunteers to walk horses and muck stalls as Hanson said this is an “all hands on deck” process. To volunteer, contact Hanson at 828-817-3594 or FENCE at 828-859-9021.

“Many horses have arrived at FENCE from the coast while Hurricane Matthew comes to their town,” the organization posted on their Facebook page. “FENCE is pleased to be a part of a community that is always willing to help. We thank you.”

Hanson said she has seen on the news in recent days weather forecasters and reporters urging people to evacuate the coast and Florida.

“The people on the news are pretty much begging people to leave, especially in Charleston,” Hanson said. “If you haven’t done so already, get out now. These horses are like children to people.”