~ December 2nd – A One-Day Call to Action for Kenya’s Working Horses ~
(Lexington, KY – December 2, 2025) — This Giving Tuesday, Brooke USA Foundation is urging supporters to unite behind Ridden to Ruin: Used for Fun. Left in Pain., an urgent effort to protect Kenya’s working horses and ponies suffering behind the nation’s tourism and entertainment industry. Brooke USA aims to raise $100,000 in just 24 hours to expand lifesaving rescue, veterinary care, rehabilitation, owner education, and welfare reform. To catalyze this moment, The Holly Fund has generously contributed a $50,000 Anchor Matching Gift, doubling all donations until the match is met, and donors will have the chance to triple their impact during three special Power Hours, with up to $5,000 matched again each hour thanks to the generosity of the organization’s donors.
Across Kenya, horses and ponies are commonly used on beaches, at festivals, trail sites, parks, and tourist attractions. While these rides offer moments of fun for visitors, the animals providing them often endure long hours, underfeeding, injuries, ill-fitting tack, and riders who are too heavy or too young for their physical condition. Many show signs of pain. Brooke USA’s Giving Tuesday initiative ensures that these animals receive emergency rescue, critical veterinary intervention, nutritious feed, safe rest, proper rehabilitation, and consistent follow-up care. The program also equips owners with humane, practical training that allows them to support their families without compromising equine welfare. Through advocacy and community engagement, Brooke USA is also working to help establish and enforce responsible welfare standards across Kenya.
The urgency of this campaign is underscored by the recent rescue of the Mombasa Beach Horses. Brooke USA’s partners, KSPCA and Brooke East Africa, responded to an emergency case involving 11 severely neglected ponies. The survivors are now receiving nutrition, medical treatment, wound care, rest, socialization, and ongoing monitoring—all made possible because donors stepped forward when it mattered most. Their slow recovery is a testament to what compassionate intervention can achieve.
“Giving Tuesday remains one of the most powerful days of the year for good,” said Kendall Bierer, Donor Relations Officer for Brooke USA. “With the Holly Fund match, our Power Hours, and the urgent need in Kenya, every single dollar holds the power to save a life. These horses have been ridden to ruin—but together, we can give them a future grounded in dignity, safety, and compassion.”
Brooke USA invites supporters to make their Giving Tuesday gift at www.BrookeUSA.org/givingtuesday, where they can learn more about the horses whose lives are changed through this campaign. Donors can also follow the Foundation’s efforts on Facebook and Instagram at @brooke_usa.
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About Brooke USA Foundation (Brooke USA): The mission of Brooke USA is to significantly improve the health, welfare, and productivity of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people who depend on them for survival worldwide. We are committed to sustainable economic development by reducing poverty, increasing food security, ensuring access to water, providing a means to education, and raising basic standards of living through improved equine health and welfare. We accomplish this by raising funds and responsibly directing them to the areas of greatest need.
Brooke USA strives to alleviate the suffering and vulnerability of developing communities by funding and implementing programs that improve the quality of life and health of working equines and thereby positively impacting their economic sustainability, protecting the planet, ensuring gender equality, and guaranteeing life on land resilience. We want to see healthy, happy people and equines that work in partnership to achieve sustainable local economies.
About GivingTuesday: GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past eleven years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
Whether it’s making someone smile, helping a neighbor or stranger out, showing up for an issue or people we care about, or giving some of what we must those who need our help, every act of generosity counts, and everyone has something to give. GivingTuesday strives to build a world in which the catalytic power of generosity is at the heart of the society we build together, unlocking dignity, opportunity, and equity around the globe.
Media Contacts:
Emily Dulin
305-505-6170
Emily.Dulin@BrookeUSA.org
Kendall Bierer
561-309-9873
Kendall.Bierer@BrookeUSA.org