Beautiful Horses Mask History of Abuse

HITCHCOCK, Texas - Horses have always been part of the Texas landscape; but in the midst of all that beauty lies a very ugly truth.

"He had his halter on upside down which grew embedded in his nose."

The dedicated staff at Habitat for Horses recites the sad stories from memory.

"They were used for something in hormone testing for pregnancies."

Most of the horses seized and sent to Habitat for Horses arrive malnourished, weak and neglected.

"She's an Arabian. She came from a 27-horse seizure."

That is why Jerry Finch decided to start the group back in 1998.

He tells FOX 26 News, "In Texas alone, we have 1.2 million horses. They are not all in wonderful places and wonderful condition and wonderful shape. A lot of them suffer. When horses get like this, it is because people really stopped caring."

Working with law enforcement in five different states, the group takes in and cares for 350 horses at their Galveston-area ranch and a number of foster homes on any given day.

It costs at least $2,500 to rehabilitate one of the beautiful horses. The goal is to find them permanent homes.

"They don't need to be slaughtered. They don't need to be killed. They don't need to die in some farm pasture somewhere. They need the care that we can give them; the care that horse lovers around the U.S. can give them. That's what it means to me," said Finch.

There is not much that Jerry Finch has not seen when it comes to animal cruelty -- but what reignites his spirit, what keeps him going ... is seeing a healthy horse leave his Hitchcock ranch.