Dream Equine Therapy Center

My wife and I have worked with DETC for over 5 years, providing foster care, transportation assistance, material and financial assistance. We own and operate a successful breeding farm, bringing a combined 70+ years of animal husbandry experience to this discussion. I am a Board President of an unrelated 401(c)(3) organization and hold a Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in non-profit management. I am employed as a law enforcement officer with over 25 years experience, to include specializations in fraud investigations, internal affairs investigations and offender profile assessments. I say all of this to say I know how to raise animals, know how to read people, how to tell good folks from bad folks and can tell when "things" are dishonest, deceitful or just not right.

I absolutely no reservations in attesting to the ability, honesty and ethical character of Ms. Stemper. I have personally witnessed Ms. Stemper's devotion on many occasions as she places the needs of rescued animals above her own needs. Ms. Stemper goes to tremendous lengths to ensure horses she rescues are placed with caring, competent and respectable people. She is upfront and honest when dealing with potential foster homes or forever homes, ensuring people understand their expectations, commitments and limitations. Foster and forever homes are required to sign a straight-forward contract explaining these obligations in substantial depth and detail. Unfortunately, there remain people of good intention who read with their heart, not their head. These emotional decisions rarely fare well. The majority of these people of good heart recognize their mistake and work with Ms. Stemper to further ensure the best interests of the horses are met, which usually involves Ms. Stemper assuming greater expense as she welcomes a placed horse back to her farm. This leaves a few who, for whatever reason, feel they bear no responsibility for their poor decision, lashing out and casting blame. This is where my internal affairs tenure comes in.

The personal attacks, innuendo and thinly-veiled threats against Ms. Stemper that are posted on this site are strikingly similar to the retaliatory complaints I have investigated as an internal affairs investigator. What I have seen (and see in these postings) are disgruntled or embarrassed citizens who have transgressed, then reach for redemption by attacking anything and anyone without thought or concern for truth, honor or dignity. The unfortunate truth about the internet is that people have the perceived idea that you can say anything about anyone without fear of accountability. The negative posts I have read are without merit, untrue and demonstrate a marked lack of character.

Ms. Stemper - you have my continued support and admiration for your outstanding work and tireless devotion to the animals blessed enough to have a second chance at your farm. I am looking forward to helping in any capacity towards the continued success of Dream Equine Therapy Center.

Wow....just read "Boobyboo"'s statement. First, besides your screen name being "boobyboo", calling people "idiots" on this site does not lend to your credibility, so most people will likely discard anything you say. Additionally, no one at Dream Equine puts children on the backs of nurse mare foals. Are you kidding or just misinformed? Dream Equine doesn't even work with physically challenged kids. The work they did before was emotional therapy and did NOT take place at the farm....I do believe it was visits to hospitals. And YES, that has been put on hold during the grueling move to a new location, which is now thankfully in the final stages. I am involved with funding raising and a bit of fostering of the nurse mare foals. This has been continuing (albeit on a smaller basis) for the past two years during the process of acquiring the new property, mostly at great personal expense to the director of DETC. Fortunately, she does have a few good foster homes willing to take on the expenses and support many of these horses and foals in the interim. It is indeed unfortunate that she recently had to take the horses back from this person that "boobyboo" says she is NOT (although, there really doesn't seem to be anyone else on earth that would be this angry and hateful over the matter, that she would use childish words like "idiot" and put libelous statements and threats on the internet...a bit risky actually, since we all have an IP address and these statements in the end are not anonymous if the law is involved). Back to the horses that had to be taken back. While they had lost a good amount of weight, they are now under the care of DETC as well as DETC's more reliable foster homes that are in a better financial postion to feed them properly. I think what we all need to remember is that this "rescue issue" is not supposed to be about our egos. IT IS ABOUT CARING FOR THE HORSES....SAVING THE ONES WE CAN. YES, it is rewarding and warms you from the inside out, so it does help people with esteem issues feel better about themselves. BUT, that should be secondary to what we really are out to do, which at the moment, happens to be rescuing every horse and foal that we are able to. So, come on guys. Can we please look inside ourselves and remember that? Let the anger go. If you couldn't get the job done, and someone else has stepped up to the plate, be thankful that SOMEONE is able to do it. Nuf said.

Sadly, I have learned that Dream Equine Therapy's mission statement 'to provide support and wellness to terminally ill and chronically ill people through rescued and rebabilitated equines' is a LIE. The organization has not provided any form of therapy to anyone in many years. Using the terminally and chronically ill 'card' to raise funds for the organizaiton is a disgrace. I, myself, fell for it and am beyond disappointed. Please consider and research a charitable organization before you donate ... I only wish I had had the wisdom to do the same.

I have adopted 2 foals from Dream Equine over the past 4 years. When I first moved to the area, I made a deliberate decision to check out this 501c3 organization to see if they were "worthy" of my very limited volunteer time. They most certainly were and I do everything I can to help Terri raise funds now. What I see is an extremely hard working person (she has a full time job as a nurse) who gives to these horses above and beyond what you would think is humanly possible. When most people would be to the point they can hardly formulate a sentence, Terri is still going like the energizer bunny. I have watched her take one of the sickest orphan foals I have ever seen (Armstrong) and thru hard work and sleepless nights, nursed him to health when everyone else thought he would die. I read the one review from the person who was not allowed to adopt, and it is unfortunate to see sour grapes like that displayed when Terri always acts ONLY in the best interest of the horses under her care, directly and otherwise. She keeps in touch with adopters and has often had to take back horses that were not being cared for. The fact that she "nipped this one in the bud" means she protected these horses from what she considered a questionable situation. I take my hat off to her for having the guts to JUST SAY NO. As for my own two orphan foals, Ace & Leila, they will be 4 this year and are doing beautifully. When I look at Leila and remember the condition she was in when Terri rescued her (she was 9 mos. at rescue), my heart is so full and I am so grateful to Terri for saving her. Ace on the other hand is incorrigible, gorgeous, full of life and we LOVE him!
What can I say, but THANK YOU TERRI for all the hard work and your own money that you put into these wonderful beings! Gina Greer (adopter and volunteer)

I have been a volunteer for DETC for several years now and have nothing but great things to say. I myself have adopted several of their horses, and fostered. The care, safety, and well-being of the horses are first priority. All of the horses are well feed (grain & hay), regular trimmings, teeth floated, vaccines, and any vet care required. I went with DETC to Kentucky for Mindy’s cancer diagnosis and surgery. That was a very long couple of days on the road and at the vet. This trip also included helping a dog get to his new forever home, and rescuing two older horses that were delivered to another rescue in NC on the return trip home. I have made numerous trips with DETC to pick up horses from cruel, neglected and unsafe environments. Teresa Ramsey has only visited the property on one occasion and stated that Chiclet’s pictures from the website were from 5 months rehab when in fact it was just 5 weeks (check the date on the pictures). The cost of rescuing orphan foals and rehabilitating horses is a huge expense. What money is not made from donations or adoption fees come from DETC personal funds. I have spent many hours with DETC and can honestly say that I have never seen such loving care given to any animal as they show to those precious horses. How can someone that has only been on the property just once make such inaccurate statements? I give to this organization on a regular basis and I know that every penny is spent on the rescue horses. DETC does own their own personal horses, as any horse loving people would, and all expenses are paid from personal accounts and not from DETC.

My Mindy is a 2009 nurse mare foal from Dream Equine Therapy Center, and Mindy is my dream that was allowed to come true because of Dream Equine Therapy Center and the vision of Terri Stemper. The process to adopt her this winter was very open and straight forward, and I was as impressed with Terri Stemper as I was with the whole adoption process. Terri went above and beyond to answer each and every question I had about Mindy’s past.
Due to time constraints, I picked up Mindy from Terri’s home. Every horse looked cared for and content. My farrier, Kelvin, joking said that if he died and came back as a horse, he would want to be one of mine. I feel the same way about Dream Equine Therapy Center. At the SCHE Expo in Camden this month, I had the pleasure of watching both Julee Clarke and Terri Stemper share information with fellow horse lovers. The commitment of both of the these ladies is obvious in their interaction while sharing the purpose of this organization. I look forward to meeting other volunteers over the coming years. Thank you Julee for pointing me to Terri, and my sincere thanks to each and every person who donates money, volunteers times and services, fosters, trains, and loves enough to keep this organization going. It has truly blessed my life and will every day for many, many, years to come.

I am proud to say that I have been a volunteer with Dream Equine Therapy Center since 2011. I am currently fostering five horses. I also help with writing grants for funding.

DETC's mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and find forever homes for horses. This includes nurse mare foals, retired broodmares, and abused/neglected horses.

In addition to rescue, DETC is working diligently to eliminate the need for breeding nurse mares for use in the Thoroughbred racing industry. The current practices result in thousands of unwanted and orphaned foals each year. DETC is dedicated to changing this by educating both the nurse mare and Thoroughbred farmers on a safe, reliable, and cost effective alternative to their current practices. Over the last two years, DETC has been using a hormone-induced-lactation (HIL) protocol with retired broodmares. This protocol brings mares into lactation without being bred. This in turn, eliminates the production of unwanted foals. These HIL mares have been successfully used to nurse orphaned foals, proving the efficacy of the program.

Dream Equine Therapy is an organization that will do what it takes to help horses in need.

Just so the truth can be told. I am a long time volunteer with DETC. The below comment is from a Teresa Ramsey of Sharon SC. She wanted to adopt 5 horses from DETC in summer of 2012. She was not approved due to no horse experience and pasture completely lined with barb wire. During the site visit and when her property was not approved for adoption of a young foal, she tried to physically assault the director of DETC. Since then she has been posing as DETC and taking word for word off their website and trying to solicit donations for herself. DETC has had to take legal action against her. It is unfortunate that Ms Ramsey has so much negative energy to put into these lies and harassment, which has all stemmed from her own wrongdoing. I truly hope Ms Ramsey gets the help she needs to be a better person.
As far as DETC, anyone can do their own research and see that none of those comments are true. DETC has never been investigated, has never had 25 horses on 5 acres, has never had horses without food, water or shelter. Anyone can make an appt at anytime to visit horses for adoption and see that they are all well fed, happy, and trained properly. DETC has 3 different properties and multiple foster homes. The director does have her own horses, all of which are paid out of her personal bank account and I know for a fact the director spends thousands per year of her own money caring for the rescues. This is all public record by the way since the organization is a 501c3 nonprofit. It is impossible to discredit an organization that is doing so much good. There are hundreds of happy adopters and so many supporters of this wonderful organization.
Please visit DETC website at www.dreamequinetherapycenter.org to view the horses and foals available for adoption and see how you can help to rescue orphan nurse mare foals!!

I have the opportunity to see first hand what exactly is going on on Gordon Road where Dream Equine claims to be and have horses available after following this for approximately two years through an adopter. The statements on the website are not exaclty the truth.
Horses of all types, ages etc that are supposed there and available for adoption are not. I witnessed over 25 horses on a five acrea farm. Six to eight of which where yearlings that had yet to know what grass was due to being in a 500' x 500' roped over dirt area with no grass, water trough, or shelter. I also had the oppportunity to go nto the barn twice to see two without water on more than one occasion and the one named Chiclet that was taken back... well Ms Terri forgot to mention it was her neighbor that let the horse get into such shape and she could see it everyday because the pasture were side by side. At the times I visited she had her back for months and not 5 weeks like stated on the site.
The county has ordinances regarding animals and requirements which she was about 20+ over the limit. Which she fails to tell that she has been investigated several times for and is warned. The bad thngs abouth that is though the laws are not strick enough. She just gets a slap on the hand and a notice that she has so much time to make changes or else there will be another slap on the hand. York County officers have even stated that they are trying to improve the laws regarding horses and facilities like this one.
I did notice that Ms Terri Semper had quite a few of her own horses on this facilty and gettign the same treatment paid for thru donations, however these were posted throughout the internet for quite higher prices.
I do not see how this is a "RESCUE" facilty by what I saw. I was fortunate enough to have been introduced to this facilty threw a past adoptee of several animals. I have seen and was also told about the adoption form so I pulled it up and read the requirements. I have serious problems understanding how the requirements of the potential adopter is any different than the standards set for the facilty itself. and the fact that the facility is constantly BEGGING for donations of all types. This money should only go to the care of these nurse mare foals they claim they are taking such great care of not to the care of ones personal pets and needs. This is the perfect example of people who take on more than they can handle.
TO STATE THE FACTS: It appears that someone possibly started this with the right intentions but things have changed in the past two years.

I strongly suggest that one look further into this before donating money or any thing else for that matter.

not truthfull about contract and horses would not recommend.