It was a noble idea horse-lover Betty Davison had about a year ago when she formed Wild Horse Rescue Inc. on her 14.5-acre Scioto County farm just north of Henley.

She would rescue mustangs, unwanted foals and other horses around the region that people could, for one reason or another, no longer find the time or the resources to care for.

She would pick up horses that had been abused physically or mentally.

She would bring them all to the farm for rehabilitation, then find them a new home and a happy life by adopting them out to people who share her love for horses.

She would also offer programs at the farm to educate horse owners about proper care for the animals.

She started with four mustangs. Then came four orphaned horses. She rescued three adult horses the owners no longer wanted. In a few months the numbers grew to 20. And horses love to eat.

In the past few weeks, the number rose to 42. She recently saw three of them adopted, bringing the number down to 39.

“But on June 14, I’ve got two more I’ve made arrangements to pick up, so we’ll be back above 40,” she said in a recent interview.

On June 20, at 2 p.m., she invites horse-loving people to come to the farm for a seminar she’ll be holding on proper horse care.

“A desensitizing seminar, I call it,” Davison said. “When I say ‘whip’ your mind might have the image of whipping a horse. But a whip can be just an extension of the arm, just to touch them with and let them know what you want them to do. It can be like dangling a carrot on a stick. It can be a very effective way of teaching obedience while at the same time letting a horse sense that it is loved.”

So Wild Horse Rescue is working. It’s just the adoption part that seems to be a little slow.

She has three horses for adoption that were mistreated and she brought them to the farm and nursed them back to health.

“But these horses can’t be used for riding or for pulling a cart or doing work. They’re looking for a place to live a lifetime just as pasture ornaments,” she said.

Other horses she offers for adoption are healthy and strong and ready to do those things a horse does around a farm or stable.

For information on the cost of adoption of a horse or details about Wild Horse Rescue, call her at her home at (740) 372-1345 or on her cell phone at (740) 935-7867.

The overwhelming cost of caring for 40 horses requires donations — donations of hay and money and a little volunteer labor.

Donations to the corporation are tax exempt.

“I have some people who are bringing me donations of last year’s hay, but it seems we’re always in need of more. We have some pasture, but the horses will eat a roll of hay or more a day,” Davison said.

She also has need of some clean fill dirt and a bulldozer/operator to spread it with; a carpenter to repair the side of one barn; and someone to paint fences with oil stain.

“Badly needed is an indoor rehab arena,” she said.

She has a fundraiser scheduled for July 10 and 11 in the form of a “yard sale” to be held at Portsmouth Feed & Supply, 24 Second St. Donated items for the sale can be dropped off beginning at 7 a.m. at the store on the mornings of the sale.