ORONDO — Even the little things start to add up quickly when you care for 25 horses. A scoop of grain here, a halter or two there, toss in almost 100 tons of premium hay and, well, pretty soon you’ve got annual bills that’d change any horse-lover’s whinny to a whimper.

For instance, take the case of Bill the Belgian draft horse. Six feet tall at the shoulder, 2,300 pounds on the hoof, sugar-sweet temperament and loving disposition. But the 5-year-old gelding’s got some kind of itchy rash or abrasion that’s driving him nuts. It doesn’t look too serious, but who knows? Will a home remedy be enough to treat the irritation? Or is an expensive emergency vet visit the answer?

Claudia Trapp, founder of Trusting Spirit Horse Rescue, faces this type of decision several times weekly. She leads a small crew of volunteers who feed, groom, train and medicate more than two dozen abused or forgotten horses, not to mention two exotic goats and one hugely horned sheep. The animals are housed in paddocks and shelters just south of this small community, pinched between the Columbia River and a rising basalt plateau.

Almost every day, Trapp must weigh the factors — what’s the need? who can help? where will the money come from? — with her two guiding principles of horse rescue and adoption: Everyone gets loved, and nobody goes hungry.

“We’re running at capacity,” she says. “But we do our darndest to provide the best care and eventually find them good homes. All of that, though, costs money.”

That’s why, Trapp says, she’s hoping that Trusting Spirit’s Annual Dinner Auction Fundraiser, set for Oct. 17 at the Wenatchee Convention Center, pulls in twice the number of horse folks and animal lovers that attended last year. The dinner-auction is Trusting Spirit’s biggest money event of the year, raising close to 25 percent of the facility’s annual budget of $45,000.

Yes, the budget total is low, says Trapp, because it covers only the basics of food, standard medicines and everyday supplies. It doesn’t cover expenditures paid from the pockets of volunteers that might include emergency vet visits, travel expenses or building supplies such as lumber or fencing. It also doesn’t cover donations and products by local businesses and volunteer labor by horse and animal enthusiasts.

“Some of our items and supplies are donated or sold to us at big discounts, and we appreciate that,” says Trapp. “But other stuff doesn’t come cheap.”

A look around the Trusting Spirit facility shows projects under way that need materials, such as water pipes, lumber and fencing, or labor for weed-whacking, feeding and watering or horse exercising.

Some help is on the way. On Oct. 24, national Make A Difference Day, a volunteer crew has plans to enlarge paddocks and relocate fences closer to new water spigots, which would eliminate the need for hoses leading to water troughs. Hoses make watering a harder job in winter.

More than four years ago, Trusting Spirit saddled up to become the primary group to care for abused horses in the region. The nonprofit group teamed up with the Wenatchee Valley Humane Society and has handled dozens of horses and occasionally other animals. Trapp says the facility peaked two years ago with 28 horses at one time, “but it all feels more comfortable when we have fewer, closer to 24.”

Adoption through Trusting Spirit may even carry tougher guidelines and restrictions than other rescue facilities, notes Trapp. “Some people come here looking for cheap horses,” she says, “but that’s not what we provide.”

Prospective adopters are interviewed and their home facilities inspected. Even then, Trusting Spirit retains ownership of the horse for one year and will check on the animal up to three times during that year. A horse’s extra expenses — mostly training — could also be passed on to whoever adopts the animal.

Raindrop, a 5-year-old, mixed-breed mare with a kind and playful demeanor, carries a $1,050 adoption fee to cover 90 days of training that transformed her into a respectable trail horse, says Trapp. The little mare, almost pony-sized, came to Trusting Spirit exhausted and pregnant. She was nursed to health and gave birth to a colt that’s already been adopted.

Rainbow would be perfect for an experienced youth rider who weighs 150 pounds or less. She’s already trotted in the Chelan Rodeo parade and was a winner in fitting and showing at the NCW District Fair in August.

“For the right person, the right home, ” says Trapp, “this little horse is ready to go.”

Mike Irwin: 665-1179

irwin@wenatcheeworld.com