Jenny Pulvermacher Ashbacher founded Second Chance Horse Rescue Ranch in Arena.

TOWN OF ARENA - Jenny Pulvermacher Ashbacher is a short woman - just over 5 feet tall.

Yet when Annie, a 2-year-old quarter horse, charged her new owner three or four times after arriving at Ashbacher's 48-acre ranch this summer, Ashbacher didn't flinch.

Waving and yelling, Ashbacher, 42, charged right back at the mare.

In June 2004, she and her husband, Dave Ashbacher, opened Second Chance Horse Rescue Ranch. They save horses from the dismal "slaughter pens" at the Waukon, Iowa, auctions and find them new owners.

"When I found out how many good horses are being sent to slaughter, I wanted to do something about it," she said. "It's very gratifying to me . . . that I can find good homes for them." And part of the deal before adoption is working out any bad habits - such as charging or shying - that many horses develop without training.

Running a rescue Annie had never been trained, which usually starts before a horse is 2 years old. She was also a little "mare-ish" - a diva who demands food and grooming according to her schedule and pen mates sorted by her pecking order. Touching her stomach was also a no-no, Ashbacher said.

"I think she's been whipped," said Jodi Pursley of Pursley Valley Stables in Cross Plains, another horse rescuer, who helps the Ashbachers with some of the training, explaining Annie's sensitivity.

Hard work and training at Pursley's hands has the now-gentle Annie on the road to being a wonderful riding horse.

In addition to several pastures and a brand-new eight- stall barn, the Ashbachers own three horses for their own pleasure.

They rescued eight horses now available for adoption: Annie; Titan, a nearly 2-year- old brown and black quarter horse gelding; Jewels, a palomino quarter horse filly; Bailey, a bay quarter horse filly; Dolly, a 2-year-old nearly all-white paint and quarter horse mare; Mystique, a 3-year-old sorrel quarter horse mare; Jersey, a roan quarter horse colt; and Shayla, a big 28-year-old Belgian.

Adoption fees - generally lower than market rate - vary depending on age, training and length of time they've been at the ranch, Ashbacher said.

Shayla, a potential field friend for other horses, is available for $300. Titan and Annie, after 30 to 60 days of saddle training, will go for about $1,500, she said.

Except for Shayla - Ashbacher's first rescue - most were bought at auctions in the past year, she said. So far, one has been adopted: Skip, a palomino yearling.

Once Ashbacher gets the horses home - usually thanks to a friend with a trailer - her favorite part of the job begins: Loving them.

She feeds them good hay and grain twice a day, and she touches them - a lot. Ashbacher likes to stand under their necks and rub them with the crown of her head. She worms them every other month and has them tested for diseases as needed. The farrier inspects their feet six times a year.

And Ashbacher said she won't adopt to just anyone who wants a horse.

They must first have proof of stable boarding as well as a trainer or experience with horses, she said. Breeding is also not allowed. And the prospective owner must have a good understanding of what it takes to care for horses: money and time.

"I get a lot of calls and e- mails from 12-year-old girls," Ashbacher said. "Then they say they have to talk to their parents." Volunteers help keep up with horse care and stable cleaning for the couple, who both work full-time away from home.

The "kill pens" Behind the fun are bad memories of where the horses came from, Ashbacher said.

She dreads going to auction, especially on trips when she knows she can afford to save only one or two horses.

The slaughter pens, also known as "kill pens," for horses considered less valuable are in an old barn with slimy cement floors and little lighting, she said. The handlers use whips.

"It's very frightening to go into the kill pens and know that most of these horses will be going to slaughter," she said.

Slaughterhouse representatives buy horses in those pens for as little as $40, she said. But many of the horses are sound and need only training or a little extra care to become riding horses.

Their former owners are farmers with too many horses, families who are tired of horses, or people who don't want the hassle or cost of training them. Sometimes the owner has run out of money.

Judy Elliott, who runs Richland Area Rescue, introduced Ashbacher to the auction. Ashbacher bought Shayla in 2003 from Elliott, who had bought her at the same auctions.

Horse meat is used as human food in foreign countries, Elliott said, or dog food. Other horse parts make glue and other products.

Money matters Grain and hay cost up to $10,000 a year, she said. Her husband works odd jobs to help pay for maintenance and new horses.

They get donations - Pursley Valley Stables donates some of the training and boarding for Annie, and Sign Edge of Madison is making her a large wood sign for the barn - but what she really needs is money.

In fact, she's put off paying the $500 fee to register Second Chance Horse Rescue Ranch as a nonprofit. She keeps using her money to save more horses.

Although she can buy horses for $150 to $400, it costs much more to get them back to her farm and care for them before adoption.

She also needs a manure spreader, a horse trailer, a good pushcart and wheelbarrow, fencing and iron gates as well as a good source for bedding sawdust.

The ranch will never be moneymaker, she knows. She just wants to break even and eventually adopt out as many horses each year as she has bought.

Right now, she's begging other horse owners for old tack and riding clothes to sell at a sale Feb. 26 in Arlington.

And this summer, she's planning a fund-raiser on a grander scale at her ranch with kids' games, picnic lunches and bands.

In March, she'll again face the dreaded auction pens, she said. Her stomach will roil on the way down, but she looks forward to her arrival home with new horses.

It's a little like opening a present, Ashbacher said. And then figuring out what that present will do.

• On the Web: www.2ndchancehorserescue.or g.

Contact Lisa Schuetz at lschuetz@madison.com or 252-6143.