The horses at Adorado Nino Horse Rescue & Sanctuary all once faced slaughter. But a season of poor weather means they may have survived to soon face another danger: food shortage.

A dry season has resulted in lower hay yields and higher prices—and Tracy Benkendorf, the rescue’s founder, doesn’t know how she will afford to keep her animals fed through the winter.

Adorado Nino, in Leduc County, is home to 76 horses, most of which were bought by Benkendorf outbidding horsemeat buyers.

In Canada, horsemeat makes up just a fraction of livestock exports but still constitutes a multi-million dollar industry. According to the Canadian Meat Council, the country exported $90 million of horsemeat in 2012 to markets like Switzerland, Japan, France, Belgium and Kazakhstan. That year, nearly 85,000 horses were slaughtered.

Although the industry has shrunk over the last 10 years, the most recent Statistics Canada data shows nearly 54,000 horses were slaughtered in 2016.

And so, after Benkendorf rescued the first mare-foal pair in 2010, she couldn’t stop there. In some years, the sanctuary has cared for as many as 80 horses at a time. It is financially supported by Benkendorf and approximately $15,000 in donations every year—which Benkendorf says is a great help, but not nearly enough in a year like this.

The Adorado Nino herd needs between 30 and 40 round bales—plus a number of square bales—each month, resulting in an estimated total of 300 to get through the winter.

When she’s able to buy hay at a decent price, around $70 per bale, her feed costs hover around $20,000.

Recently, however, she’s had trouble finding hay—at least, none cheaper than $105 per bale and some as expensive as $125. On the Government of Alberta’s hay, straw, and pasture listings, hay bales are offered for as much as $200.

“The bales are twice as much as they normally would be, so I’m getting half the hay,” said Benkendorf. “Right now, I have about 62 bales sitting here, and I should have twice that many.”

Already, the founder said she has spent about $10,000 on hay to prepare for the coming cold season.

“That money is coming from me. That money was supposed to fix the tractor and buy my winter boots,” Benkendorf said. “But the horses come first.”

The product shortage and high prices are due to a poor hay season that left many Alberta producers wishing for more rain.

According to August reports by the Alberta Government, 31 per cent and 34 per cent of hay fields were rated as poor or fair, respectively.

The situation has put a pressure on livestock producers and Benkendorf alike.

“It is huge. I started looking for hay two months ago—I think it was even sooner than that—because people were talking about how the weather this year was going to affect hay production,” Benkendorf said.

“It’s hard to feel comfortable and confident in this type of hay environment about how the year is going to go.”

Benkendorf usually uses the Adorado Nino Facebook page to share updates on the herd with some 4,000 followers around the world, but now she hopes it’ll also bring in some financial support.

“I think people look and follow the Adorado page and support it and think what I’m doing is really good, but don’t realize the sacrifice involved and that right now I really could use some help.”

In the meantime, she has continued to share posts online, from updates regarding individual horses to the dates of auctions where others will be sold to horsemeat buyers. Benkendorf isn’t in a position to attend herself, but hopes the animals will end up in a home.

“Helping them at that stage is huge, but feeding them and caring for them is an ongoing obligation.”