This is a personal account of my interactions with the rescue and why community transparency matters.

Trigger Warning: Horse death, euthanasia details, and emotionally abusive behavior toward grieving individuals.

When people search for a reputable horse rescue in Southern Wisconsin, they hope to find an organization that treats both horses and adopters with empathy and support.

My own experiences involving Serenity Horse Rescue, run by Wendy Marker (also known as Wendy Quaas) in Rock County, Wisconsin, have led me to believe that people deserve to hear the full story.

Just so there is no confusion here are links to their online presence:

• https://serenityhorserescue.org/board-members

• https://www.instagram.com/serenityhorserescue/

• https://www.facebook.com/SerenityHorseRescueInc/

This blog post shares my experience, the events I witnessed, and why I believe others should speak up about their own interactions with this rescue so the community can make informed decisions.

This post reflects what I saw, what I experienced, and what others have chosen to share with me. It does not present unverified claims as fact. It is a personal account told from my perspective.

How I Met Wendy and Why I Stayed Silent for Years

I first met Wendy four years ago when I pulled Indra out of the kill pen. I paid her to quarantine my horse so that Indra would not bring any pathogens into the boarding facility where I planned to keep her.

During quarantine, she referred to my horse as a demon horse. Indra was traumatized, essentially feral, and had just been loose in the countryside for two and a half hours. Her behavior was understandable for a horse coming out of that situation, and should have been easy for a horse rescue owner to deal with. But I let the comment go.

Years later, when I moved to a new boarding barn that I absolutely love, Wendy contacted me again to tell me horrible things about that facility. I ignored it because it did not match my experience. I let that go too.

Then, I heard stories about other families who had difficult situations after adopting from Serenity Horse Rescue, including one who lost a horse to a stroke and were devastated by comments they received afterward. I still let that go because it was not my business at the time.

But everything changed the day she publicly attacked a teenage girl who had just lost her first horse. She posted words that were cruel, inflammatory, and directed at a grieving child (and the adults in her life supporting her). That was the moment that every story I had heard started to make sense. It was no longer something I could ignore. It was happening to people I cared about. It was happening to me. And it could happen to anyone who interacted with this rescue.

The Day That Changed Everything

What happened that day is something I will never forget. I wrote a Facebook post sharing my experience and the heartbreak I witnessed. That post now has more than seventeen thousand views, hundreds of comments, and more than seventy shares.

Here is a TLDR if you don't want to head to Facebook to read the whole post:

• I cried over a horse who was not mine but who absolutely belonged with her family and the little girl who adored her.

• She relaxed only when she saw her people, even when three different pain medications could not help her anymore.

• Her final moments were full of love and dignity, and the family stayed with her through every second.

• The public comments made by Serenity Horse Rescue during this moment of grief were cruel and did not reflect the truth of what happened.

You can read the full original post here:

A Timeline of What Actually Happened That Day

One of the most important parts of this story is how quickly everything unfolded. This was not a long, drawn out decline. There was no time to wait. There was no time to second guess. From the moment I realized something was wrong to the moment she was humanely euthanized, everything happened fast and with the guidance of a veterinarian.

Here is what happened, based entirely on my experience and the exact timeline of events.

7:30 a.m.
I did my morning walk around at the farm where Kaiya was boarded, all appeared good in the hood.

9:00 a.m.

I went out to the pasture to catch a different horse. Kaiya was perfectly normal. She was running, alert, and even walked up to me to say hello. There were no signs of distress, discomfort, or illness.

11:30 a.m.
When I returned the horse I previously brought into the barn, back outside, everything had changed. Kaiya was down. She did not get up. When she finally managed to stand, she did not do the normal shake that horses do after rising. I knew immediately that something was wrong.

I watched her for a few minutes to make sure I was not overreacting. She went back down. At that moment, I knew we had a serious emergency.

11:40 a.m.
From the second I had her halter in my hand, I was on the phone with the veterinarian. I was literally walking her in from the pasture while explaining that they needed to come immediately because something was very wrong.

At the same time, I contacted the barn owner and Kaiya's family. They needed to know their horse was in distress and needed urgent veterinary attention.

I then called my husband to bring the truck to the farm, in case a trailer ride might help her guts start moving.

While I waited I had to speed walk Kaiya, or she would lay down, she was acting neurological she was in so much pain. By the time the vet arrived, I was crying because I knew based on behavior this was not a normal gas colic this was very bad.

Within 35 minutes
The veterinarian arrived. This was incredibly fast for an emergency call. The vet immediately checked for gut sounds, there were none, and then checked her capillary refill it was slow, at best. The vet looked at me, I look at them with my 30 years of horse experience and 7 years as a vet tech and we both knew the ending was not going to be good. The vet administered pain medication, we waited 10 minutes, a rectal examination was performed, no response to the pain meds and her gastric reflexes were not working. The vet administered 2 more kinds of pain medication and muscle relaxers, no response, she was still extremely painful and had a hard time staying standing. I let her lay down and wait for her family.

Kaiya’s family arrived about 10 minutes later, delayed only because they had to pick up their daughter from school.

At 1:30 p.m.
The veterinarian made the recommendation to euthanize as she was not responding to pain medication, she could not stay on her feet, and her condition was rapidly declining and her suffering was increasing by the minute. Within about fifteen minutes of everyone being present, her girl said goodbye, and the decision was made based on medical reality and compassion, not convenience.

From the moment she was first found down at 11:40 a.m. to the moment she was euthanized at approximately 1:30 p.m., less than two hours had passed.

It was quick.
It was catastrophic.
There was no scenario where she could have been transported to a hospital.
There was no scenario where waiting longer would have saved her.
Waiting would only have caused more pain.

And through all of it, her family stayed with her. They held her. They loved her. They made sure her final moments were dignified and peaceful.

1:40 p.m.

The dad walked up to me and asked if I told Wendy that Kaiya was sick. I had not, but somehow Wendy knew. That is when the abusive messages started. I helped assure both parents this was the best decision, nothing would have helped her or made her better. I dropped it.

4:30 p.m.

I helped bury Kaiya with dignity and flowers so she can always be with her herd, and that is when I was informed the abusive and hurtful comments had not stopped from Serenity Horse Rescue Inc and there was now 2 public posts on Facebook.

5:30 p.m.

I commented on the public post and told Wendy Marker (the only admin on the Facebook page) to take it down, she did not, argued with me publicly before taking it to private messages. After a bunch of back and forth on how what she was doing was wrong, I told her to take her post down and apologize or I would make this more of a public conversation, she edited her post but blocked me from the Facebook page. She did not delete the post until hours later when the horse community was outraged by her selfish, abusive, horrible behavior.

Why I Can No Longer Stay Silent

After my post went public, people began reaching out to me privately. Some were adopters. Some were volunteers. Some had been part of the organization. Others had simply witnessed situations that left them uncomfortable.

Their experiences belong to them. I will not share their private messages. But hearing similar stories from so many directions showed me that speaking up was necessary.

Families are still giving money to Serenity Horse Rescue. People are still adopting horses from this organization without understanding the experiences others have had. And some of those people may not be prepared for what could follow.

Remaining silent only allows the same patterns to continue.

The Adoption Contract and Why It Terrifies Me As A Seasoned Horse Owner

Another issue I saw when Wendy sent me her adoption contract, trying to prove that she was right to harass this grieving family. This is the standard adoption contract used by Serenity Horse Rescue.

Here is the full contract.

The contract states that Serenity Horse Rescue maintains ownership of the horse, even though the adopting families are the ones providing daily care, paying for feed, vet bills, farrier visits, board, and all other expenses. In my opinion, this functions more like a care lease than an adoption, and I worry that inexperienced horse families may not understand that difference, and they are paying the rescue to fully adopt and take ownership of an animal. So these families carry the emotional responsibility and the financial burden, but the contract claims that the rescue still owns the horse.

In practice, this contract has been used as a point of attack during moments of grief. When a family loses a horse and has to make the devastating choice to euthanize under veterinary recommendation, Wendy has contacted them with accusations that they put down 'her' horse. Not their horse, even though they cared for it every day. Her horse.

The same thing happened after Kaiya passed.

Wendy sent messages to the father and to me. The father’s experience is his story to tell. My experience is mine. She called me a horse killer. She told me I had allowed the horse to die unnecessarily. She ignored every medical fact presented by the veterinarian.

When the cold medical facts were: TRIGGER WARNING

Kaiya was bleeding internally. Blood was pooling into her abdomen and not circulating. This meant:

• her small intestines has stopped working, whether due to a strangulating lipoma or something else

• when intestines stop moving, blood flow slows or stops, this causes section of intestines to die (when intestines die, they can become perforated, twisted, or septic ALL of which cause internal bleeding)

• because blood was pooling in her abdomen pain medications could not circulate through her body

• transporting her was impossible because she could not stay on her feet

• she was collapsing repeatedly and suffering with no relief

• euthanasia medications could not circulate effectively, because her blood was no longer circulating normally, the euthanasia process required more medication and more time than usual.

The veterinarian explained that she was in critical condition and that the kindest and most humane choice was to put her to sleep quickly. The goal was to prevent her from suffering any longer than necessary. It was not violent. It was dignified. The young girl who loved her stayed by her side the entire time, showing remarkable strength many grown horse women cannot see their horse put to sleep.

And then instead of sympathy or compassion, Kaiya's received anger, accusations, and words that no grieving family should ever hear.

That was when I realized the severity of the problem. It could not be brushed off. It could not be ignored. It was harming families and, in my opinion, endangering the emotional well being of anyone who adopted through this rescue.

If you have your own experience with Serenity Horse Rescue, speak in your own voice.

If you have had an experience with Serenity Horse Rescue in Rock County, Wisconsin, run by Wendy Marker or Wendy Quaas, I encourage you to share your own story so others can make informed decisions.

You can help bring transparency to the community by:

• posting a Facebook review describing your personal experience

• leaving a Google review in your own words

• commenting on one of my posts if you want your story seen by those following this situation

• report Wendy Marker to PATH certification

• Fill out IRS Form 13909 – Tax Exempt Organization Complaint

• Use Wisconsin Departmenf of Financial Institution's page “Report a Charitable Organization Violation

• File a complaint on Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP)’s “File a Consumer Complaint” page

What information to gather before reporting

You can include this as a standard checklist for people:

• Legal name of the nonprofit and any “doing business as” names

• EIN if known

• Website and mailing address

• Names of leaders or board members if known

• Clear description of what happened, with dates

• Copies or screenshots of:

  • Emails and messages

  • Social media posts

  • Fundraising materials

  • Receipts or bank records showing donations

This is not about attacking anyone. It is about giving families and potential adopters the information they need to protect themselves and their horses.

Moving Forward

I cared for that mare even though she was not mine. I appreciated the family who stood by her during her hardest moments. And I care deeply about the horse community, which deserves honesty and compassion from the people who claim to serve it.

If sharing my experience prevents even one family from going through what Kaiya's family went through, then speaking out is worth it.