GEM VILLAGE - The 10 acres on which Diane McCracken operates Spring Creek Horse Rescue doesn't allow much wiggle room, but it's not the tightest situation in which she finds herself.
McCracken, who has rescued abused, injured, starved and unwanted horses for 38 years, has lost her lease. She has to be off the premises by the end of the month.
A deal on 80 acres in Montezuma County fell through when she couldn't get a brand inspection in time. State regulations require brand inspections when there's a change of ownership, when equines go out of state or move at least 75 miles within the state.
"The property owners wanted us there before they left for the winter," McCracken said in an interview Thursday. "We had volunteers with trucks ready to move us, but we missed the deadline."
Now, McCracken and 17 horses - down from 22 last week - await their fate. La Plata County Sheriff's deputies can evict her if she's still there Oct. 1.
It will be a great loss to the county if McCracken leaves, Jon Patla, director of animal protection at the La Plata County Humane Society, said Friday. He recalled his first encounter with McCracken in 2005.
A dozen horses were seized near Tiffany after a cruelty investigation, Patla said. Half were in horrible condition, including a pregnant mare that was a walking skeleton, he said.
McCracken, who was present during the seizure, took all the horses, some of them not really socialized, and nursed them back to health, Patla said.
"She is fantastic, a vital resource to the county," Patla said. "My dealings with her have been exceptional and positive ever since."
Bailey Thers, the Spring Creek trainer, said the tension is palpable.
"It's scary, but it's hard to put into words," said Thers, a transplant from Virginia where she turned "no-heart" Thoroughbreds into family horses. "We need donations."
Donations and grants have sustained McCracken as she moved from her first rescue sanctuary in Bayfield, to Ignacio, then to Durango and finally to the current location almost out of sight behind a strip of commercial outlets.
Spring Creek Horse Rescue also serves as the winter hay bank for La Plata County, distributing donated hay to those who can't afford it.
"La Plata County has changed," McCracken said. "The big parcels of land are now 2- and 3-acre lots. It's hard to find a place large enough for us.
"We've had offers of land in Montana, Arizona and Texas," McCracken said. "But this is home."
A departure from Gem Village means she will lose her largely Bayfield-based volunteers, some of whom have been with her for 20 years, McCracken said.
The services of a veterinarian and a farrier, each only minutes away, will be lost, McCracken said. The farrier works for free.
The Spring Creek sanctuary is a series of sheds, bare-earth corrals and roofed structures adjacent to a house where McCracken lives.
She pays $1,000 a month.
Unwanted equines arrive at her place from the La Plata County Humane Society, horse owners who no longer want or can keep the animal, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and humane societies elsewhere.
"The economic crunch is still with us, which is when people surrender horses," McCracken said. "If a horse is in trouble, our door is open."
Upkeep per horse is $200 a month if pasture isn't available, which is McCracken's situation.
When she nurses horses back to health, McCracken looks for foster homes. She sometimes is able to transfer horses to other rescue sites.
A couple of her boarders will never leave:
Colton, a 9-year-old gelding, was so abused that he is unadoptable.
Betty, a Belgian mare, is unsound because of early neglect. She was never wormed and never had her hooves trimmed.
On the other hand, Thers is training Tara, a warmblood rescued at 3 months of age from a sales barn by a concerned horse lover. Tara's mother was put on the meat wagon, McCracken said.
McCracken has her eye on a piece of land in Marvel. But it's really not set up for horses - too much sage brush.
"I've always lucked into a good place," McCracken said.
The larger her sanctuary, the more horses she can help, McCracken said.
"I'm on the phone or checking emails for offers of land," McCracken said. "But nothing yet. I'm so broken up."
daler@duangoherald.com