Tiffany Ostrander made one of the most difficult phone calls of her life to a horse rescue organization, asking if it might have room for her beloved 8-year-old quarter horse, Montana, or her 13-year-old pony, Trudy.

The 37-year-old Bend woman doesn’t want to give up her animals, but with hay selling for well over $200 per ton, fuel and living expenses on the rise and her husband out of work, she said she’s run out of options.

And according to local horse organizations and law enforcement officials, she’s not alone.

Around Central Oregon, where hay is selling for higher and higher prices in an otherwise sluggish economy, more people are trying to sell their horses or give them away to rescue organizations and animal shelters. With so many horses coming in to the few local facilities equipped to handle large animals, some say the situation is reaching a crisis point