Real Rescue Ranch!

What an eye opener today was!

I went along to a volunteer induction at Friends of Horses Rescue in Englewood, CO. I arrived with around twenty other volunteers and we started with a tour of the rescue centre. There are over one hundred and twenty horses on the site. They are a mix of newly rescued horses, leased horses and boarders. Pretty much every single one of them is a rescued/ retrained horse.

The rescue takes cases from different places, neglect cases, cruelty, financial strain, injured horses that owners can't afford fees and ex racers fresh off the track. Each horse undergoes some retraining or rehab if injured and is rehomed via the centre for a fee. The fees range from $500 to about $2000 depending on the horse and it's age/ experience etc. One of the things I noticed when walking around was the relaxation of the horses, yes they argued like horses do but we didn't pass one horse that lunged out/ bit or anything else. We had total horse novices walking around with us and the ranch owner was happy for any horse to be petted and stroked.

They have multiple pens that the horses live in plus stalls/ stables for the ones who need it and the liveries who pay for it! Full livery is about $500 per month (£330). The horses mostly live in groups if they like that, some in their own pens if they prefer but they can always reach the horse next door. There are also indoor and outdoor arenas, a round pen and hacking/ trails onto Cherry Creek State park.

At the moment they also have a pen full of orphaned foals. They have a week of foal handling with Anna Twinney coming up and will hopefully rehome most of the foals during the clinic. I wish I arrived earlier so  could have attending this- bet its amazing!

The orphan foals

After the tour we shovelled poo... a lot of poo. That many horses create some serious havoc! After a few hours myself and another girl went off for a chat with one of the head Ranch riders about helping with hands on horsemanship type stuff. The other girl is mega experienced as competed in 3 day eventing in Texas and has started ex racehorses etc herself. We went to meet him expecting a strict rule about what we can and can't do. We were pretty much told that any help we can spare will be great! He is happy for us to crack on and start working with anything. They simply don't have enough hands and the last thing they want is any of the horses just sitting in stalls wasting away. Myself and Lenora (the other girl) can select a few horses each and basically start working with them. Anything from ground work, simple catching and haltering to starting ridden work would be helpful however I have said I am not getting on anything that isn't broken as I just don't have the ridden experience but if there are broken horses that I can sit on and help get worked I am happy to do so.

Miss Sarah Mae x

I am so appreciative of all the help I have had over the years with groundwork etc. Jules taught me a ton with starting off, catching, haltering and handling youngsters and body language/ ground work. Then Jen with all her IH stuff and some real lightbulb moments have been awesome. I am also going to be the idiot walking and riding at the barn with my riding hat on. Obviously no one there really wears helmets when working or riding but I sure will- even If I look stupid!

One of the horses I am hoping to work with is a gorgeous filly recently off the track but who has been ridden for a few months now. Her name is Miss Sarah Mae and she is so affectionate and super pretty. She is pretty much ready for rehoming but needs maintaining.

They also have disabled riders and horses working through therapy there and I would really love to help with this. They always need people to lead horses and be calm around them etc while the therapists are working with the kids.

I am hoping to start this week for a few hours, so excited about this project.