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Want our help finding a horse?
We locate, visit, ride, and evaluate horses for our students and outside clients for a small fee. If you need help finding a horse to meet your needs please use the contact form and we can get started. We can coordinate PPEs and shipping as well if desired.
Rehab / Rehome Projects: 2022
BLACKJACK was our biggest transformation of 2022. He was surrendered with 2 other horses, a mare (his mother) and a gelding. At approximately 12 years old he was still a stallion and needed to be gelded before he could come to our facility. His little herd had been left to go feral after their elderly owner got in an accident and the family no longer wanted to care for them. We spent 2 months visiting the property he was at getting him used to people again, accepting a halter and learning to lead before we had the vet out for his gelding procedure. And good thing we did – he had tumors on the parts that were removed!
He was stubborn, afraid, and emaciated due to lack of care. His tail was one giant mat full of burrs and tangles – we had to cut most of it off because he wouldn’t let us near him long enough to spend the time brushing it out! After many months at our facility learning to trust, be touched, pick up his feet, and being completely restarted under saddle, he was finally ready to find his person. We knew he would be stunning once he had some TLC and calories, and what a looker he is! Blackjack is very much a lazy boy, and the perfect trail home came along where he can take it easy – we know he loves that!
SKY was surrendered to the farm due to her owners moving on short notice. At 19 years old, and already diagnosed with irreversible Navicular Disease, every step you could see the discomfort. She would constantly lay down due to pain in her hooves.
We got her feet trimmed and put some weight on her and she began to perk up. However, due to her condition it wouldn’t be fair to place her in a riding home so she was advertised as Companion-only. These horses are incredibly hard to find homes for, especially at her size, not many people are willing to care for a full size horse that cannot be ridden.
2 months after her surrender a miracle happened – the absolute perfect home came along that needed a sweet horse to love and no intentions of riding! Sky gets to graze and relax all day just keeping other horses company and we are so thrilled for her forever home.
TONY was surrendered along with Sky, a 27 year old, almost emaciated Tennessee Walking Horse. It took us so many months to put weight on him due age-related issues, and he even started being ridden very lightly. Finally the perfect home came along where Tony will get to live his retired years as a doted on pasture pet.
NEVADA / Tag #7678 was our draw for the NC TIP Challenge 2022 and is a full wild mustang rounded up in the Nevada mountains by the Bureau of Land Management. We were her first human touch, and trained her completely from scratch! She has found a home to continue her training, and we’re excited to see what riding discipline she will do.
See her journey.
NAPOLEON (Now Fabio) was left a stud despite a debilitating genetic condition (severe patellar fixation) in both back legs that made it hard for him to walk. He was purchased for a young girl who lost interest and kept in a small backyard pen with no healthcare or farrier work.
We had him gelded which helped his dominance issues a little, but at his age the habits are hard set. We worked with him on standing to be brushed, and trusting us to pick up his back feet in a special way so when they locked he didn’t feel trapped. With his condition he wasn’t rideable, nor could be trained to pull a cart – but he was perfect to just be a friend!
Companion-only homes can be hard to come by, but Napoleon snagged a free ride with one of our sales horses Henry, making them a new dynamic duo! He has 9 acres to share now and never needs to worry about food or loving care again.
BENTLEY was surrendered as his recent eye loss had caused him to be reactive and nervous (rightfully so!). We began his retraining focused on establishing vocal cues and rebuilding his strength to handle ridden work. To our surprise, he has shown a natural interest in jumping and now is part of our lesson program!
Rehab / Rehome Projects: 2021
TJ was rescued from a kill pen in North Carolina, extremely underweight. It’s hard to tell from photos because of his winter coat, just how bad it was. He has a monkey mouth, or underbite and hadn’t had his teeth done in ages which likely contributed to his weight loss. Nobody had cared for him in a while. We gave TJ the full vet workup, got him some front shoes to help his feet grow properly and gently re-introduced him to riding. Once he settled in, he really warmed up to people and has been used in our lesson program. TJ found an amazing home in Virginia as a young boy’s first horse!
RANGER / #5325 was our draw for the 2021 Equine Affaire Ohio TIP competition held through the Mustang Heritage Foundation. TIP competitions are in-hand only, and approved trainers have approximately 100 days to gentle a wild, unhandled mustang. Ranger will be staying with us while his new owners learn to work with him and establish a bond of trust. He will be learning to be started under saddle soon! UPDATE: Ranger is officially reassigned, he has just started being led with a bareback rider on him – we hope his new family will see his training through.
See his journey.
TUNDRA was an auction rescue, going for slaughter price when we outbid to keep him. He was very buddy-sour, skinny (photos do not do it justice) and spooky. Over 3 months he transformed into a healthy, confident trail partner and he rides in a hackamore! Tundra found a wonderful home that fits him perfectly and he will get to explore lots of trails with his new owner.
COWBOY was an auction rescue – his problems were not weight-related, at least at first. His owner had dropped him off at the auction with no history, no information, not even a name. Because the auction organizers didn’t know anything about him, he was led into the arena (no one bothered to see if he could ride) and went for far below what a healthy-looking, 6 year old horse should. We saved him from the slaughter pipeline and brought him to RH Farm.
We found that he had a severe tail injury, swollen with scar tissue and had nerve-ending/skin feeling issues…he would let other horses bite him and not even move. He had chiropractic work for severely tightened muscles on his right side, and we introduced the saddle and hackamore bridle to him – he was totally rideable! He was buddy sour in the arena, very unmotivated and difficult to steer.. but after working through some training issues, he rode beautifully and is now completely calm to be brushed and tacked up. He has turned into a wonderful riding partner and isn’t scared of anything!
This special horse absolutely loves cuddles, and we are so happy he found a great home with one of our farm workers!
Rehab / Rehome Projects: 2020
FREYA was a sweet girl, forgotten about and left in a muddy pasture while her young owner lost interest. Her hooves hadn’t been taken care of in a long time, were chipped, cracked and had collapsed heels. Her legs had been caked in mud for so long she had mud fever (a skin condition with painful scabs). Now she is a happy trail horse.
TUCKER was an older gentleman, in a pasture losing weight due to lack of good grass. He was also very herd-bound and distracted when ridden. We brought him to RH Farm for some TLC and he spent over two years with us doing lessons, and being a solid trail horse.
We could tell he was tiring of lessons so we decided to find him a home that would explore trails with him. It took a long time for the perfect home but it finally did come, and now he has a loving family of his own!
VEGAS is a sweet older horse, approx 25. He was found by a rescue tied to a tree, but the people who adopted him from the rescue failed to provide proper vet care. He has mild cushings so his winter coat was long and matted to his body in the summer heat, his mane tangled. He had become extremely buddy sour and as a result was hard to catch in the field – when he was caught he did not want to ride away. His feet were also overgrown and had a bad case of seedy toe. A bad reaction to a tick bite had left his underbelly swollen and filled with fluid – he had created sores trying to soothe the itch.
We immediately began working with him, training him to be caught, ridden and stand for the farrier and vet. He is such a solid horse with the most beautiful gaits and comfortable movement, he is one of our trusty beginner horses now!
DUCHESS was purchased at auction, dropped off by her owner without even a name, and very underweight for a draft horse. In 6 weeks we were able to put significant weight on and find her an amazing forever home. This sweet girl will have the easy life now.
FRECKLES has been our most astounding before and after of 2020! In the left picture he had already gained 20+lbs from his previous weight. He was with us for 3 months, we worked on gaining weight, gaining motivation in the arena and re-sensitizing to leg cues. He was overworked, underfed and after 3 months he became happy, healthy, and is now a perfect trail partner for his new owner.
FLASH was underweight, hadn’t been ridden in over a year, and had lameness at the trot when we took him in. He had a bad case of thrush in almost every foot, had stone bruises from being kept on rocky ground previously, and had burst abscesses in both back hooves. After fixing his thrush, we could tell he still wasn’t comfortable trotting to the left so we x-rayed and found out he had osteoarthritis (an irreversible condition). Flash is now retired from being a lesson horse, and has found a great home being a companion and leadline horse for some younger siblings of one of our lesson students!
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