Why Rescue Ranchito?

I have been mulling over this idea for years now. There are so many paths and trails and means to any one person’s call to activism and this feels like my road. I want everyone to feel a part of what we are doing here. I want anyone reading this to feel drawn to this misfit herd and know you have a place here. I want to tell stories and pull back the heavy curtain blocking the view to the real deal of the Horse Industry. I want this to not as much be a platform for me to speak truth to a sad, suffering reality, but a family of humans who want to know everything because they no longer want to live in the dark. 

The truth can be scary, it can be sad, it can blow your mind, it can make you want to cry and scream and hopefully… make changes. I want this equine herd to be a group of change-makers. I want them to stand as examples of what is really happening, I want them to shine a light on an industry that needs to change and change now. I want you to love them for exactly who they are and what they have been through because they are amazing. 

While our short-term plan is to keep the rescue small, in terms of numbers, we want to fold YOU into our herd. ‘Cause once you are part of this crew, you are in for life!

(I will have a longer-form blog on this topic that I will publish in the coming weeks, so sign up for the newsletter!)

How can I be involved in Rescue Ranchito?

The best ways to feel more of a member of our herd are to: 1) sign up for our newsletter, 2) follow us on Instagram, 3) join us for one of our in-person or virtual events, 4) become a Herd Manager on Patreon, 5) purchase some of our wearables, or 6) ask us a million questions! 

We believe that information is power and that once you know the truth about a situation the inevitable next steps are feeling compelled to do something about it, change behaviors and share said knowledge with your community. Rescue Ranchito’s main mission is to advance everyone’s awareness and competence surrounding the realities faced by so many equines in this country and abroad. 

Our favorite Maya Angelou quote about once you know better, do better, feels so very apt for this situation. Whether horses, mules, and donkeys are your ‘thing’ or not, I know that there is not one of us out there that would support needless suffering. No way, no how.

What is a rescue?

So there is a rescue animal and then there are rescue organizations. A rescue animal is any creature that is in need of a safe place to call home. It is an essential and selfless social service that helps protect animals from neglect, cruelty, abuse, and homelessness. I have always said and continue to preach, if you have even a sliver of room in your life for an animal in need, please, please open your doors! There is just an incredible demand right now for open and willing families to provide refuge for many animals in need. And also… always and forever adopt! Dogs, cats, rabbits, horses, there is just an insane need right now for more safe homes for all shapes and sizes of creatures. And I can promise you, there truly is never a need to buy an animal from a breeder. Reach out if you need reputable resources!

A rescue organization is a group that is dedicated to taking in unwanted creatures, providing them a safe space to rest, recuperate, rehabilitate, and potentially be adopted out. While our current herd is with us for good, Rescue Ranchito has future plans to do just that! Our goal is to rescue, rehab, retrain, and then rehome horses, donkeys, and mules from our program. The way we get to do more and be more is through your continued help via platforms like Patreon!

What are permanent residents?

A Permanent Resident at Rescue Ranchito is an animal who is with us for life. This could be due to an odd injury, old age, inability to be safely trained, the list goes on. But in essence, they are a RR lifer… Lola, Coyote, Sendero, Kestrel, Shaq, Ernie, and Monkey, the current misfit herd are all stuck with us for the long haul. 

But as Rescue Ranchito matures and evolves we hope that not every rescue is a permanent resident. We would love to match-make a rescue with a special human. It wouldn’t be fair for us to keep all the future misfits to ourselves, we want to share the love and lessons of these equines. While I type this now, I know this will be our future, but also I am the ULTIMATE foster fail-er. I always want to fold everyone into my family. BUT! I promise that won’t always be the case. I suppose if this organization can mature, I can too!

What is a mule?

A Mule! To know one is to become OBSESSED with them!! Both Ernie and Cholla are mules!

A mule is an equine hybrid of a donkey and a horse. So 1/2 donkey, 1/2 horse. Specifically, a mule is the offspring of a male donkey (aka a jack) and a female horse (aka a mare). Honestly, sounds like a match made in heaven… well for some of us! 

Interesting note, mules are actually infertile, so no second-generation mule babies happening. They can vary in size and color just like horses, but have those amazing donkey ears. They are said to be more patient, hardier, and longer-lived than horses. Don’t tell anyone, but they are cuter too!! ;)

What do the residents need?

Since each of our herd members is different, they each have different care needs. Overall, they need space to be able to roam, live as a herd, and stretch their legs daily. They require twice-a-day feedings of hay and breakfast supplements. Consistent vet attention and dental exams, plus visits from the farrier to ensure their feet are in good shape. Individually, they of course have their own needs. For example, Monkey is not so much a fan of other horses when it comes to food, because well… he wants all the food, all the time, all for himself. So he needs to live in his own space where he doesn’t feel any competition when it comes to meals. Sendero, Coyote, Kestrel, and Cholla all need to have their feet trimmed (kinda equivalent to clipping our nails), but Lola needs to have special shoes on her front feet to keep her comfortable. They all LOVE treats, but shouldn’t get too many. Coyote would prefer to not have a human ride him, while Shaq, Ernie, Lola, and Sendero kinda enjoy it. 

Because their happiness and well-being are of the utmost importance to us, we take the time to get to know each one, allow them the space, time, and safety to open up to us and then we get to reap the amazing rewards of truly knowing who they are and providing them a forever safe haven. All of this isn’t particularly cheap, so having a platform like Patreon where people can support our efforts monetarily is so so important!

What does ‘direct ship’ mean?

I have used this term a few times throughout my blog posts. Sendero, Ernie, and Monkey were all rescued out of the Direct Ship pen at the Bowie, Texas auction. As the name implies, individuals bring horses to this auction house and sell them directly to the owners of the facility. Usually for a couple to a few hundred dollars per horse. This particular location has a license through the United States Department of Agriculture to ship live horses across the border to a slaughter plant in Mexico. So they buy horses, chip (a requirement from the USDA), and tag them, and then once they have a large enough group they load them into livestock semi-trailers and drive them to Mexico. 

These horses do not run through the weekend auctions nor are they ever listed online for eyes out of state to see, if not for eyes and boots on the ground at these locations, these horses would just disappear forever. 

(Horses are still considered ‘livestock’ under the law and are still permitted to be live-exported out of the US to Mexico or Canada. I will be doing a more in-depth blog on this shortly. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you can get informed on that wild topic.)

How do horses end up in a Direct Ship lot?

The sad truth is there are just so many ways! They can come from smaller livestock auctions, Craigslist or Facebook ads, or word of mouth. Perhaps an owner falls into hard times or even passes away. Horses can be sent to auction houses for any number of reasons. They don’t always end up in this situation due to sinister activities, sometimes horses are just bought by the ‘highest bidder’ and that particular bidder might end up being the auction house itself. These facilities have weekly or monthly quotas that have to be met to keep their contracts across the border and so the flow of cheap horses is critical. 

The Bowie auction house has seen a huge number of horses that have been rounded up off reservation lands and because these horses are all unhandled a vast majority of them end up in the direct ship lot. Tragic? Yes. Unfair? To say the least! This whole thing is a business, its existence a function of supply and demand (mostly demand). Horses are not considered ‘pets’ under the eyes of the law, and so if there are unwanted horses out there, Mexico or Canada will gladly take them. And because the US banned horse slaughter in 2005 (the last plant actually closed in 2007), the need for these third-party horse dealers arose.