his is just one of many heartbreaking stories behind more than 70 equines rescued and given a lifetime home over an 11-year period.
Sixteen Hands Horse Sanctuary is located in a very small town called Ona, in Hardee County, Florida. In 2007 we had a humble start on 4.5 acres with a 2-stall barn. We now have a 22-stall barn on just over 23 acres.
Our mission is to give horses that would otherwise perish a chance to live out their lives as naturally as possible. When I decided to go into the horse rescue business, I made a promise to the horses I rescued that they would be safe forever. So they are housed and handled in a natural setting. They come into barn stalls only to eat their grain and get medical care. For the remaining 23 hours of each day, they are out in pastures eating hay and interacting with each other in large herds.
Another part of our mission is to bring awareness of the principles of natural horsemanship to members of the community. A good number of the horses we rescue are not only suffering physically, they are shut down mentally and emotionally. Natural horsemanship helps to bring them back. It's a slow process but well worth the time and effort when you start to see the spark of life come back into their eyes.
We have developed a natural horsemanship program for our volunteers called “Savvy Sessions.” We get together on weekends to learn about horse behavior and develop rope-handling skills. This program is very popular because the volunteers work so hard and really enjoy getting to “play” and develop strong bonds with the horses.
Not only is Sixteen Hands a haven for horses, it has turned out to be a sanctuary for our volunteers. When people with stress in their lives, family illness, job challenges, you name it, come to the sanctuary and interact with our horses, they forget about their own problems and just enjoy the horses
My first thought was, “Why did the horse stay in the dirt when the gate was open with access to all that grass?" Then I saw the rope around her neck.
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small town called Ona, in Hardee County, Florida. In 2007 we
had a humble start on 4.5 acres with a 2-stall barn. We now
have a 22-stall barn on just over 23 acres.
Our mission is to give horses that would otherwise perish a
chance to live out their lives as naturally as possible. When I
decided to go into the horse rescue business, I made a promise
to the horses I rescued that they would be safe forever. So they
are housed and handled in a natural setting. They come into
barn stalls only to eat their grain and get medical care. For the
remaining 23 hours of each day, they are out in pastures eating
hay and interacting with each other in large herds.
Another part of our mission is to bring awareness of the
principles of natural horsemanship to members of the
community. A good number of the horses we rescue are not
only suffering physically, they are shut down mentally and
emotionally. Natural horsemanship helps to bring them back.
It's a slow process but well worth the time and effort when you
start to see the spark of life come back into their eyes.
We have developed a natural horsemanship program for our
volunteers called “Savvy Sessions.” We get together on
weekends to learn about horse behavior and develop rope-
andling skills. This program is very popular because the
volunteers work so hard and really enjoy getting to “play” and
develop strong bonds with the horses.
Not only is Sixteen Hands a haven for horses, it has turned out
to be a sanctuary for our volunteers. When people with stress
in their lives, family illness, job challenges, you name it, come
to the sanctuary and interact with our horses, they forget about
their own problems and just enjoy the horses
remaining 23 hours of each day, they are out in pastures eating hay and interacting with each other in large herds.
Another part of our mission is to bring awareness of the principles of natural horsemanship to members of the community. A good number of the horses we rescue are not only suffering physically, they are shut down mentally and emotionally. Natural horsemanship helps to bring them back. It's a slow process but well worth the time and effort when you start to see the spark of life come back into their eyes.
We have developed a natural horsemanship program for our volunteers called “Savvy Sessions.” We get together on weekends to learn about horse behavior and develop rope-handling skills. This program is very popular because the volunteers work so hard and really enjoy getting to “play” and develop strong bonds with the horses.
Not only is Sixteen Hands a haven for horses, it has turned out to be a sanctuary for our volunteers.
When people with stress in their lives, family illness, job challenges, you name it, come to the sanctuary and interact with our horses, they forget about their own problems and just enjoy the horses and the peaceful atmosphere. Horses definitely have a therapeutic effect on humans.
FOREVER FOSTER Program
One question I get asked quite often is, “Why don’t you adopt out horses? That way you could save more.” While that is very true, we feel these horses have given enough, and they don’t need to continue being passed around from home to home.
We do, however, have a “forever foster” program. This is one of our best programs because the fostered horses live with their fosters "forever" unless the fosters can no longer care for them, at which point the horses return to the safety of the sanctuary. Of the 45 horses we currently own, 8 are placed in 4 foster homes. Two more will soon join a horse that is already living with a foster.
Foster homes usually arise out of a volunteer falling in love with a particular horse and making the commitment to care for the horse for the rest of its life. Sometimes the volunteer is willing to foster more than one horse. The program works well because the volunteer is under no illusions regarding the training and personality of the horse(s) he or she fosters. It's like a dating service where you meet all kinds of people and eventually find the one you can’t live without. That's the type of foster home we want for our horses. Two of our fosters even went so far as to purchase horse property so they could live with the horses they love! That kind of commitment is hard to find.