12/24/2025
For our 3 Days of Giving Year-End Campaign, we are highlighting stories of our horses and students! See our 2nd story on our lovely Draft horses!
Who doesnât love our big, clunky, slow moving, furry draft horse friends?! They have become a large part of RADâs programming in the last few years. Our draft horses helped serve 1,358 sessions this year, we are so proud of these horses whoâs origin stories are as unique as the horses themselves.
Canela came to us from a loving family but prior to that had been at a junk yard! We donât know any of the details about that situation but often wonder what put her in that place and what her life entailed. Draft horses often do not get the same retirements and after-care as the thoroughbreds, so it is important to be advocating for them as well!
Leif came to us from Ramona. We know he did parades and was a cart horse previously. He has since been diagnosed with ringbone, a misshaped Navicular bone that can cause hoof pain if left untreated, and insulin resistance. We wish we knew his history; all his diagnoses came prior to his previous owner and have likely been with him for a while. To keep him comfortable Leif gets medications prescribed by our veterinarian and special âorthoticâ horseshoes that are custom made by our farrier every 6 weeks. If you ever wonder what your donation is going towards, itâs cases like his. We are proud to have Leif in our program and to give him a job that is within his physical means.
Sven was living the green horse, supposed to be a pony horse, barn stall life at the track before RAD. Living his days eating cookies and once a month working. His connections loved him, he was well known in the entire back-stretch but also knew that isnât the healthiest lifestyle for a horse. He came to us a smidge overweight and needing some life experience and training. This big guy was afraid of everything! Sounds anywhere around him, side walkers, people coming up to him quickly, all sensory items but was also kind, gentle and wanted to learn. It was discovered he had a broken coffin bone in his hind right hoof that never healed properly so heâs also on the custom shoe from our farrier list with medications to reduce inflammation around the coffin bone.
We know our focus is adaptive riding, we love what we do. But we do it because of our love of horses. RAD didnât start out planning to take on difficult medical cases, but itâs organically happened. Weâve found that we love taking in horses that need a low impact job, helping them and giving them a purpose. We are strong believers that horses donât want to stand around doing nothing. They love having a purpose and they also thrive when they connect with people. Horses and people have an unspoken link, a connection unlike any other. They can calm us, teach us, and show us how even little wins can happen with a broken or injured body or soul. And how we can soar, no matter our limitations when we allow ourselves to trust in another. Please consider making a year-end donation to these wonderful Draftâs! Thank you!
