OUR STORY

Our first horse and the founding father of The Ranch 4 Athletes! Bodie was adopted from a rescue when he was 4 years old. Although Bodie was not abused or neglected himself, his mom was rescued from an abusive home while she was pregnant with him and Bodie was born at the rescue facility. 

Bodie is a crowd favorite because of his curious personality. He is playful, energetic and always ready to lend a mouth if something falls on the floor. The hose? Here human, you forgot this. The lead rope? It’s okay, I'll pick it up and lead myself. The brush? Sure, I can pick that up for you. If you are in need of a good laugh or ever wanted to meet a horse that thinks he’s a lap dog, then, Bodie is your guy!

Red was supposed to be a big money show horse, but she was born with a deformity in her foot, which meant that she was never going to be rideable, so she was forced to have babies. Her first baby died at birth, which you can only imagine how traumatic that was for her, but she was still forced to have more babies after that. 

Red is the alpha, but we like to call her the mama of the herd because she is always on high alert to make sure the other horses are safe and always ready to remind them who’s the boss if they start acting up. They say a horse's eyes are said to be windows to the soul and when you look in Red’s eyes, you can see a sweet spirit that rests in peace now knowing that she gets all the love and attention she so desperately wanted all those years ago.

Rannie came from a bloodline of big-money show horses, and her dad sold for over $150,000, so expectations were high for her. But, due to the fact that her mane would not grow, she was given the label of not being beautiful enough to show, so she was then pushed to the side, unloved, and forced just to have babies. 

Now everyone that visits the ranch or sees a picture of all the horses immediately points out how BEAUTIFUL Rannie is. She is known for her model walk (as we like to call it) when she struts her stuff as she walks to the gate to greet you because she now understands how beautiful she truly is.

The old soul or the gentle giant as we like to call him. Jesse was diagnosed with EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis), which is when a horse comes in contact with infected possum feces and develops a neurologic disease that leaves them weak, uncoordinated and atrophied muscles. Thanks to Jesse’s previous owners, they acted quickly and got Jesse the treatment he needed to make a full recovery. 

Due to the EPM diagnosis, Jesse will never be the athlete he once was, but now he understands he has a new purpose, which is to bring a smile to the face of anyone who interacts with him. He loves being scratched on the back, roaming the pasture, and making new friends with the neighboring donkeys.

Benny was a prison guard horse at Angola Prison in Louisiana, the largest maximum security prison in the US. When he retired from the prison, Benny was sold at auction to be a parade horse, but after not living up to his owners expectations, he was once again sold at auction to live on a farm in Texas as a pony ride horse. He has since developed a “kissing spine”, which meant that he had to retire as a pony ride horse.

Instead of going to auction for a third time with the possibility of ending up on a slaughter truck, he was purchased by his amazing caregiver from the pony ride farm and donated to The Ranch 4 Athletes.  Now he gets to live out his best life being a horse for the first time, grazing in the pasture full of green grass, taking  and doing full time ministry!

Buzz and Woody suffered years of abuse and neglect until Sweet Mercies Rescue Ranch in Glen Rose, Texas rescued them at auction. Buzz needed immediate medical care for hooves that were so overgrown that he had to be put under anesthesia to trim them for probably the first time in his life and luckily Woody was there to help him recover every step of the way. 

Once the two of them were ready for adoption, we knew The Ranch 4 Athletes would be the best place for them to live out the rest of their lives being surrounded by people who would love and care for them daily! It took awhile for them to learn to re-trust humans again after the abuse and neglect they endured, but now they are the true example of what it looks like to let your guard down and accept the love that others have to offer. 

When the opportunity arose for us to adopt 14 goats, we didn't even think twice and said YES! The best part is that our 14 goats came from the same farm that our horse Benny came from, so you can only imagine the reunion between them. And if it wasn't for us stepping out if faith to open our ranch to these goats, they would have been separated or ended up on a slaughter truck.

Anyone that visits The Ranch, will be sure to tell you how much they LOVE spending time with the horses, but will also tell you how much of a blessing these goats have been because of their unique personalities. We are so blessed to give Cowgirl (here baby Cookie), Mojo (her babies Tim/Curly/Peanut), Snowball (her baby Jack), Gypsy (here baby Nemo), Unicorn, Pepper, Patrick and Blaze (a ranch favorite because he thinks he is a dog) a home at The Ranch 4 Athletes.. 

Twins, Rosie and Ferdinand came to us after being rejected by their mom. Ferdinand was born strong and healthy, but Rosie was born lifeless, which caused their mom to reject her. It took multiple tries to bring Rosie back to life and it wasn't until the very last try that she had the will to fight. Thanks to a very dear friend, Rosie and Ferdinand were donated to The Ranch 4 Athletes when they were a month old and we got to experience bottle feeding calves, who have now become our babies. 

Although Rosie and Ferdinand are cows, they act like puppy dogs! They follow you every where you go, know nothing about personal space and snuggle in your lap for a nap. 

Lulu and Lemon came to us from the same farm as Benny and the goats, which we are always happy to reconnect old friends! Lulu was living with the potbelly pigs and was getting so picked on from the other potbelly's that she could not eat, so she came to us so skinny that all you could see was skin hanging from bones. Lemon on the other hand, was a former race pig and started to refuse to race, so they came to us as a pair.

Since coming to The Ranch 4 Athletes, we have worked hard to help put weight on both pigs and they are now happy, healthy, fat pigs that actually look like potbelly pigs and enjoy all the treats and snuggles they get daily!