Meet some of the rescues
I have been able to rescue close to 40 horses over the past 7 years. Each one teaching me valuable lessons not only in finding connection, trust and friendship with horses, but also in life as I know it.
They have evolved my perception on what it means to be alive, and proven time and time again that every single horse is a remarkable being full of love, hope and limitless potential.
The resilience of these incredible beings is dumbfounding. Their ability and willingness to trust again, even after unspeakable horrors that some have endured, is humbling and awe-inspiring.
To be able to help these horses heal- both physically and mentally- and find the confidence to grow and flourish is my purpose in life.
A purpose I will honour until my last breath.
The Newest Recruits
Most recently, I have brought in six new rescue horses, outbidding the Dogger at the Kill Pens. This is the largest number of rescues I have brought in at one time and suffice to say, I have my work cut out for me!
One of the horses is previously handled but was emaciated, four were very young, thin and unhandled, and one was unhandled and evidently pregnant.
Nothing in this world makes me happier than seeing rescue horses run free in a big grassy paddock after unknowingly being inches away from death.
Since then, I have been bringing two on at a time for training, and they are mostly handled now and their beautiful personalities are flourishing. A couple have completed their training and are now ready to find their forever homes!
This project is entirely self-funded save for the odd donation from wonderful people who wish to contribute.
If you would like to be a part of these rescue horses rehabilitation, please follow the link below. Any help is greatly appreciated and makes an enormous difference!
Free Rein Horsemanship’s Newest Rescues:
The Donkeys
A pair of aged donkeys (Gaia and Freya) resided on the Lennox Head Hill, where passerbys and locals spent years admiring them and enjoying their presence. They made a great impact on the community and were loved by many.
The property was sold, and the resident horses were all taken away by their owners, however the donkey’s had long since been abandoned, and many years later their previous owner passed away.
They had only on week to find a place to go, and one kind and caring lady (Nikki) helped to make sure they didn’t fall by the wayside. They came to me, presenting with severe laminitis, overweight, full of worms and having not had any care for many years.
Gaia and Freya are now well on the road to recovery, on good diets, wormed, teeth filed, weight dropped and their hooves on the road to recovery.
They are also learning handling techniques to help them on their life’s jouney, and have much enjoyed thinking outside the box with some target training.
These girls are so sweet, and are a grounding presence. They have joined in meditative practises with people and are proving to be amazing therapy donkeys!
If you would like to help the Donkeys ongoing treatment and upkeep, please feel free to donate to their cause:
Clover and Emu
Clover and Emu were my very first rescue horses.
They weren’t for sale, just being held in a yard full of horses beside the auction to then be hauled to the slaughterhouse.
Emu was a stunning Waler gelding, who approached the fence with pointed ears and the sweetest nature. He had no fear, he was very clearly a well handled and confident boy.
”Why on Earth are you in here?” I asked him as he hung around for a long period of time, while his pen-mates huddled in fear on the other side of the yard.
Thankfully, the man in charge of the 14 horses in that holding pen allowed me to buy them for their "meat price".
My heart broke for all the horses I couldn't take home, but I was grateful to at least be able to change the world for these two.
Despite years of experience with horses, Clover was the first horse I trained and started from absolute scratch and unhandled.
My incredible teacher..
Not a micro-step could be rushed, and connection trumped any other aspect of my time with her. She showed me that no matter a horse's past experiences, age or breed, with the right approach, it was never too late for them to learn, to connect and to feel love and happiness.
Clover learned to ride with nothing but a rope, and was a gentle, kind and sweet mare who took a large chunk of my heart, and I’m sure, gave me a piece of hers too.
I had Emu in training for a long time, working through his inability to self-regulate due to what was evidently (and proven after discovering his history) many years of poor training. Once he learned how to feel again, how to have a two-way conversation and not fear the repercussions of answering a question wrong, he became an incredible, soft, intelligent, balanced and marvellously handsome horse undersaddle.
These two horses showed me that I was on the right track, that I could continue to save these precious lives, and taught me invaluable lessons that have spread through every rescue horse since.
Clover has passed into the next realm now, but will have a piece of my heart for as long as it's beating.
Emu lives with his wonderful forever family who love him dearly.
Opal
I rescued Opal in 2021 at the same time as Nala, Topaz and Siren.
She was unhandled and though not incredibly fearful, was absolutely not interested in having anything to do with humans.
Once we established a connection and she began to approach me, I guided Opal through the whole handling process and she showed a very keen and intelligent mind. This quality only intensified and she proved just how intelligent she really was through the starting process as well.
Opal was rehomed after finishing her education with me (a particularly heartbreaking goodbye).
About a year later, her human decided to sell her which I was informed about after a message asking how she was going.
Thankfully, I was able to purchase Opal back, and since I was then living on a larger property and running workshops, I was able to keep her for good.
This beautiful soul has dug even further into my heart and has been a superstar at Liberty, has taught people to ride with kindness and softness and joined in with inquisitiveness in our Art and Meditation Classes.
I love this mare so much and am so grateful to the Universe for bringing us back together.
Nala
Nala was rescued as an unhandled 4 year old. As is incredibly common, she was fit, healthy and young, but whoever bred her didn’t want her and so her fate became a roll of the dice.
I never choose which horses I will rescue, I just outbid the doggers for the first horses that would otherwise go to them, and once I have as many as I can take, I leave the pens to help lessen the heartbreak that comes with leaving others behind.
Nala was in the very first pen that was bid only by a dogger. She looked similar to my beloved first horse, Roxy, with her white rear socks and forehead star.
Nala was understandably terrified, and I was so grateful to be able to tell her that this nightmare was almost over.
I trained Nala throughout every aspect of her new life with humans. Her personality is adorable, very sassy and “marey” and she is a wonderful companion to all of the other horses.
Nala is still with me, as I have kept her as a member of the Free Rein herd until I find the perfect person for her and her unique and wonderful personality.
Kovu
Kovu was rescued as a skinny, unhandled 3 year old from a kill pen in 2022 during the floods. I intended to immediately rehome him and the three others rescued with him to experienced homes to train for themselves, as I had an enormous workload just keeping on top of the multitude of issues arising from the flood and constant rain. I was hoping I would be able to make this a frequent mission, so that I could rescue more horses from death without spending the many months training each one, in turn being able to rescue many more. Unfortunately this didn’t work out, as three out of four returned to me due to a sudden “lack of time” each new owner had.
When rescued, Kovu had a wound on his eye and ulcer in his eye from the trauma. I treated him daily, taught him to feel confidence with humans, built trust with him and halter trained him before rehoming him. Not long later, he was up for sale and so I was able to re-purchase him to ensure he received the training he needed.
So Kovu went through my training program and blossomed into an incredible, trustworthy and loving boy who was an absolute privilege to work with. He fell in love with the ocean, became cheeky and hilarious and never failed to light my heart every time I saw him.
He stayed with me for some time before I considered him fully trained, after which he found an incredible, loving family and a young girl who was absolutely in love.
They are still a fantastic pair and love to trail ride and compete in Eventing.
“Before” and “after”
10 weeks into Tiki’s rehabilitation
Tiki
Tiki was only 5 months old when I met him. He was raised by humans after his mother died, and was then neglected to emaciation.
He was covered in rain scald, skin and bones and had severely overgrown hooves.
Tiki put weight on like a weed desperate to grow, and started to build muscle and a spark ignited in his eyes. He was an adorable, happy little man and incredibly smart. Once he had put on some weight, I began to train him and introduce him to various new things like obstacles and liberty groundwork.
He rapidly improved, both physically and emotionally and absorbed his lessons like a little sponge.
Tiki found his home with a wonderful woman who continued to nurture him as he developed.
Topaz
Topaz was a stunning 2 year old unhandled colt when rescued from the Kill Pens.
Even beautiful colours have a high risk of death when they end up there, especially if the Pens are full of other pretty horses or in Topaz’ case, if they haven’t been gelded there is a much higher risk.
As always, I went through all of the steps toward connection with Topaz, but something new happened that would change the way I approach early sessions with horses forever.
Most horses, once trust is built, eventually learn to accept the halter, through many tiny steps and lots of reinforcement. With Topaz, I decided I would not move the halter toward him, but instead have him learn to halter himself. Once he had built enough trust in me to approach and eat out of my hand, always have pressure removed and never applied (during the connection stages) and understood the assignment, Topaz was haltering himself and having enormous fun doing it. To my surprise, once we had worked on this puzzle together, he had far more trust and confidence in me than when we started to halter train. To the point where he was comfortable having me touch him although we had never worked on that.
From that moment on, I have used this technique with every unhandled horse, those who are hard to catch or those with trauma, including most of the horses in this list.
Topaz captured my heart, and seeing him go was one of the hardest goodbyes I have had. But he found a home with a wonderful young lady, whose heart he captured too. They are a wonderful team and he is now living a wonderful life one-on-one with his new family, both on the ground and in the saddle.
The horses here are just a few of the remarkable rescues who have blessed my life, transformed my way of being and taught me lessons I will carry with me forever more.
Every. Single. Horse. is capable of having an incredible bond with a human who loves them.
Tragically, hundreds of horses are sent to slaughter every single week in Australia. I am so grateful to be able to change the lives of a small few, but I implore anyone with the space in their paddock and in their hearts, and the time to learn to handle and connect with them, to rescue a horse. If you put in the time and patience towards working on yourself, letting go of expectations and taking every day and every interaction one step at a time, they will change you for the better, and change your life forever.
In the end, we are really the ones who need rescuing.. and these horses will do just that.
If you would like to help me help these amazing beings, click the link below:
They stood alone with wary eyes,
Shadows shaped by fear and fight.
I offered no commands or ties-
Just presence in the fading light.
Their past was deep, a silent well,
Each scar a tale they couldn't speak.
But still I stayed, and stayed to dwell,
And waited days, and then a week.
With time they stepped a little near,
A breath, a blink, a softened head.
I held no rope, I held no fear,
Just space for healing hearts to tread.
They taught me things I never knew-
That trust is earned, not won or forced.
And now I walk a path more true,
Led by the souls I once had nursed.
- Lisa Willey