Horses

Horseplay horses are free-leased to the program. Of course, safety is our primary concern, and we screen many horses before deciding which horse will be perfect for our program.

 

 

Sweetie pie
Sweetie Pie. Quarter horse mare, 15.1h, liver chestnut. Past career: Sweetie Pie, aka “SP,” started out as a western pleasure horse. Her registered name is “Skip The Cute Stuff,” but she really is a sweetie pie!

 

Blue

Blue is a rescue approximately 24 years old! Since we have known him he has been able to help two programs. Brianna Noble of Urban Cowgirl Ranch which empowers marginalized communities through access to horses and agriculture found him sorely neglected in a field- sad and alone. She talked the absentee owner into giving him up, trailering him away from a truly dreadful situation. Under Brianna’s expert care, Blue received lots of love, conditioning and a new look. In fact, he had such a snappy new look that he caught the eye of our trusted horse scout (s). !

Blue was sold to Horseplay Therapeutic Riding with a no money back-no return policy! We took a big chance on him. Often times, leaps of faith realize such great rewards. That was definitely the case with Mr. Blue, he’s one of our Equine Stars. Not only do we love Blue; Blue loves our clients, especially if they come with a gentle hug.!  Fun fact; Blue loves to play with water. He will take a large drink and let the water dribble out of his mouth, only to do it again, and again and again…

Pi

Short and sweet in many ways! First, his name, who doesn’t love Pi?Second, his stature, standing 14.3(ish). And Third, his natural curiosity and friendliness could melt butter on a freezing day. He is a Haflinger. Known for their kind, quiet and willing nature they make excellent therapy horses. They originated in the Austrian Tyrol and are always chestnut in color, ranging from light gold to dark chestnut, with a white flaxen mane and tail they turn heads to gaze in their direction. Pi is our newest member of our herd. We are looking forward to many therapeutic lessons on Pi reaching far into the future, at 21, he is our youngest horse!

Cowboy

Like a bedazzled woman in high heels headed home from a boisterous party; Cowboy gets to his stall and literally kicks off his shoes. Twisted shoe after twisted shoe makes us wonder if he would rather go plain barefoot. After all he is a Mustang!

Cowboy, The newest addition to our herd is weaving his way into our hearts. 

As the story is told, he left the BLM land at the age of 7. We think he’s from a Nevada herd. He has a freeze mark on the left side of his neck, which, if we can get a clear picture of it, BLM has a website and special coding which will tell us where he came from.

Most recently (like yesterday) we found out that his 2nd owner was a youngin. She started working with him in her early double digit years, right after he left the BLM. Their family bought Cowboy when he was 8. Gigi taught her 15 hand Chestnut gelding Liberty moves. They were companions for nine years until they sold him to Hallick Ranch in Marin County. Gigi was headed to college. Cowboy could not go with her. 

His time at Halleck was short as COVID hit and there were no riders for their sessions. Consequently he moved to UC Davis Equine Center as one of their lesson horses. Unfortunately for them he would get lame after trotting or cantering for an extensive amount of time . Fortunate for us, we are a much slower program and they offered Cowboy to join our line up! Since January of 26 we have been slowly integrating him into our PATH program. After four months he has gained a few riders who love to partner with our newest herd member from the wilds of the west, our dearest, barefoot, Cowboy!