Retirement
All the beloved horses in the world deserve a happy retirement. Most of our horses have been overworked or abused most of their lives. Don’t you think they deserve the peace and serenity of a sanctuary like Villa Chardonnay for the last years of their lives? We think they do. We want them to know the love, kindness, companionship that we offer without worrying about moving from home to home which can be very stressful on a horse.
A Story of RC's Recovery - In Memory of RC who passed on Nov. 2, 2010
Our Beloved RC will always have a very warm place in our hearts. He was 38 years old when he passed on Nov. 2nd. We thank the Lord that he went quickly and painlessly. He woke up that morning and had his watered down grain for breakfast (he had very few teeth, so this was his breakfast of choice). He went out to the arena with his close friend Teddy, ran around and rolled for a while, like most mornings. We put him back in his stall around 11:00 am and came back around 11:30 and he was gone. It didn't look like he struggled or kicked. We hope and pray he went peacefully. Our prayers are with him and he is missed very much. We thank all of you who visited him over the years! Especially when he had grated carrots and apple sauce!.
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RC was one of our retirees, when we can get him off the golf course! We met RC near a ranch where we first had some of our babies. He always stuck his head over the fence from the neighbors yard and politely asked for grain. So of course we started feeding him. He was not in good shape and we could see that he was thin. We asked the owner if he could no longer take care of him, that we were willing to do so. About 6 months later after we left the area and moved our horses to the Big Oak Ranch in Morgan Hill, CA, the owner contacted us and said that he wanted to give him to us. By this time he was completely emaciated, he was about 30 years old and had very few teeth so he could not eat the hay that they had been feeding him. But they could not afford to feed him grain.
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RC recently with his buddy, Robbie
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RC after recovery
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We brought him to the Big Horse Ranch, but we knew we could not afford to keep him there long term. We already had a few horses there and could not afford another months board. Everyone at first told us we were crazy and that we should even put him down. We did not give in and tried to figure out some way to pay for him.
That’s when our good friend Carol Ray, owner of the Big Oak Ranch came to assist us. Carol’s big heart came to our rescue, as she helped us rescue RC by minimizing his monthly boarding fees for us. We will never be able to thank Carol enough for all her help and guidance along the way. You can see Carol in the Board of Directors page.
Now, two years later, you can see that RC is still happy and very healthy in his retirement at Villa Chardonnay
