Two perfect horses

Ruby and Ryker

At first glance, Ruby and Ryker might not sound like very valuable horses. Ruby is blind, and Ryker had a career-ending injury at some point that caused him to be permanently lame. The day Renne Walker met them, she found a pretty chestnut quarter horse mare (Ruby) and a striking grulla gelding (Ryker) living in a small cow pen with a concrete floor. 

Local law enforcement had been alerted to the condition of the two horses and had strongly urged their owner to find a better living situation for them, or they would take them away. And that’s how Renne first learned about them.  Both horses had been sold several times in recent years, and each time it seemed that their actual challenges and limitations hadn’t been fully disclosed. Their current owner had bought both horses not realizing Ruby was blind, and unable to help Ryker with his lameness. 

So, there they were. Two horses passed along from person to person until they’d reached a dead end. 

This was in 2022, and GRG was a brand-new, 501c3 nonprofit organization. Renne, a horse trainer, had always had a soft spot for horses in need, and she’d decided to make her rescue work official. Ryker and Ruby would be the first two horses whose lives would forever change because of it.

Welcome to GRG Ranch

Renne loaded up Ruby and Ryker brought them home to GRG Ranch. The pair were snorty and jumpy and very, very attached to each other when they arrived in an unfamiliar place. “That wasn’t surprising, especially because we had a feeling that Ruby had only recently gone blind,” Renne says. The Red mare was still learning how to live without her sight, and Ryker had made himself her seeing-eye horse. 

Renne hoped that with veterinary care and some in-depth diagnostics, there was a chance Ryker’s lameness could improve, and she believed Ruby could have a viable future in a home with someone to love her. But first, they needed thorough veterinary exams and to be quarantined away from the other horses at GRG Ranch to prevent potential disease outbreak. 

Ruby’s veterinary exam confirmed that she had uveitis, an eye infection that, if not treated, can permanently take a horse’s sight. “It’s like a camera lens closing, and it’s usually a slow degradation,” Renne says. “But sometimes it can be acute enough where they can go blind pretty quickly.” There was no treatment or surgery to correct it—the damage had been done. At only around 11 years old, Ruby still had a long life ahead of her, and with the right person, it could be a beautiful life. Renne says, “What she needed most of all was someone to be patient with her and teach her how to navigate things and to establish her trust.” 

Ruby

Ryker had a full lameness workup including x-rays. The diagnosis was an old soft tissue injury in his back right leg that hadn’t healed properly. At just 10 years old he, too, could have a long and happy life ahead of him with someone who would love him and take care of him even though he’d have limitations for riding. 

The goal was to adopt the horses into new homes, though they could stay at GRG Ranch until that day came. The most important question was: would anyone want horses like them?

Getting to know Ruby and Ryker

At GRG Ranch, Renne spent time getting to know her two newest charges. “Ruby was still adjusting and bumping into things,” Renne says. But she had Ryker. “He was the cutest ever. He kind of poked along behind her and then walked close to her shoulder. And then when they went out with the herd, he walked her along the fence line.” 

In time, the two of them settled in at GRG Ranch. Renne was happy with how the two of them acclimated to a larger space, more equine friends, and the additional vet care that they’d been missing before. 

People had said that both horses had worked on ranches and were well-trained. As Renne worked with each of them, eventually saddling them up and riding them, their past training showed. “With Ryker it was a lot of very slow introduction to find out what he could and couldn’t do,” Renne says. She felt he could be ridden lightly a couple times a week—nothing strenuous, fast, or with a lot of turns. 

And Ruby had come to rely on other horses over people, so Renne worked with her on gentle cues, always reminding her that the cues coming from the human are the same, whether Ruby could see or not. And above all, reassuring her that she was safe. Because she was. Once she landed at the rescue there was no more risk of her being sold down the road again to an uncertain future. The only question that remained was whether the first two horses to arrive at GRG Ranch Horse Rescue and Sanctuary would stay there forever, or whether anyone would want to adopt them. 

It turned out that not far from GRG Ranch, there happened to be someone in the market for a horse. 

Adopting a horse

Debbie Nelson had horses when she was young and had never stopped loving them. Now, as an adult and living on a small hobby farm, she wanted horses in her life again. She’d been casually looking. “I was really looking for light trail riding—a horse I could just ride around on my own property,” Debbie says. “I didn’t have aspirations to have the fastest horse or the best horse or anything else like that.” 

But she did have one non-negotiable requirement for getting a horse. 

“I really wanted to adopt a horse, rather than purchase one outright,” she says. “That’s important to me, that there’s always a home for those who are left behind.” She’d given all sorts of animals a home, filling her farm with dogs, cats, chickens, and ducks. 

It was at a vet appointment with her dog one day that she first learned about the brand-new horse rescue that had just formed in her area. It just so happened that her local veterinarian serves both small animals and equines, including those at GRG Ranch. 

So, Debbie contacted Renne, and on the first day she pulled up in the driveway, ready to help, she became the very first GRG Ranch Horse Rescue volunteer. That’s how she met Ruby and Ryker. “I completely fell in love with both of them right away,” she says. “Ryker is a stunning grulla color and has the beautiful mane. He’s all the things that people oogle over every time.” But her heart went out to Ruby. 

Even so, adopting them wasn’t a split-second decision. Debbie spent hours at the ranch over the course of the next several months. “I don’t rush adoptions,” Renne says. “It’s just however long it takes to come out and spend as much time is needed to make sure it’s a good fit.” Above all, Debbie was willing and eager to learn how best to work with both horses. 

“I think that was the most important part of it for me,” Renne says, “It was Debbie’s willingness to be adaptable, and she wasn’t put off by the horses’ special needs.” And then, when it was clear to all involved that the stars were aligning, Ruby and Ryker moved again, this time to their new home with Debbie and the rest of the animals on her farm. 

Debbie with Ruby

Ruby and Ryker go home

Today, Debbie can ride Ruby for relaxing strolls around the farm. Ruby has settled into a happy life as a blind horse, thanks both to her resilience, and for the support from others—Debbie and her family, and Ryker—looking out for her. 

“Sometimes she’ll hesitate when she steps into the shade because she can feel the temperature drop,” Debbie says. “So, she questions whether there’s something in front of her. But once she knows she’s safe and she gets that reassurance from me, then she moves forward.”

Ruby has learned cues like “step up,” to let her know that there’s something she needs to pick up her feet to step over. And she still has all her saddle training. “She’s highly capable,” Debbie says, “as long as the rider gives her the confidence that she can move around an object or move forward. 

And Ryker? He’s become Debbie’s son’s horse. “He’s a sweet, goofy boy,” she says. He also remembers all his ranch training, and he’s also the first one to approach people, always snuffling pockets for a treat. 

Now Ruby and Ryker have been home with Debbie for three years, and many more horses have come to GRG Ranch Horse Rescue when they needed help. Some are still there, calling the ranch home. Many more have gone on to new homes with people who just happened to be looking for a horse to love. 

It makes Renne happy to know that the blind horse and the lame horse in the concrete-floored pen are now living happy lives with someone who loves them to pieces just exactly as they are and is happy to take care of them in the ways that best suit them. 

Debbie is also happy with the arrangement. She hoped to adopt a horse in need, and she not only did exactly that, she adopted two beautiful, rideable horses. But those aren’t the words she uses to describe them. She says, “I’ve got two perfect, perfect horses.” 

Ryker