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Rio's Story
In April 2020, as the world shut down, I found myself alone with my horses every day. It was an abrupt stop to many years of working together with my horses, through equine assisted learning, to help people heal. I found myself physically and mentally exhausted, and the time to be with my horses was a refreshing break that enabled me to deeply feel my tired body. I began to ask God for a path through. A few weeks later I came across a group on social media I had never seen before that advertised horses for sale. As I scrolled through, a beautiful brown and white painted horse immediately grabbed my attention. I read the ad and immediately felt the Holy Spirit nudge my heart. Seeing as I already owned 11 horses, I thought surely God was intending for someone I knew to buy this horse, so I sent the ad to a couple of friends for review. However, when several days went by and no one seemed called to buy this horse, I didn’t understand. And then I heard that ever familiar quiet whisper... “No, I want you to buy this horse.” I replied, “Surely Lord, you realize that we are in the middle of a world pandemic and I have no income to buy this horse!” And then that sweet whisper came again, telling me to have faith. “The money will come”. And just days later it did, the exact amount at exactly the time He said it would. So a few weeks later off we went on a 3 hour drive to pick up an unknown painted horse, obedient me with my ever patient and understanding husband. We arrived and I immediately noticed that the horse pictured was not quite the horse in front of us. He was in poor condition: thin and parasite infested, he was kept in a dark stall that had not been cleaned in a while. My husband was ready to turn around and leave, telling me “Jo, you do not need to buy a sick horse!” But this was the horse God told me to buy, so I paid the owner the money and loaded him in the trailer and home we went, me and my rescued Rio. ~ Joanna |
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One year later
Rio ended up being diagnosed with EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis), a debilitating disease in horses, and required quite a bit of physical rehabilitation once he'd arrived. He had a lot of inflammation in his muscles and joints from it too. On top of that he began communicating to me about ways he had been poorly treated by people in the past. A touch on a particular place on his body, a sharp inhale, a position you stand next to him ... the smallest of things could send him into a state of panic that made him pin his ears and lunge to bite me. As I came to find all this out my question for the Lord was simply, “Why? Why did you want me to buy this traumatized, broken-down horse?!” The answer was swift: “Because he needs to learn he can rely on a person. He needs to learn that a person will show up for him day after day. He has not seen that in people.”
This moved me to love this painted horse through all of his mean looks, his attempts to scare and intimidate me, and the amount of care it took to get him well. All because God loved him enough to find him a safe and loving home spoke to my heart. There was more to God’s message about Rio though, as I came to find out.
I realized that while I was there to help Rio, God was also working through him to help me grow. During this past year God gave me the space and time to remember how much joy it brings me to help horses heal, not just people. I found my heart wanting to do more of it, and so “Rescue Rio” was born.
Rio is doing amazing now! He still gets flare ups of EPM, but we have found safe and affordable ways to manage that and give him the quality of life he deserves. He has learned to trust me and doesn’t get defensive anymore, or at least not nearly as much. When he is feeling good we go on rides together. and he has found a place in our herd and is making friends. He is happy, feeling good inside and out, and it shows.
- Joanna Dunlap
Rio ended up being diagnosed with EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis), a debilitating disease in horses, and required quite a bit of physical rehabilitation once he'd arrived. He had a lot of inflammation in his muscles and joints from it too. On top of that he began communicating to me about ways he had been poorly treated by people in the past. A touch on a particular place on his body, a sharp inhale, a position you stand next to him ... the smallest of things could send him into a state of panic that made him pin his ears and lunge to bite me. As I came to find all this out my question for the Lord was simply, “Why? Why did you want me to buy this traumatized, broken-down horse?!” The answer was swift: “Because he needs to learn he can rely on a person. He needs to learn that a person will show up for him day after day. He has not seen that in people.”
This moved me to love this painted horse through all of his mean looks, his attempts to scare and intimidate me, and the amount of care it took to get him well. All because God loved him enough to find him a safe and loving home spoke to my heart. There was more to God’s message about Rio though, as I came to find out.
I realized that while I was there to help Rio, God was also working through him to help me grow. During this past year God gave me the space and time to remember how much joy it brings me to help horses heal, not just people. I found my heart wanting to do more of it, and so “Rescue Rio” was born.
Rio is doing amazing now! He still gets flare ups of EPM, but we have found safe and affordable ways to manage that and give him the quality of life he deserves. He has learned to trust me and doesn’t get defensive anymore, or at least not nearly as much. When he is feeling good we go on rides together. and he has found a place in our herd and is making friends. He is happy, feeling good inside and out, and it shows.
- Joanna Dunlap