When Traveller’s Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary was founded, the goal
was to provide sanctuary; a place of safety; a stress-free home where
everything fits together as a smooth, harmonious whole. We tried to take into
account everything that might affect the well-being of both horses and
sanctuary, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Somewhere along the road our program took a
slight detour, veering into a commonly seen model in which as many horses as
possible are taken into a facility, filling every available pen, paddock, and
stall. Housing too many horses at the
sanctuary drove the stress-free and harmonious factors in the equation into the
background. While TREES’ residents have
never lacked food, shelter, veterinary, farrier or dental care, just meeting “the
basics” is not enough to make our Sanctuary whole.
With that in mind, Traveller’s Rest is undergoing a metamorphosis; not
so much a change in purpose as a rebirth – a return to our roots. We are making some changes in order to return
to a more holistic path toward sanctuary; a path we hope will lead beyond “good
enough” and set a standard of excellence.
First and foremost, that means moving away from the idea of accepting
another horse any time there appears to be physical space for one more. “Space for one more” means far more than
having a spare stall or a vacant paddock.
We want our horses to live peacefully in harmony with their environment. Operating a farm under crowded conditions
automatically creates conflict with that environment. Pastures become unhealthy, parasite and pest
control becomes very difficult if not impossible, and the horses themselves
become stressed, anxious, and irritable, all leading to a decrease in the
horses’ physical well-being as well as damaging the land the horses call home. TREES hopes to develop Sanctuary as an
all-encompassing concept rather than being seen merely as a horse farm that
happens to house elder equine.
From this point forward, TREES will set a maximum herd size of 12-15
horses rather than the average of 18-20 we tried to maintain for the past several
years. Not only will a smaller herd lead
to a more balanced sanctuary environment, but it will also allow time for more
educational efforts, something that suffered greatly in the last few
years. Education will, of course, remain
focused on equine elder care, but we will also begin to incorporate more
“green” horsekeeping philosophy. Our
standards will include integrative management techniques in which the sanctuary
environment is every bit as important as the horses in it. Practically speaking, there is no way to
separate the two facets of the sanctuary – what we do with the horses affects
the farm environment and what we do with the farm environment affects the
horses. The Sanctuary is a microcosm of
the interconnected nature of all things; what affects one thing affects all
things.
So, as TREES enters its second decade, we continue to grow by becoming
smaller in one sense, while hopefully achieving more balance over all.
It’s exciting to imagine what that balance may bring.
