IT’S A PLACE OF HEALING.

Talk to any of the ranch volunteers and they’ll say they are the ones changed. Apparently spending several hours a week pouring energy, high-protein meal and love into neglected horses doesn’t leave you untouched.

Kris Grier of Lake Park, Minn., and her two daughters, Emily, 18, and Katie, 12, began volunteering a year ago. Katie’s love of horses and struggle with anxiety issues led them to the ranch. The changes in Katie were striking.

“She was having a really hard time. Lots of things made her anxious,” Kris said. “When she’s out here, the horses calm her.”

Soon, mom, daughters and even dad, Dean, were doing chores up to three days a week. Emily helped start an adoption program for barn cats. Kris overcame her own fear of horses. Katie took riding lessons and bonded with rescued horses.

One mare, Blue, captured Katie’s heart instantly.

The bond was so apparent, the ranch even found sponsors to cover the adoption and boarding costs for Blue, so Katie could keep her forever.

“It’s amazing to watch,” Kris said. “Blue takes pretty good care of her. She feels very safe with her.”

They are all thankful for what Hightail has done for their family.

“It’s very calming and relaxing just helping the animals,” Kris said. “You are so focused on them the whole time you don’t have a chance to worry about your own problems and issues.”

Helping Horses

Hightail Horse Ranch and Rescue is owned by Charlotte Tuhy, 54, and her husband, Joel Hildebrandt, 54. Last year alone, the ranch rescued more than 60 horses and found homes for nearly as many – not to mention the rescued pigs, goats, cats, dogs, donkeys, chickens and ducks.

When Tuhy first purchased the 43-acre farmstead in 2006 she named it Hightail Horse Ranch, a nod to her special interest in Arabian horses who characteristically carry their tails high. She envisioned raising her daughter, Jordanne Bruns, now 22 and a farrier, and a few horses out in the county. But her big heart for animals couldn’t be contained.

“Rescue work has always been a calling for me,” said Tuhy, who rescued her first neglected dog at 13. Later in life, she spent a decade running the Natural Pet Center in Fargo, where she also placed dogs and cats for adoption.

Once Tuhy moved to a ranch, people began contacting her about horses in need. Some of the horses were surrendered by overwhelmed owners, others were found wandering the countryside and even more were rescued from slaughter buyers at auctions.

“I’d leave the auctions in tears and usually with a full trailer,” she remembered.

Tuhy applied for nonprofit status in 2010 and began serving as a rescue agency for local law enforcement with suspected animal abuse and neglect cases. In its first county seizure in November 2012, Hightail rescued 11 horses from a farm in Perham, Minn. Since then, the ranch as rescued another 50 horses, three llamas, six rabbits, two dogs and a goat during seizures or in surrender cases.

Each time, all of the animals were taken to Hightail for evaluation, careful feeding regimens, homeopathic vet care, flower essence treatments for healing and lots of love from volunteers. Sometimes, like in the case of two of the llamas, they don’t make it. But most often, with gentle, consistent care, they do.

Horse trainer, riding instructor and volunteer Hannah Mork works with the neediest horses. Once they are physically and mentally healthy, she trains them for handling and riding. During her two years at the ranch she’s brought many horses from not trusting a touch to allowing kids to ride them.

“One of the saddest things about getting the rescue animals is not the dull look in their eyes, their open wounds or their boney hips” Mork said. “For me, it’s offering the 30-year-old horse a treat and realizing that he has no idea what to do with it because he’s never had one given to him before. That first gesture of love is amazing, seeing the surprise and understanding in a horse’s eye.”

When the horses are healed and trained, they are put up for lease or adoption, on their way to new homes. Hightail’s unique leasing program allows a person to take over the care and expenses of a horse, while boarding it at the ranch. The horse has the stability of one owner, who can take as long as necessary to make sure the horse is a good fit. About 30 of the horses currently at Hightail are already leased or adopted.

“Most of the people leasing horses are likely going to finalize their adoptions,” Tuhy said. “They fall in love with their horses and those horses end up with a home.”

This approach led Marsha Jorgenson of Moorhead to Hightail to find ponies for her children, Remington, 6, and Hannah, 8. Char helped match them with two rescued ponies and lined up riding lessons with Mork. The kids can’t wait for their weekly Saturday lessons, knowing each one brings them closer to finalizing their pony adoptions.

“It’s a great place to give a horse a second chance,” Jorgenson said. “They are going to work with you and make sure the horse is a great fit.”

Helping People

In 2011, Tuhy created horse education classes―for people. Offered through the ranch and Moorhead Community Education, the “How to Be With Horses” classes are about much more than how to ride. They teach the details of grooming, feeding, understanding behavior, respectful care and the responsibilities of horse ownership.

When Jaime Aasen of West Fargo was looking for a horse-riding class for her 8-year-old daughter, Emery, she stumbled across Hightail online. She immediately loved the approach.

“This was the perfect program for Emery because they taught her how to interact with the horses before she ever got on one,” Aasen said. “She gained confidence and was totally at ease on the ranch with the horses and staff.”

The horse classes brought Katie Shaw, a Moorhead mom of five, to the ranch too. She volunteered weekly for three years and plans to visit again when her family schedule allows.

“It’s a place of healing,” Shaw said. “It’s not just horses healing out there. There’s something about nature and animals that helps you get your head together.”

The horse education classes and horse rescue work walk hand-in-hand. As people take a few classes, they support the rescue mission with their class fees. They also fall in love with the horses and find themselves pitching in before or after class by mucking stalls, grooming the cats and dogs, or feeding the chickens. They make new friends with other volunteers and bond with a few more horses. It just keeps bringing them back.

Linda Dregseth of Fargo is a prime example. After her husband suffered a stroke, Dregseth’s doctor encouraged her, as primary caretaker, to do something for herself. Looking back on her childhood love of horses, she decided to sign up for a “How to Be With Horses” class. Now, more than three years later, she’s a regular Thursday volunteer at the ranch and is working to adopt her first horse in more than 40 years, a gelding Arabian named Rio.

“When I hit that driveway, everything else drops away,” Dregseth said. “It’s a place I go can and be fully present. The rest of the world is just put on hold.”

Regular, dedicated volunteers are exactly what Tuhy needs. Running an operation of this size simply isn’t possible for one person or one family.

“Char is able to attract students, teachers, volunteers and other extraordinary people who use their skills to work here,” Hildebrandt said. “We need everybody.”

Jim Wannemacher of Foxhome, Minn., has volunteered four days a week at the ranch since his retirement. He appreciates the chance to reconnect with his farm roots while making a difference in the lives of animals and making friends.

“Lots of good people volunteer there,” he said. “The volunteers are always ready to help.”

Some of those volunteers include at-risk youth from Fargo-Moorhead. Since 2013, Cyndi Lind of Fargo has brought more than a dozen different teens to the ranch weekly to volunteer―first through Youth for Christ and now through her own ministry, Do Something Ministries. As the youth dig into very physical chores of cleaning stalls, filling holes in the driveway or picking rocks in a pasture, they experience the satisfaction that comes from helping others.

“They really connect with the animals because the animals have had a hard time too,” Lind said. “It’s a privilege to partner with Char and Joel. They give my youth the opportunity to shine. They are giving them a second chance.”

The youth also assist with fundraiser pony rides in the community, helping lead horses and walk alongside riders. At one particular event, six of Lind’s youth helped a young man who was quadriplegic ride one of the horses. As a team, they lifted him up, supported him with their many hands, and watched him beam with pride and joy. Lind chokes up remembering the moment.

“That was such a highlight for this young man to be able to do this,” Lind said. “The youth were able to help fulfill someone else’s dream by just giving of their time.”

Happy Endings

Look at a few photos of the starved and neglected horses Hightail has rescued and it’s hard to believe they are the same animals out in the pastures today. The dull eyes and protruding ribs are gone. Plump, bright-eyed, calm and curious animals are in their place, munching together at the hay bales, basking in the sun.

Others, like Zane, one of Hightail’s most beloved horses, are happily settled in new homes. The silver Arabian stallion was found starved and hanging in a sling during the Perham seizure. During his first eight days at Hightail, he collapsed four times and Tuhy was sure they were going to lose him. He never gave up and neither did the volunteers who rallied around him.

Today, Zane lives in Eau Claire, Wis., with Dan McCargar, who fell in love with him during a news broadcast. After a thorough adoption interview and many calls with Tuhy, the experienced horseman drove the 18-hour round trip to adopt a recovering Zane. Now a healthy, happy, slightly chubby, affectionate gelding, Zane has settled in with the four other horses at McCargar’s home. He’s bringing his owner tremendous joy.

“Oftentimes when you enter into something like this, you think you’re rescuing the horse,” McCargar said. “But there’s always a bit of the horse that’s rescuing you. You’re getting more of a reward from it.”

Stories like Zane’s are what keep Tuhy, Hildebrandt and all of the volunteers putting in the long hours and heart-wrenching work. They long to see the horses healed, happy and adopted.

“It’s a joy sending horses like Zane to new homes,” Tuhy said. “It’s bittersweet though. You really have to trust other people. You’re putting faith in other people to continue what we’ve started.”

For more information on Hightail Horse Ranch and Rescue or to volunteer, visit hightailhorseranchandrescue.com. You can reach Charlotte Tuhy at chart@loretel.net.