KELSEYVILLE — Approximately two miles from Highway 175, on Live Oak Drive lies Soul2Soul Equine Ranch, a rescue for horses and a fun place for kids of all ages. During the summer months the founder Denise Claiche runs a horse camp, Saddle S O A R, for children to help fund the horse rescue. “It’s all about the kids here and saving needy horses,” said Claiche. Pumpkins ‘n Ponies is the fall fundraiser. They also host birthday parties and at the Christmas Corral, her husband Brian (a teacher at Pomo School in Clearlake) plays Santa.
Soul2Soul currently takes care of eight horses, a lovable young donkey named Marshmallow, a goat, some chickens and three dogs at the farm. “One horse is in sad shape,” said Scott Donohoe, a handyman who built most of the out-buildings on the 15-acre farm. “We’re hoping he makes it and if he can’t, we’ll take care of him until his time is up.”
Kelci Peterson, her son Jonathan and his grandfather Rod came for Jonathon to ride the pony and pick a pumpkin. The first thing Claiche did was bring out a tiny pair of cowboy boots to Jonathan. After donning them, he was strutting his one-year-old self like a real life cowboy, albeit unsteadily.
The family spent time in the barn decorated Halloween-style, playing on hay bales and watching a short movie. Jonathon was a bit shy around the pony, named One-Eyed Willie (due to having only one eye). He sat on Willie with the support of his mother Kelci, but at one point he seemed more interested in sitting lower to the ground on a wooden sheep, eating the snack that Claiche had given him.
After ‘riding’ the pony, Jonathon smiled a big smile while sinking into the sandbox, a more familiar place as he had gone to the beach the week before. His grandfather took over the sandbox duty while Kelci got her first riding lesson on Beau, a white-colored Lipizzan and Friesian horse mix. After the lesson, when asked how she liked it, she said, “I loved it!”
When asked how old Beau or any of the horses were, the answer was usually, “I don’t know,” because Claiche oftentimes buys horses from the auction houses where horses are sold for slaughter and not much information is known about individual horses. Other times, she buys horses from people who get in over their head with the care of a horse.
Several of the rescues are on the thin side. Donohoe tells that it “only takes a month for a horse to become a bag of bones and at least four months to get them back to a healthy weight with the correct feed and medicines.” Two horses came to the ranch the day before Pumpkins ‘n Ponies Day and were scheduled to see the vet to get assessed. One of the first things Soul2Soul does with a new horse is groom them. “It makes them feel good,” said Claiche. “We pamper the horses here. One man who surrendered his mustang told me ‘No hugging!’ Well, I hug all our horses. Can’t help it.”
“Getting the kids out here with the camp and the fundraisers,” said Donohoe, “helps gets kids and their parents interested in horses. It helps with rehoming and gets people comfortable with horses and what it takes to have a horse. It’s not just, ‘okay ride them.’ They have to learn how to feed the horse and maintain the horse. We teach that every horse gets brushed before being saddled and after being ridden. First off, because horses deserve to be brushed and they love it, and in doing so it builds a bond between the child and the horse.”
“The entire goal for Soul2Soul Equine,” Donohoe continues, “is to find forever homes for horses that have been either neglected or set aside because they’re not fast enough, say for running barrels. So what we do is teach the horses how to be a trail horse and once they have that ability, they’re more likely to be re-homed to a forever home. We also follow-up on all of our rescues and do field-checks to make sure they are being cared for properly.”
Claiche did a happy dance when more families showed up. She has painstakingly set the farm up for children to enjoy—the barn theater and hay bales to climb, a small castle, costumes for both riders and horses, the collection of cowboy boots, a wooden roping cow, a see-saw, kiddie playground with sand box, a play jail and of course the pumpkin patch with rabbit statues and store-bought pumpkins (since a varmint ate the big ones), all for the delight of the children who visit. All so a lucky family will fall in love with one of Soul2Soul Equine rescues and make their forever home dream come true.
Pumpkins ‘N Ponies runs Oct. 27 and 28, from 10–2 p.m. It is located at 7105 Live Oak Drive, Kelseyville, and has a Facebook page.
