Help us bring Chili home!

Hi Community! We need your help! 

Everybody, meet Chili! Chili is an 8-year-old Irish Sport Horse. He was imported from Ireland to be a riding horse at a local school. Right now, he needs some help; We’re trying to raise the funds to bring him into our program as a session horse. 

After some time at the school, the staff discovered that Chili was having some medical issues. He was diagnosed with +2 Ataxia in the cervical spine and it was determined that a ridden lifestyle would not be a safe choice for him. The school had to make the hard decision to find him a place that could better meet his needs, and that is when we met him! 

Back in 2025 we evaluated Chili to be an on-the-ground session horse that could help people process through and heal from trauma in sessions at our nonprofit, Oaks Restorative Ranch (ORR). ORR is an organization that pairs equine rescue, rehabilitation, and care with mental health sessions for kids, youth, and adults. These sessions are always free, and we generally have a waitlist, so looking at adding a horse was something that could help us be able to offer more sessions. 

Well long story short, we LOVED Chili. He was kind, inquisitive, and despite being 17+ hands tall, he was so gentle. We told the school we would love to take him but needed to find our own space first (stay tuned for more info on this development!). In the meantime, Chili got the opportunity to be transferred to a sanctuary where he would live out the rest of his life with unlimited amounts of forage, friends, and freedom (which are often considered a horse’s core needs)! It was a no-brainer and the school took him there!

Now fast forward to 2026. Due to unfortunate circumstances the sanctuary was closed and is currently part of an active investigation with many other horses needing placement. While a schooling lifestyle no longer fits Chili’s needs, the school still wanted to make sure he was taken care of and in the best possible placement for his future. After much discussion, and with the school’s blessing, we have a plan in place to bring Chili home. The school is even going to personally transport him from the sanctuary in Julian all the way back to Ojai! (Over 11 hours roundtrip!) We have found a space where we can keep him until we find our own location for the nonprofit and we only need to raise $8900 to cover his expenses the rest of this year.

Here’s the monthly breakdown for my math folks:
Boarding: $500 monthly (for the next 7 months that is $3,500)
Farrier every 6-8 weeks (Depending on his needs) $150 
Training + Session Readiness $400 per month 
Supplements based on his needs. (Factored into boarding)
Veterinary evaluations and treatments to support his health and to be prepared for emergencies ~ $2,000

There will likely be other expenses that come up, but we know if we raise $8,900 we can support his care for this transition back to Ojai. Our fundraiser is linked below. Please join us on this mission! Chili would be ORR’s very first horse of our own, which is a pretty big deal, and we are really excited for the opportunity to bring him home! Thank you everyone! Let’s go get our boy!

All donations raised through this fundraiser will go directly into Chili’s “bank account” to cover everything he needs. Once he has finished his evaluation period and we find our own space then he will be a part of our session program at ORR! (How cool is that?!) We are 100% donation based and all gifts are tax-deductible! Click below to join the cause!

https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/help-us-bring-chili-home

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