Angel is as close to a mythical creature as you’ll find in real life. Once a pack horse on mountain trecks, rumor has it that she was ridden bareback and bridleless through the rugged mountains with her human partner. At Exodus she has found a new set of skills using her seemingly magic touch with even the most fearful of children. Naturally so gentle and willing to please, she is our go-to horse for new riders or fearful ones. If a student does not feel ready to ride a horse yet (sometimes we forget how scary it can be to be on a horse for the first time!) Angel patiently allows students to brush her long mane as they work up the courage to sit on her back. For more advanced students she poses a challenge with her need for speed. There are many students, once afraid, now courageous, who would rightly say Angel has been their angel.

Callie, appropriately referred to as our “red headed angel,” has faithfully served the Exodus kids as Ginger’s “superstar pony” and “coworker” for over 12 years, and is now enjoying a semi-retirement as a groundwork only pony. And by groundwork we mean being brushed, handwalked, and grazed by kids who just need a quiet, kind, motherly, fuzzy friend and listening ear. The amazing part of Callie’s story is that earlier in her life, she had a very different collection of nicknames including “the alligator” and “that crazy red pony.” When Callie arrived at Exodus, she would act out in aggression, fear, anxiety and anger due to negative past experiences. But with years of consistency proving that Exodus was Callie’s safe, forever home, she blossomed into the implacably calm teacher that she still is today. She has held completely still for over an hour as a terrified child had a panic attack on her back, has been a quiet, calm shoulder for a teenager to lean on, and has taught countless children how to walk, trot, canter, and even jump, conquering their own fears. Callie would carry Exodus kids until her very last breath if she could. But physical limitations make that currently unsafe for her and the kids, so she enjoys hand walks around the trails, and being brushed, grazed and hugged by any child in need.  

Of all the Exodus horses, Daisy has spent the longest in our “Exodus retraining school.”  Daisy is a 20 year old bay Morgan mare that was used by one of our volunteers as a brood mare for several years and then donated to us the summer of 2012.  Our volunteer thought that she would be great with our Exodus kids but we found her to be a little too quick with all of her reactions.  So, we went back to ground work with her rehabilitation and started from there with a some very dedicated volunteers.  It took almost three years to begin to use her in our session program, and five years before she was a full-time, reliable “session horse.” We are excited to see her realize her full purpose in our program.  She is a very cute and athletic mare, and, surprising to us all, she has turned out to have a very gentle touch with some of our youngest, smallest riders!

Glory came first to one of our loving and talented trainers, Lee, underweight, needing a tune-up, and blind in one eye due to a prior ranch injury. Lee and Glory formed a unique bond, over time Glory blossomed into an athletic, hard working, willing partner. Glory was easily integrated into our session program, and Lee and Glory mentored countless young men together. But we turned a chapter in Glory’s story three years ago when our veterinarian recommended that for Glory’s long term health and comfort we have his blind eye surgically removed. When Glory arrived at the vet’s office, to all of our surprise, our usually stoic Glory turned into a screaming, anxious, mess! It was then that we realized, before Glory found his way into Lee’s care, he was left at this very veterinary practice by his previous owners, who never came back for him. When we returned to pick him up after his successful surgery, we threw our arms around him, letting him know that we would NEVER leave him! Once we brought him home, Glory’s demeanor changed impressively. He became outgoing and expressive of his emotions, he is more confident, brighter, and even his coat shines brighter. Glory is an amazing reminder that though we all carry scars from our past, those scars don’t define us. And with the support of a caring community, we can move beyond past trauma and find new joy and purpose.

Jasper is a newer addition to our herd, and a bit of a heart throb! He is an older, retired parade Morab (morgan/arab) pony with plenty of energy left for a second career. However when he arrived at Exodus he looked more like a woolly mammoth than a horse! He was diagnosed with PPID (Cushing’s Disease), which can be controlled with medication and was the cause of his long coat. Due to this condition he has some muscle wasteage that he needs to build back before he can be fully integrated into sessions, but he is enjoying carrying a few lightweight kids per week. He especially enjoys one famale student who has made him her special project, grooming, bathing, and walking him whenever she is around. He adores her and has shown us that he can be quite the affectionate cuddler! He is even trying hard to teach his pasturemate Glory (who is not a physical touch guy) to at least mutual groom with him. We are rooting for you Jasper!

At 30 years old, King is the oldest horse in our herd but you’d never know it watching him play with our giant soccer ball! With a background as a parade and rodeo horse, King has been around the block and isn’t afraid to let you know. He dislikes being micromanaged, and can seem dismissive or disinterested at times. But those who know King know that underneath his ego is a giant, playful teddybear! His love language is giant dog-like kisses- he will literally lick you chin to hairline. In the pasture he loves to goof around with other geldings who he can entice into a game of dinosaur bitey-face. And his favorite game in the universe is to chase the giant soccer ball, even with a a rider, which inevitably ends in histerical laughter. King teaches us all that no matter how old we are, no matter how much life experience we have, we can all stand to express our inner child.

When Ginger first met Lilly, this beautiful little black pony dragged her owner all the way to the big barn! Lilly is a beautiful 21-year-old Welsh cross pony who arrived with several ponies’ worth of attitude packed into that tiny frame. Her original owner donated her to Exodus because her big pony attitude was too much for her to handle. Ginger personally rode Lilly for the first year, trying to get her ready to be an Exodus horse… much to the amusement of the rest of us! With consistent work, Lilly has become the most reliable lesson horse for our smallest riders. She loves mounted games, particularly knocking over cones (as long as the goal is to not knock them over!). She maintains just enough pony attitude to teach kids to work out their issues with her, but she has learned to usually let the kiddos win. Lily’s story is a great example of how, sometimes, our behavioral choices can make it difficult for people to work with us, or for us to fully participate in the things God has for us to do – but when choose to participate joyfully, we get lots of opportunities we wouldn’t otherwise have gotten, and our relationships with those around us improve immensely.

Mr. Chips is our 22 year old BLM “wild” burro! As a burro, he has some very firm opinions, particularly about being ridden. He is kind and gentle enough that he would never do anything particularly bad with someone on his back, but he often decides to firmly plant all four feet into the ground and start to grow roots. Which doesn’t accomplish very much… So typically he is not one of our riding equines, but rather the hugger and comforter, four-legged therapist, somewhere in between a dog and a horse. We call him the “lab donkey” because he loves to just hang out and get an ear rub. We call him the “crying donkey” for how he will hug you as you cry and listen with his two huge ears. He has taught so many of us that sometimes the most important thing you can do for someone whose world is shattering is to love them and just BE there!

Oliver is the Exodus clown. He swings ropes and running hoses around in his mouth, makes funny faces when we are trying to be serious and pray, and always has something in his mouth that isn’t supposed to be there. As much as our leaders and volunteers might feel like we need to babysit Oliver constantly, we could not do the work we do without him. His silly behavior is actually perfectly and uniquely suited to engage our most difficult population of Exodus kids- our preteen and teenage boys. Unlike their female counterparts, many of whom will happily stay involved with horses all through their teenage years, many of the boys do not. Oliver however, is a preteen boy magnet. Perhaps they see themselves in his silliness. Whatever it is, we are grateful for our big goof and his superpower.