OUR HORSES
All of Sunrise's horses are donated or bought and are put to the test by our PATH certified instructors to make sure they are safe and sane for everybody!
When our horses are no longer able to preform their jobs (due to injury or old age) they are kept with their herds and with our program until they decide to move on to Heaven's greener pastures.
Our horses are well beloved in our program and quite spoiled!
(Fun fact! Our horses' favorite treats are peppermint candies!)
Our Current Lesson Horses!
HEIDI is a 25-year-old Halflinger (big pony) with a wonderful disposition and has been with Sunrise since she was the age of 5. She is sturdy and safe and is used by most of our riders. In addition, Heidi has competed in Special Olympics since 2007. She is a smart but mischievous horse who will break out of the pasture to get grass. Her motto is: “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”.
BROCK is our gentle giant! He's a 22 year old half clydesdale, half throroughbred cross, and is retired from a jumping career! He's the bog boss on our farm and the other horses certainly know it. He's a strong guy who takes good care of his riders!
GUNNER is our other strong pony! He's our smallest guy, but definitely has the biggest personality. He's a 20 year old black and white paint pony who used to jump! Gunner is slow and steady and great for our younger riders!
BULLSEYE is the newest addition to our program and he's been excelling! He looks like Gunner's twin but he's a little bigger, making him horse sized instead of pony sized. His first year of competitions with us ended in great success! Including helping his six-year old rider to first place in her class! He's a super social and sweet big boy!
SUZY is a 20 year old thoroughbred who came from off-the-track and used to jump! She's an incredibly sweet mare and is very athletic! She loves getting brushed and getting lots of pets!
Suzy is currently not used in our lessons since she's been off on injury, but she's expected to make a full recovery soon! But in the mean time, she gets to hang out with Heidi and Gunner out in the pastures when they're off the clock!
Special Story!
This is BOOMER! A 15 year old friesian/paint horse cross. Boomer was a horse in our lesson program who had a rough start with us, but we worked out the kinks the longer he was with us! One of our riders, a retired veteran, rode Boomer in his lessons. The two of them created such a bond with each other that our rider decided to buy Boomer from us!
Today, Boomer is a trail horse in some beautiful mountains and lives a peaceful and happy life with his veteran!
We are so proud at the bounds this horse has made and the impact on the lives he had around him!
Our Past Horses
BUBBA and Heidi started our program together! Bubba was a sweet buckskin horse who knew his job well! He is always missed, but Sunrise never could have soared without him!
NEMO was a tall pinto horse who lived to be 40 years old! Named Nemo after the white fish patch on his neck! He was a prominent lesson horse with a super sweet, easy going attitude. He was an ex-jumper and for the last five years of his life he was a pasture horse, living out the rest of his years with us.
RHINESTONE was a large lady and a retired western pleasure tri-colored paint horse who was also skilled at jumping. She was a sassy girl but knew her job well and excelled at competitions. One of the most gorgeous horses we've had, she lived to be 35!
BENJI was a beautiful bay quarter horse who was also a western pleasure based horse. Him and Bullseye came to our program about the same time and became good friends with each other! Unfortunately, he was only with us for a short time but he was fantastic with our riders, being patient and easy going with them, especially the little ones.
We strive to give our horses the best lives we possibly can! You're donations and our volunteers are essential to keeping the horses happy and healthy in our program! Thank you all!
DONATE
Sunrise Center North is always looking for donations and goes through Paypal, which accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover Cards, no account required!
Any money you donate goes to caring for our horses, buying items to help better the program, and lower the cost for our riders with disabilities and special needs. We greatly appreciate any and all donations. Thank you!
