Our Horses
These are the real stars of our show! Donated, purchased, or leased, they are our most-used teaching tool. James 1:22 (ESV) tells us to “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” The instructor can’t ride a student’s horse for them. That student has to hear the instructor’s horsemanship truths and put them into practice on that horse. By God’s grace, our students will have ears to hear God’s truth and faith to put it into practice in all areas of their lives.
Interested in helping support our horses? Click on Contact above or visit our Donate page (which will redirect you to https://wvr.org/online-giving/. You can also find our Wish List if you click on the Horse Sponsorship tab above for more specific needs.
We’ve seen our share of horses through the years and they’ve all taught us something. We have a much better idea of what horses serve our program, though true to form, sometimes they surprise us. If you’re interested in donating your horse and would like to see if it might be a fit for our program, click here or Contact above to contact Mr. Ryan.
Our Newest Horse: CJ
Full Name: Captain Jack 
Birthday: May 12, 2006
CJ is a handsome, tri-colored paint gelding whose previous owner has known the Ranch for years. CJ has a fun personality, and his favorite part of the day is mealtime! We are so excited to see how CJ fits into our program!
Haddie
Full Name: Hadassah
Birthday: April 22, 2011
Born at the Ranch, Haddie is Mr. Ryan’s horse. Mary, Haddie’s mother, was one of 30+ horses that our farrier rescued. He asked if we would be interested in housing one of the broodmares until she foaled and weaned, with the possibility of us keeping the foal. While Wears Valley Ranch seeks horses that are already trained, Mr. Ryan was willing to take on the responsibility and expense associated with raising a foal. He credits Haddie with being one of the things that has progressed his horsemanship the most. Many of our students have fallen in love with her and look forward to being able to ride her in the future. Hadassah received her name because, like Queen Esther who she is named after (Esther 2:7), she seemed to come to her role in life for “such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14)
Hot Rod
Full Name: Holidocs Hot Rod
Birthday: March 23, 2003
Hot Rod is a registered American Quarter Horse. Bred and started as a reining horse, he spent a number of years doing mostly trail rides. He’s everything you would expect from a Quarter Horse–smooth moving and versatile–which is good because we ask him to do just about everything from herding cows to jumping and even recently starting him in training as a vaulting horse.
Inny
Full Name: Inny
Birthday: April 18, 2008
Inny is Mrs. Nicole’s horse. She rescued him when he was a young colt and did the hard work of relationship-building to earn his trust. Now Inny is ear to please and do what is asked of him. All of their hard work has paid off as he fits right into our program from the most beginner riders to the most advanced.
Jed
Full Name: JEDIDIAHS BLUE SKY
Birthday: March 12, 2020
Jed is a buckskin colt that belongs to our Assistant Equestrian Director, Mrs. Nicole. He is part of her continuing education, just like Haddie was for Mr. Ryan. She is doing a wonderful job training him and looks forward to starting to ride him when he turns 3. He can usually be found looking for attention from people or investigating anything that catches his attention.
Memphis
Full Name: MEMPHIS WHIRLN SPURS
Birthday: May 18, 2002
Memphis is a red and white paint horse, registered with the American Paint Horse Association. Mr. Ryan first met him in 2017, but he didn’t come to our program till 2019. He has fit in well in our herd and in our lesson program. We’re excited to have him in our program!
Pepper
Full Name: Pepper
Birthday: 1999, we think
Pepper was given to us by long time volunteers who lead multiple trips to the Ranch each year. But don’t let his name fool you…Pepper isn’t too spicy. He has just the right amount of energy for the occasion! He can elevate his energy to go over a jump or slow to a snail’s pace to make sure that beginner has fun playing noodle tag. We’re grateful to have him in our herd!
Seven
Full name: SEVEN S QUANAH
Birthday: May 2, 2002
Seven is a registered American Quarter Horse, bred on the historic Stuart Ranch in Oklahoma. He is well-trained and comes to us with lots of life experience. He is everything you expect in a gelding–quiet, dependable, honest, and hard-working.
Doc
Full Name: DOC HOLIDAY
Birthday: January 1, 2015
Doc is a stout draft cross pony with a lot of personality! His thick mane and tail have been a crowd favorite to brush and decorate. On top of being a perfect gentlemen for mane and tail makeovers, students have enjoyed riding him! He has settled well into his lesson pony stage!
Lady
Full Name: Lady
Birthday: 2016, we think
Lady traveled just a few minutes from her farm to join our herd! Lady is graciously leased to the WVR program from a long time friend of the Ranch! Lady is a sweet, docile pony who wants to do whatever is asked of her!
Newt
Full Name: GA HOLLYWOOD CHEX
Birthday: March 20, 2016
Newt is a beautiful palomino gelding with stellar training! He is a registered American Quarter Horse. One of our former interns has kindly leased Newt to WVR, and we are so happy he is here! We are excited to see how Newt adds to our program and what he is going to teach us!
Did you know…
…that:
we’ve had four horses (BOB, Rocky, Seven, and Tazz) who all spent time during their lives another lesson barn nearby in Tennessee? Though they all came to us in their teens or later, they still had many productive years left as lesson horses. Many people think that they’ll get a young horse for their young child to ride and that they’ll both teach each other. Yet horse people often recite the old adage, “Green on green makes black and blue.” In other words, young horse + young rider = recipe for injury to one or both. Horses that are old or older with a variety of experiences, with a variety of skills, that have been exposed to and can handle a variety of stimuli, often make the best horses for young or inexperienced riders to learn.
…that:
you can tell a horse’s age by its teeth? So for some of our horses when we say ‘we think’ we know the date of their birthday, that means we don’t know exactly the date but we can get somewhat close based upon the appearance of their teeth and we can make an educated guess. A horse’s teeth are always growing in and always grinding down which is unlike our teeth which grow in and then are done growing. Proper dental care is very important for horses, and some of our older horses have special dental issues. Our veterinarian performs yearly dental exams and uses special dental stocks to help keep the horses calm and safe. Here is a picture of a horse getting ready to have his teeth checked.
Find out more about Wears Valley Ranch @ wvr.org