Desperado is one of more than a dozen Central Oregon businesses and community members stepping up to help neglected horses.

You only have to look for a moment into Buddy’s eyes to see how far this rescued Thoroughbred has come. Buddy is one of more than 30 horses rescued from a Powell Butte Ranch more than four years ago when they were discovered, starving and near death.

Since then Central Oregon Wild Horse Coalition (COWHC) and Equine Outreach, Inc. (EOI) have dedicated efforts to bringing the rescued horses back to health. Yet finding new homes for the horses has proved to be challenging.  Together they came up with a unique plan – recruit Central Oregon’s top horse trainers and give them 180 days to train these horses, preparing them for adoption. They’re calling it – “Rescue Revolution Trainer Challenge”.

Through sponsorship and support, Desperado has teamed up with COWHC, EOI and some of the best local trainers to help these horses find forever homes.

Buddy the horse will be participating in the Rescue Revolution.

Horse Trainer Alison Weston has been working with Buddy for the past 6 months. She says the Rescue Revolution training is critical to Buddy and to the future of all of the neglected horses.  “If this is not offered to horses that have had a rough beginning, the chances of them finding good homes is slim,” says Weston.

Weston owns and operates an all-inclusive horse boarding facility in Sisters where she is training two horses for the project. She calls the training “life insurance” for the horses who have suffered abuse at the hands of their previous owners pointing out that the horses need to be rehabilitated in order to flourish in their new surroundings.

Buddy and 16 other rescued horses are the first group to go through the Rescue Revolution Trainer Challenge. Organizers modeled the trainer challenge after two highly successful programs aimed to help untrained horses be more adoptable. There are hopes of it becoming an annual event.

The Rescue Revolution Trainer Challenge culminates at the end of May when the trainers bring their rescued horses to Powell Butte to show off what they’ve learned. The horses will be judged on how well they can be handled and ridden.  The event is free and open to the public and people are invited to participate in a competitive bid adoption process. It takes place May 30th and 31st at the Rim Rock Riders Event Center across from Brasada Ranch. Visit this link for event details.

To follow Buddy’s training, look for updates on this Facebook Page.