Horses play a central role in the three programs offered at Rock Ranch near Hills.
In July, Rock Ranch owners Marie and Dan LaRock received an unexpected donation of two Percheron draft horses, allowing the non-profit organization to expand in an unexpected way.
“So, initially I was thinking for therapy sessions,” Marie said.
The LaRocks spoke on the phone to donors Dave and Kathryn Johnson of Sundance, Wyoming.
The couple was shocked that the Johnsons would gift the two horses named JoJo and Guinness to the Ranch.
“We think that they can get used — should be used — for something more than a pasture pet,” the Johnsons explained to Marie as the reason for giving the horses away.
At first Marie was hesitant in taking the horses.
As drafts, JoJo and Guinness are tall and large and are very different from the current Rock Ranch horses.
At 17 and 19 hands respectively, they tower over most of the other horses by 8 to 16 inches.
And they were harness horses — meaning they pull wagons — and are ridden like the other horses.
However, in five months, the large black horses have become popular among Rock Ranch visitors.
They also bring history alive again at the farm. Marie’s grandfather regularly worked with draft horses.
“To bring that back has been pretty cool to me — just to keep that heritage going here at this place,” she said.
But a purpose needed to be found for the horses in order to keep them at Rock Ranch.
Finding purpose for the giant horses
At ages 24 and 16, JoJo and Guinness have been harness horses — trained to pull wagons — for most, if not all, of their lives.
The Johnsons regularly worked with JoJo and Guinness up until a few years ago, using them to give wagon rides to guests at their bed and breakfast establishments.
Dave would also regularly demonstrate how horse-drawn machinery worked to those who wanted the experience.
However, the Johnsons moved from north Idaho to Wyoming five years ago to a remote area where visitors were not so frequent.
Working the horses regularly wasn’t an activity the retired couple could continue.
“We found getting up in the morning to work the horses — and not sharing the experience with anyone — was more of a chore,” Dave said.
A year ago the horses were brought to Dave’s childhood home near Gibbon, Minnesota, where his great-niece would occasionally ride JoJo.
None of the other family members wanted to work with the horses although they took good care of them.
“And we didn’t want to sell them because they are our babies,” Dave said. “When you sell them, they are gone. You never know if they are being mistreated or whatever.”
A friend of the Johnsons understood their strong feelings and set out to find a new home and purpose for the draft horses.
An internet search brought up the Rock Ranch website.
The Johnsons knew immediately that Rock Ranch was the place.
“The fact they are faith-based is a big, big deal for us,” Dave said. “How they treat their horses and the way they do therapy is a special place — not like other therapy places.”
With the donation of JoJo and Guinness, Rock Ranch now has 15 horses.
Dave can already tell a difference in the horses’ demeanor in being with a herd.
“The horses are much more compliant to work in general. They are relaxed,” Dave said. “They feel totally loved and cared for, and they are being used. That’s what we are especially happy about.
“As far as we are concerned, they are home.”
More than horses given to the ranch
In addition to the horses, the Johnsons donated the harnesses and two wagons to Rock Ranch.
And the Johnsons have become Rock Ranch volunteers, staying in Luverne as they show Marie and barn manager Jessica Richters how to work harnesses and drive each of them in a single horse hitch.
The draft horses immediately connected with those participating in the Rock Ranch Senior Saddles program.
The program hosts field trips to the Ranch for retirement communities, assisted living centers and nursing homes.
The senior citizens, upon seeing the horses, are immediately taken back to their childhoods when their dads or uncles farmed with draft horses.
They also don’t hesitate about getting in the wagon for a ride.
“They have the same reaction as everyone else – the horses are impressive and huge,” Dave said.
And the horses become conversation topics among the program participants days after the visit to Rock Ranch.
Expanding therapy with counseling cabins
The draft horses will eventually be used in Rock Ranch’s equine-assisted therapy program, where horses in this program are not ridden by clients.
Instead, the horses roam freely in the indoor arena while clients watch from the observation deck how the horses interact.
A therapist guides the therapy session and conversations around the horses and their behaviors.
Prior to the draft horses arriving at Rock Ranch, a 16-hand Friesian-cross named Kairos generated the most reaction from therapy clients.
“He is big and he’s black. He looks different, acts different,” Marie said. “But he can’t do therapy sessions one after the other because they (the horses) just take too much (of the clients’ emotions) on.”
The drafts will eventually assist Kairos with back-to-back therapy sessions, especially as Rock Ranch moves forward with the construction of a counseling cabin.
The design for the 16- by 16-foot cabin with windows on all four sides is currently in the planning stages.
The cabin (and possibly cabins) would be placed in the horse pastures. The counselor and client would meet in the cabin to meet and discuss the grazing horses instead of using the indoor arena, which is used frequently for beginning horseback riding lessons.
“(Clients) can choose to go out and walk through the pasture and interact with the horses that way, too,” Marie said.
“With this counseling cabin, it’ll allow us to be more in nature and allow us to have concurrent programming.”
Another donation assists in comfort
As the draft horses settled into life at Rock Ranch this summer, construction of a stand-alone shelter was finished.
The project was completed thanks to donations from Jeff and Michelle Thue, Alliance Communications ($2,000) and Sioux Valley Energy ($5,000).
Since the organization’s founding in 2016, Rock Ranch horses have been housed outdoors. The five stalls within the riding arena are used only for programming or when a horse is injured and needs special care.
However, recent extreme weather events have prompted a need for the older horses to have access to shelter 24/7.
The winter of 2022 really brought the need to the forefront.
“At first we had (portable metal) windbreaks, and they just didn’t cut it in a blizzard,” Marie LaRock said. “So, during blizzards, we ended up bringing them inside (the indoor arena) for three days.”
Cleaning up the arena after 13 horses proved to be labor-intensive.
The new three-sided roofed shelter just outside the indoor arena erases the need to use the indoor arena for housing.
The shed is large enough for all the horses to be protected, not only from wind and snow, but also rain and hot, summer days.
“With our elderly herd, it will keep them healthier,” Marie said.
Manure management in the outdoor shed is also easier to complete.
Dave Johnson drives JoJo around Rock Ranch near Hills.
Parkview Manor residents receive a ride in the marathon cart driven by Dave Johnson and pulled by one of the new horse additions to Rock Ranch, JoJo.
Rock Ranch owner Marie LaRock stands next to the tallest horse at Rock Ranch, Guinness. The Percheron is 19 hands tall and was given to the ranch this summer.
A new three-sided shed is located next to the existing indoor arena at Rock Ranch. Local donations allowed the structure to be built that will give the 15 horses housed at the ranch a place to stand out of the elements.
Guinness, one of the two new horse additions to Rock Ranch, receives a pat during a Senior Saddles program in August. Holding Guinness is his former owner Kathryn Johnson of Sundance, Wyoming. She and her husband, Dave, donated Guinness and another draft horse, JoJo, to the ranch in July.
Parkview Manor residents receive a ride in the marathon cart driven by Dave Johnson and pulled by one of the new horse additions to Rock Ranch, JoJo.
