Rapidan Equine Sanctuary

09/02/2026

Yesterday, we showed you Frank and Beans along with a bit of their track system set up. If you’re interested in learning more about track systems, come out and join us on October 30th - when Virginia Tech and Virginia Cooperative Extension - Amelia chose our farm to host their PastureWise class! We’re thrilled to host this incredibly informative and fun program.

09/01/2026

Being small doesn’t mean having fewer needs. In fact, our miniature horses, Frank and Beans, require some especially intentional care.

We believe equines should have as much turnout and freedom of movement as possible, in keeping with their individual needs and circumstances. This is an important part of how we approach equine welfare and is aligned with the standards we strive to follow through the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS).

But “as much turnout as possible” doesn’t always mean the same thing for every equine. Medical conditions, metabolic concerns, age, injury, rehabilitation, pasture conditions, and other individual circumstances can sometimes limit unrestricted turnout or access to rich pasture.

And that’s where good sanctuary care means getting creative. For mini horses like Frank and Beans, unrestricted access to lush pasture can create health concerns because they can be prone to weight and metabolic issues such as equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) and insulin dysregulation which can in turn lead to laminitis.

Managing their pasture access doesn’t mean eliminating movement. Instead, we created a track system designed to encourage them to keep moving while allowing us to better manage their forage intake.

Rather than simply placing them in a small dry lot, the track gives them reasons to move throughout their space. They can walk, explore, graze, play, and choose where they spend their time. They have a couple different sizes of hay chix hay nets that we fill with a tested, low ncs hay. We switch them out frequently in order to keep their minds stimulated too!

Believe us when we tell you that all those little steps add up. In fact, we even use GPS trackers to help us understand just how much these boys are moving throughout the day. It’s pretty amazing to see how many miles those tiny legs can put in!

In a week, Frank logged a total of 19.96 miles while Beans managed to get in a whopping 22.67 miles! Beans is working those little legs extra hard and it’s all paying off!

We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. We look at the individual equine, their needs, their limitations, and what we can do to give them the most natural, enriching life possible.

09/01/2026

This week and into next, we’re taking you behind the scenes with a special mini educational series: “How We Care for the Herd!”

At RES, our approach to sanctuary care is about understanding horses as horses. Helping to meet their physical needs, natural behaviors, relationships, and the environments in which they thrive.

Over the coming days, we’ll be sharing more about our program, including: Track System for Our Minis, Nutritional Foundations, Herd Dynamics, Turnout & Natural Behavior, and Enrichment.

Every equine who comes to us has their own history, needs, personality, and preferences. Our goal is for our sanctuary to be where those individual needs are recognized while also allowing the herd to live as naturally as possible.

Follow along as we share how we care for the herd!

08/30/2026

Last weekend, one of our wonderful board members graciously opened up their pool and home to our amazing RES volunteers for a much-deserved Volunteer Pool Party!

There was plenty of fun, sunshine, laughter, relaxing by the pool, and delicious home-cooked food! It was a beautiful opportunity to step away from the daily work at the sanctuary, enjoy one another’s company, and simply relax and feel appreciated.

Our volunteers give so much of themselves to RES. They muck stalls, fill water buckets, groom horses, mend fences, lend a hand when things get messy, and show up again and again for our herd. But beyond the physical work, they give something even more valuable: their time, their hearts, and their love.

We are incredibly grateful for every single person who chooses to spend their time helping our horses. RES simply wouldn’t be what it is without you.

A huge thank you to our gracious host for creating such a special day for our volunteer family. We hope our volunteers know just how much you they valued and appreciated.

Thank you for being such an important part of the RES family.

08/24/2026

Maya’s Mares

We have some incredible news to share with you today. As our followers may have noticed, many of our herd are mares. In our experience, mares end up in the rescue cycle because they can be incorrectly categorized as difficult, “too much”, or “moody”. Mares are different than their male counterparts - they are watchful, incredibly thoughtful and they require respect in their leadership. They are the decision-makers. Overall, we find that mares are misunderstood, and the vicious cycle of rescue, adopt, and return to rescue takes a toll on any mare (any equine at all) that goes through it.

At RES we are dedicated to providing sanctuary for any gender of equine, but through an incredible gift from the Maya L. Auchincloss Revocable Living Trust, we are able to establish the Maya’s Mares program to focus on a handful of our mares specifically - addressing their particular needs and personalities, and showing them that they can trust their surroundings and humans at RES. Right now there are 5 mares in the program, and you can read more about them in the links below. In the future, Maya’s Mares programming will also include education about these special creatures. We are so grateful for this generous gift, and hope that the Maya’s Mares program will honor Miss Auchincloss, and ensure sanctuary for all types of mares for years to come.

08/21/2026

We’re almost to 1,000 followers!!

Hey friends! Our quest to reach 1,000 followers is still going - and we’re almost there! Less than 100 to go. Remember, if you tag friends who don’t follow us, and they like and follow us, you’ll be entered to win a prize basket with an RES shirt, a custom made cup, and a $50 coffee gift card! Enter now, the odds are still great! Help us reach a broader community and share our mission of providing sanctuary to neglected equines while embracing the bond they share with humans. Thank you!

Hey friends, we are approaching a milestone in the social media world! We’re under 200 followers away from hitting 1,000 followers and we need your help to reach this goal!

We are working to grow our social media following not only so folks can appreciate our funny herd in action - but more importantly so that we can share the mission, vision and values of Rapidan Equine Sanctuary far and wide. We believe wholeheartedly in the work that we do, and want as many people as possible to learn more about our herd, equines in general, or resources for their own equine stewardship.

So, here’s where the help of our existing friends and followers is needed! From now until when we hit 1,000 followers on Facebook, we are offering everyone who recruits more folks to follow RES a chance to win a great gift basket with an RES shirt, a custom-etched mug, and a $50 coffee gift card! Here’s how to enter:
- tag friends and family on this post (on IG & FB) and let them know to follow RES
- every person you tag, *who then follows RES* is one entry
- when we hit 1,000 followers, we’ll randomly choose a winner from all the entries

Any questions? Just ask! We are grateful for your help in sharing about our mission to provide sanctuary to neglected equines while embracing the bond they share with humans.

08/20/2026

Thank you for featuring us on this week’s blog post, Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce! We’re so grateful for partners like you in our community!

An alarming number of mares (female equines) find themselves in animal welfare centers after a spiral of bad experiences due to human-equine miscommunication and a lack of leadership. We find mares are slower to trust than their male counterparts and more likely to take dominant roles in the absence...

08/19/2026

Beautiful reminder that RES is a sanctuary to more than just equines… taken today at the farm!

08/16/2026

To round out our new intake introductions, meet Lord Anthony!
Anthony is the youngest from the recent intake and is a 16 year old bay American Quarter Horse gelding. When Anthony arrived earlier this summer he was a little insecure in his new surroundings, but has settled in nicely with his friend George (see yesterday’s 🦕 reel!) and with Charlotte close by. Anthony is doing well transitioning to a forage-first diet, along with the appropriate medical, dental and farrier care. As Anthony has gotten comfortable, he’s shown himself to be an all-around really good boy. We’re so glad you’re here, Anthony!

08/15/2026

If you have gelding buddies, you probably see this almost daily. It doesn’t get old!