Inspiring Conversations with Melissa Hadley of Golden Reward Sanctuary

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Hadley.

Hi Melissa, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I wanted a horse my whole life. When I moved to the Weatherford area, surrounded by horses, I finally signed up for lessons in my 40s. That’s where I found Romeo, my first horse, who was injured and not being treated. First horse, first rescue horse. The next year I adopted Jessie Jayne from the fabulous Pegasus Project horse rescue in Ben Wheeler, TX. The next year I got Zeke. At that point, paying boarding on 3 horses, I started looking for property and built my first barn. I brought my horses home – a big step for someone who’s only had horses a few years.

When I was boarding my horses, there were some older horses in their back pasture, and their owners never came to visit. I’d go down and brush them. I connected with the “old guys” and knew I wanted to do something with/for older horses, but I didn’t know what.

Once I brought my horses home, it was only a few months before a friend contacted me because he had seen a horse on Facebook, “free to a good home”. He messaged me and said “don’t you do something with horses? You should look at this one.” That was Poco, and it was the first time I took in a horse that someone asked me to help. A few months later I was asked to take 2 more horses by 2 different people. It was crazy because I wasn’t a nonprofit and wasn’t even thinking about becoming a rescue or sanctuary. People just found me. At the same time, I decided to take 2 senior dogs from Allie’s Haven dog rescue in Fort Worth – they had been trying to find them a home for more than a year, but no one would take a 9- and 10-year-old pair. That’s when I knew it was time to make it official, and I submitted the IRS non-profit application in July 2019 and launched Golden Reward Sanctuary (“GRS”) for senior horses and dogs.

We focus on senior horses because they are the most at-risk — they are expensive, they have special needs with age, and they likely can’t be ridden anymore. Sadly, many senior horses end up at the sale barn, and that’s a truly terrible ending for them.

GRS has grown considerably since 2019. In the beginning people would ask how many horses I thought I would take in, and I would say 12. LOL I was at dinner with friends one night and someone asked “how many do you have now?” I stopped to think and before I could answer one of my friends said “18”. I said, “no we don’t!” And then we started naming and counting at the table… 18… ha. The horses are never just a number to me.

Today we have 30 horses, 4 donkeys, 4 dogs, and 2 cats. The majority of our horses are over 20. We have one that’s 40, and 9 total over the age of 30. We have quite a few with special needs (besides just being seniors), and we are very focused on nutrition and quality of life. As well, we have a large volunteer program with more than 20 regular volunteers.

I run the sanctuary plus I have a day job in technology. I am 100% focused on giving our seniors the best retirement life possible, with lots of love and attention, and cookies!

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s a hard job. Having a sanctuary for seniors means that every single one will die here. And it’s heartbreaking every time we lose someone. The past 3 months have been particularly devastating. We’ve lost 4 horses, starting on Christmas Day with Buster, then Cherokee right after New Years, Maggie last month, and then Poco this past week. Poco was horse #4 – that first rescue. They don’t just pass away in their sleep. It’s frequently a hard battle we’re fighting – as long as they want to fight, I’ll fight with them.

There’s the constant push for awareness and funding… social media and events. I post often on our Facebook page (facebook.com/goldenrewardsanctuary). The expenses are enormous with senior horses. We offer sponsorship of horses on our website to help with our feed bills, and we offer tours of GRS for a small fee from the Events page on our website.

We always need more adult volunteers. One of our challenges is having a consistent crew of volunteers every afternoon and on weekends because volunteers’ schedules fluctuate. Just when you have someone fully trained and reliable, they get a new job or have some other life change. Not always, but often.

And the weather also takes a toll. Preparing for freezing weather with 22 horse water tanks, 30+ horses who need blankets, extra hay, power outages… Heavy rain makes a mess of mud, and we are constantly working on drainage issues.

There are so many things that people don’t see – lots of hard work in the background every day.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are the largest sanctuary for senior horses in Texas, and, I believe, in the South. I am most proud of the fact that we are well-known for loving the horses and providing the best life for them, giving everything we have to create that life. We invest in time with each equine – we don’t just stick them in a pasture and throw out hay. We know each horse or donkey, we know what they need in nutrition, in attention, in exercise, and we make sure they receive the best. I watch for people who connect with one of the animals and encourage them to be that horse’s “person”. When they come to volunteer, to take that horse for a walk, to groom them, to spend individual time. It enriches the person’s life and the horse’s.

Unlike rescues that rehome, we are a sanctuary. Every animal who comes here stays for life.

I am also very proud of our volunteer program. We have people who have been volunteering here for more than 3 years. They volunteer, donate, and sponsor in support of our mission. They poop scoop hundreds of pounds of manure, groom and walk the horses and donkeys, and support us at events, in fundraising, and in planning. We have a great community at GRS. We have a volunteer application on our website: www.goldenrewardsanctuary.com/volunteer.

What’s next?
We are hoping to expand – that’s all that I can say right now 🙂

Pricing:

• Sponsor a horse for as little as $50 a month.
• Full sponsorship of a horse or donkey is $300 a month.
• Support our mission by donating – everything helps!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.goldenrewardsanctuary.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldenrewardsanctuary/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoldenRewardSanctuary
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/golden-reward-sanctuary
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6J74eBqeDrlAHXCNHqvRZw/videos