Parker County nonprofit offers second chances to abused, neglected horses

By Madison Sawyer

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    PARKER COUNTY, Texas (KTVT) — A nonprofit organization in Parker County, Layla Rose Ranch, rescues horses that are abused, neglected, or heading to slaughter. Catherine Hudson and her husband, Matthew Hudson, started the organization after they rescued a horse named Cletus during the COVID pandemic.

“Cletus had a really rough life,” Catherine said. “He was just given up on and very angry and worn down looking.”

They met Cletus on daily walks near their home during the pandemic. Matthew Hudson said Cletus originally did not like his wife’s attention.

“So we would come, and he would turn his butt and go the other direction like, ‘I don’t want to talk to people or have anything to do with you,'” Matthew said.

But walk after walk, Cletus slowly warmed up to Catherine Hudson’s love.

“Every day I’d go see him, to where he was eventually running to me when he saw me coming,” she said.

They ended up buying Cletus and giving the once-forgotten-horse a new chance at life.

“Cletus had a really rough life, and so we were kind of the same if that make sense,” Catherine describes. “For him and I to join together and heal each other was just an amazing experience,” Catherine says.

An experience they now replicate with each horse rescued by Layla Rose Ranch.

“I mean, it’s a horse rescue, but there’s a piece of what we’re doing here, that is more about people to,” Matthew said. “When she’s saying, ‘I want to rescue horses,’ she was saying, ‘I want horses to experience this, but I also want people to experience the same thing I did.'”

The volunteers that help the horses at Layla Rose Ranch heal, say they are healing their personal wounds too.

“So horses aren’t just for riding, they’re also for humans,” volunteer Maggie Freitas said. “And we all need a little bit of rescue. So it’s almost my peace here.”

“And if you put your cheek next to their cheek, it’s just, it’s just peace all over,” volunteer Tammy Sarmiento said.

Giving horses of all sizes, a second chance at finding their perfect forever home.

“In the beginning, it is emotionally draining,” Catherine Hudson said. “But once they trust people again… and they are healed. It makes it so worth it.”

Layla Rose Ranch is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.

The Hudsons purchased the land and built the organization’s facility with their own personal funds, which they said allows 98 cents for every dollar donated to the organization to go directly to the horses’ care and vet bills.

If you are interested in donating or volunteering you can find more information on the Layla Rose Ranch website.

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