Rafter M Ranch; Saving horses and healing hearts

Rafter M. Ranch in Farmingdale, S.D. is a nonprofit organization that focuses on rescuing and rehabilitating horses while providing a variety of horse related activities and educational events. 

Maranda Mosier, founder and Director of Operations, talks about the mission of Rafter M. Ranch.

“Our main goal right now is when the horses come in, we work with them either physically or emotionally, and then as soon as they’re healthy enough, then we want to adopt them out. The goal is that they’re not permanent. They come in, they get the help that they need. We educate the families and then adopt them out and continue to help them as they work with them.” 

One of the biggest needs for the ranch is getting sponsors for the horses.

Mosier continues, “Each rescue that comes in then has medical needs. They need to be seen by the vet. They need training. They need food. They need all those things. So we try to find people that are willing to sponsor a rescue while it’s here. And while it’s going through that rehab process. for any of our full size horses, it’s $150 a month. And we have a signup sheet on our website where you can go to the website, you can read about the different rescues that we have and get their back story a little bit and then fill out the application basically to sign up to be a sponsor.”

The sponsor can decide how long they wish to sponsor a horse.

“Right now we’ve got 24 horses on site and I would say only eight of them have sponsors. So we have lots of opportunities to be able to be a sponsor. So any money that is put in on a sponsorship then counts towards an adoption cost if you want to adopt the horse when it’s ready to go. But it also is giving a lot of people in town an opportunity to take part and feel like they’re helping that horse and get updates. They get monthly updates on the horse. You know, the vet came today. This is what happened. This is kind of where we’re going with it. And they like being able to interact like that. So, we do have several sponsors that come out and visit their horse weekly.”

The ranch is also looking for business sponsors.

“We have banners that are put up around the rescue. They also get listed as a sponsor on the website and then our monthly newsletter that we put out and are circulating through town.”

Another program that the ranch offers is an opportunity to be a foster home for the horses.

“People can sign up to be a foster home and let us know what type of horse would work best for them. We go to their property, check everything out and supply the grain. Then they can have the horse there on their property, which takes some of the expense off of us while they’re waiting for adoption.”

For more information or to sign up to be a sponsor, visit their website here.