'Rescue, ReBuild, ReLive'

PARKER COUNTY — “...I’ve always loved horses,” Catherine Hudson said to her handsome hooved friend, Cletus, who is credited with shaping the horse-lover’s dream nearly four years ago. “I guess it just took us moving out here, and then meeting him, and it just really sparked. and so it’s all because of you I found my passion.”

Feeling called to rescue Cletus from a destitute and lonely existence she walked by every evening, Hudson had convinced the horse’s former owner to sell. Shortly after adopting Cletus, Hudson became unsettled by the reality of other horses bound in dangerous, malnourishing or unfulfilling environments and auctions.

“As I saw more and more about the auctions, I wanted to start helping the [horses] have a chance, or a second chance at least,” she said.

Just a few months later, Hudson’s husband, Dr. Matthew Hudson, purchased and cleared a wooded land between Aledo and Annetta to build the Layla Rose Ranch Horse Rescue.

Since 2020, the ranch rescue center, named after Cletus’s daughter, Layla, has been rehabilitating surrendered and auctioned horses under the motto “Rescue, ReBuild, ReLive.” Complete with a main barn, pastures and training areas, the grounds are worked day and night by Catherine Hudson.

Every horse receives individual care and the opportunity to grow into their own character.

“We’re not the big operation. We want to focus on a small amount [of horses] so they get one-on-one, lots of attention, and lots of everything they need,” Hudson insisted.

From the beginning, an incoming horse’s health is assessed by the rescue’s veterinarian, with quarantine time and a special diet created according to the needs of the specific horse.

The rescue’s owner noted, “The biggest challenge is when they come in extremely sick …”

Some of the more recent rescues have involved harsh cases of pneumonia or strangles, not every case guaranteed survival.

“It’s really hard when you have to let them go, and there are some who come through here that are just too far gone,” Hudson said.

Regardless of health condition, every horse is given at least a two-week rest period before the process of “ReBuilding.”

Hudson views rest as one of the most crucial parts of the rehabilitation process.

“This is a completely new environment,” she said. “Their people left them. They’re confused. They’re sad.”

To rebuild, the horses receive individualized engagement to adjust to different sources of stress or fear — many times the fear of people.

“A lot of the horses we get in are very untrusting, because they’ve been through something. You don’t know what,” said Hudson. “It’s a lot of being near them, sitting with them.”

With no paid staff, the care and enrichment of the horses is continued by Layla Rose Ranch Horse Rescue daily volunteers.

“They always say, ‘This is our therapy,’” Hudson said, smiling at the mention of the team.

After receiving plenty of affection from the volunteers, the formerly afraid four-legged friends are eventually prepared for the new chapter of adoption — ReLiving.

Hudson conducts an extensive search when a new home is being offered to one of the rescue’s adoption-ready horses.

“We’re not a sanctuary. Our goal is to rehab them [the horses] and then adopt them out so they have a new person for the rest of their lives,” she said. “The people who adopt from us really work for it.”

The basic adoption approval process involves an application, interview and calls to the prospective adopter’s regular veterinarian and farrier.

“We’re completely transparent with the people that adopt from us so they know exactly what they are getting into,” Hudson said, “If [the horses] are still having some issues, or they need to be on a supplement, [adopters] know exactly everything the horse has gone through, everything the horse needs leaving.”

The rigorous adoption criteria has been the key to bringing a second chance to all of the horses that have left Layla Rose Ranch Horse Rescue. Now, they will enjoy the rest of their lives in an affectionate, attentive family, with all needs met.

Hudson’s dedication can be seen in the bright eyes of each adopted horse.

“I love what I do,” she said. “It’s a complete passion. Heartbreaking at times, bittersweet when they leave. It’s all worth it in the end, even with the hard times.”

Layla Rose Ranch Horse Rescue is a 501©(3) charity. All donations are tax deductible and used directly for the rehabilitation of the horses under care.

To learn more about Layla Rose Ranch Horse Rescue and its upcoming June clinic on horse body work, visit the rescue’s website and Facebook: @laylaroseranchhorserescue.