Ask Stacy Rolfe if she has a miniature horse for sale, and she will tell you that all 19 of her “babies” are spending the remainder of their lives on her R&R Ranch, which she owns with her husband, Dave, in Wildwood, Missouri.
Ask if she will bring a horse to a birthday party for children to ride, and her answer will be a stern “no,” followed by a passionate dissertation on how miniature horses are frequently mistreated, abandoned or quickly resold by owners.
Stacy Rolfe lets her dwarf miniature horse Martha nuzzle her neck at R&R Ranch in Wildwood on Friday, June 28, 2024. "There's something special about my relationship with these horses," Rolfe said. Photo by Allie Schallert, aschallert@post-dispatch.com
Her position as head wrangler of a herd of miniature horses was never a plan, or even a dream. But, at the request of her daughter, Belle, who grew up with a horse and pony, the family adopted two “minis” as pets in February 2014.
“We did not build our home on the property until 2015, and we had to board the horses,” Stacy says. “After our home was built, we had acquired and were boarding so many miniature horses that the barn we had planned for three horses had become a barn for 20 horses. We built that in 2016.”
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Within days after acquiring the first mini horses, named Sherman and Mackenzie, Stacy quickly learned that due to their small size, miniature horses require much more attention and financial commitment than is needed for a full-size horse.
“Because they are so small, people expect them to be less work, but their small size frequently results in health issues,” she says.
She also discovered many owners adopt believing they will be a cute “toy” for a child and soon realize it was a mistake.
“That was the case for Sherman and Mackenzie,” Stacy says. “They had four different owners in two years, and that is not fair to any animal. I made a commitment our miniatures would spend the rest of their lives with us.”
Six weeks after Sherman and Mackenzie joined her family, Stacy learned another neglected bonded pair were for sale, and suddenly she owned four miniatures.
As word quickly spread that she was rescuing miniature horses, a veterinarian called to tell her Longmeadow Rescue Ranch, an animal rescue sanctuary in Union, Missouri, had three more needing a permanent home. Within a week, her family of small equines expanded to seven.
“Next we adopted Ella and Sophie not knowing they were pregnant,” Stacy says, recalling how almost instantaneously she had become the mother of what was rapidly becoming a miniature horse collection.
“Before I knew it I was boarding 17 horses, and our plan to build a two-horse barn mushroomed into a 10-stall stable,” she says, still somewhat in disbelief.
The miniature horses each arrived with different issues. Some were neglected, mistreated, or both. Others had been abandoned and turned feral with no trust in humans or other horses. Several had been harmed by being used for pony rides, where for years they carried riders too heavy for their small bodies.
Chloe came to the farm with neglected hooves curled up at the ends like elf shoes. Emma was 18, frail and had moon blindness, which meant she could only see shadows. Banks arrived with teeth in terrible shape and his hair chewed off by other horses.
Two dwarf miniature horses rest together while owner Stacy Rolfe pets them at R&R Ranch in Wildwood on June 28. Rolfe said all the dwarves were in critical condition when the ranch rescued them because they require specialized care.
Dwarf miniatures, which she describes as “genetic hiccups,” came to the ranch with an entirely different set of challenges. About the size of a large dog, they are often born crippled with deformed legs, and in constant pain.
That was the case with a dwarf miniature named Martha. Easily identified by her large blue eyes, she arrived with severely stiff deformed legs bent at an almost 90-degree angle, misshapen hooves, infections, dehydrated and hypoglycemic. It was expected she might not live for more than six months.
Using a farrier with extensive dwarf horse experience, her legs were straightened.
Now Martha is “queen of the barn,” according to Stacy, mentioning the picturesque barn she finally built that would be the envy of any horse, or owner. Overhead pipes release fly repellent spray six times a day. Cameras allow the horses to be checked on at any time. Ceiling fans and heated water troughs are fixtures in each stall. Each yoke, which is the opening in a stall door through which a horse can hang his head, has been custom made to accommodate the minis.
Bridles for each of the miniature horses hang on a fence at R&R Ranch in Wildwood. Between horses, miniature horses, dwarf miniature horses and donkeys, the ranch is home to 29 hoofed animals.
Once the new barn was full and Stacy could not adopt any more horses, she turned her compassion and commitment for rescuing miniature horses into a mission to educate the public about their proper care and treatment.
An online course she developed titled “Miniature horses for dummies” is offered free on the ranch website and is continually viewed around the world.
She takes horses to schools to educate children about miniature horses, and to demonstrate how each animal has overcome difficulties and is prospering. “We convey that message in a way that children who are being bullied or who have other challenges can understand they can overcome them,” Stacy says.
As a goodwill gesture toward the community, horses are taken inside nursing homes just so seniors can interact with them. “The delight of seniors petting or singing to our little horses is so gratifying to watch,” Stacy says.
The new stable is also opened once a month for free public tours. Visits begin with a video shown in the barn demonstrating how the horses arrive and how they are returned to health, reinforcing the message that they are not house pets like a cat or dog, or even a full-grown horse or pony.
Private groups, like the Pujols Family Foundation, also visit the ranch.
“Stacy leads our group on a tour of the barn, shows us where the horses live and play and teaches us about the horses,” says Becca Lang, an associate program manager with the foundation. “For many of our families, this program is a yearly highlight. They love meeting and learning about the horses in a safe environment, and Stacy’s passion for what she does shows in everything that she does.”
Three children’s books R and R Ranch has had printed reinforce the message of overcoming adversity. For example, the book “Martha, the Perfectly Imperfect Little Horse” follows the journey from when she arrived until she was nursed back to health. A video of her on the R and R website happily prancing around the barn has garnered an astonishing 17 million internet views.
“Martha has inspired countless people to reach out to us inquiring about volunteerism, requesting more education about miniature horses, and how they can enforce or help implement animal cruelty laws,” Stacy says. “Other letters simply want us to know how much happiness she brings to them and their families as they follow her on the ranch website.”
The horses have received letters from schoolchildren whose lives they have touched. Tours are filled long in advance, and Stacy constantly receives unsolicited emails asking her advice on how to confront owners with miniature horses where mistreatment is suspected.
Further community outreach and education activities include a Halloween parade with miniature horses standing next to buckets of candy, an Easter Egg hunt, and a holiday open house party with Santa and Mrs. Claus with the horses.
The success of the rescue and education mission has not gone unnoticed. The ranch website has 950,000 followers around the world, and the ranch has received the Dana Brown Charitable Trust Foundation Award for 2023.
“We fell into our accidental rescue backward, and we muddled our way to where we are now,” Stacy says.
“It is just who I am,” she adds. “Dave and I are also parents to four dogs, a cat, two birds, a bunny, 20 miniature horses, two miniature donkeys, three ponies, a full-size donkey, and two full-size horses.”
