'It's all about quality of life': Plant City rescue offers refuge for mistreated horses

Abby Baker
·4 min read
10
Gadget, a one-eyed horse, is one of the residents looking for a home at RVR Horse Rescue.
Gadget, a one-eyed horse, is one of the residents looking for a home at RVR Horse Rescue.

Some of the animals that come to RVR Horse Rescue in Plant City may never be rehomed and will live out their days on an adoption list.

That’s not the goal, but it’s OK with RVR founder and president Shawn Jayroe.

“Being able to give a horse that had a crappy life a good life, that’s the most rewarding part,” Jayroe said. “There’s been times I’ve lost my cool and did some chest bumping when I see what a horse has been through.”

RVR, a 501(c)3 tax-deductible nonprofit, was founded in 2011. Originally, the rescue was located in Riverview. As residential neighborhoods began to surround the horse farm, the area became a magnet for pollution runoff.

In 2021, it was time to move the miniatures, donkeys and horses to a new home.

Jayroe bought 26 acres in Plant City, at 1710 W. State Road 60, and began running RVR out of the much larger, rural Plant City location.

“Some of the horses originally lived in Riverview,” said RVR Vice President Julie Dennis. “They’ll stay with us until they find a forever home, or maybe just forever.”

RVR runs on volunteers, grants, and donations.
RVR runs on volunteers, grants, and donations.

Jayroe, a Texas transplant, grew up on a Fort Worth ranch riding horses and attending rodeos. It was everyday life for her, until she began noticing what she thought was animal abuse.

“I never thought much about how people treated their horses,” Jayroe said. “But then I started seeing things and becoming against the rodeos.”

At 18, Jayroe moved to Florida and worked as a hairdresser in Temple Terrace. On the side, she adopted deteriorating horses as a passion project.

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It turned out to be too much time and money for one person, and in 2011, Jayroe began what is now known as RVR Horse Rescue.

More than a decade later, not much has changed aside from the location, size and bandwidth of Jayroe’s rescue. The horses (more than 80) are either in quarantine, healing, waiting to be adopted or permanent residents of RVR after being adopted by a volunteer.

Mr. T is a special case.

He’s a white horse that RVR vets have aged to be in his 30s from dental records. Mr. T was found in Wimauma living in the backwoods area of an abandoned property more than a year ago.

“He was surviving on his own for years,” Jayroe said. “He has melanoma and leg injuries… he will most likely live out his days here, it’s all about quality of life.”

Mr. T is currently skin and bones. He was brought back to goal weight at RVR. But a few months ago, he met Gadget, a female horse with one eye.

When his stall mate lost her eye, Mr. T became obsessively bonded to her. Jayroe said he can't leave the barn without her; he won’t eat or drink water if she’s away.

Mr. T, a white horse once left to fend for himself in the backwoods, has become obsessed with Gadget, a one-eyed horse, at RVR Horse Rescue. He won't eat or leave the stable without her.
Mr. T, a white horse once left to fend for himself in the backwoods, has become obsessed with Gadget, a one-eyed horse, at RVR Horse Rescue. He won't eat or leave the stable without her.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, and it’s completely unhealthy,” Jayroe said.

It all makes adopting out the geriatric horse even more difficult.

“He’s been so badly mistreated, I want to show him that people are good,” Jayroe said. “If someone wanted to come along and give him a good life, absolutely dote on him, and if they were the right person who could accommodate his medical issues, yes I would adopt him out.”

Not now though, not while he’s so closely bonded to Gadget.

Aside from mistreatment rescue cases like Mr. T and Gadget, RVR works with Tampa Bay Downs, a Tampa horse racing track, to provide aftercare for retired racers. Many of the animals who previously raced can no longer perform, and RVR works to adopt out the Thoroughbreds as pets or pleasure trail ride horses.

Jayroe may not agree with racing, but working with Tampa Bay Downs is necessary.

“I’ve learned to hold my feelings close to my chest in order to save these animals,” Jayroe said.

It’s not always a cut-and-dry case rescuing horses. Many die from injuries or prove un-adoptable.

A retired racehorse, Sugar is part of the RVR Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. The Plant City rescue accepts injured and discharged horses from the Tampa Bay Downs track and gives them a new life.
A retired racehorse, Sugar is part of the RVR Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. The Plant City rescue accepts injured and discharged horses from the Tampa Bay Downs track and gives them a new life.

Every animal is different, but Jayroe and Dennis said that owning a horse costs at least $10,000 minimum a year in boarding, vet care and food. While RVR hopes adopters will come to the Plant City barns to see the available animals, it’s not something everyone can do.

RVR urges that donations are what keep the rescue going.

“To be able to expand and buy more paddocks, that would be amazing,” Dennis said. “That’s all possible through donations.”

Find more information, events and educational opportunities at rvrhorserescue.org.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: RVR Horse Rescue a home for retired racers, neglect cases