Help Cole and LOPE Build a Round Pen Roof

Have you ever been able to get to know a horse? Well I never had until LOPE gave me the opportunity to meet horses. And now I love horses.

Hi I’m Cole and I’m 12 years old. And now I am a seasoned intern and I love to work at LOPE.

I do things like polish saddles, watch Lynn train the horses, and clean the horses and other things. I have worked in the round pen a couple of times. From the few times I have been there it has been really hot and the bugs are relentless. The latest time I was there it was really hot that day and I had an idea…

My mom recently told me about GoFundMe and I had an idea to start one.

At first I wanted to do it because it was so hot, but then I realized it would be great for the horses too. So please help us fund the round pen roof. The horses would appreciate being out of the weather.

A message from Cole’s Mom, Jessica:

My kids and I have been interning for Lonestar Outreach to Place Ex-Racehorses, also known as LOPE, since February of last year. LOPE is a charity that places ex-racehorses in homes after they are done racing. Besides providing for these wonderful, and potentially misunderstood animals, they also use their own warhorses (horses who raced over a long career) to teach the public about horses and horsemanship through their wonderful community outreach and youth internship programs.

Through this internship, my kids have been able to develop a relationship with these magnificent horses and develop a love for, and understanding of, horses that they would not have otherwise had.

They have been able to be involved in LOPE’s community outreach programs, which have challenged them to push past their comfort zones. LOPE has also provided teaching experiences that have exposed them to the availability of careers that they may not otherwise have thought about. Needless to say, becoming involved with LOPE, and getting to know these ex-racehorses has been such a wonderful experience and has been a true blessing to my family.

As you can imagine, a program like this has many fundraising needs. My youngest came to the recent understanding, during a hot Texas morning in the round pen, that LOPE’s need for a round pen cover is real, and he was moved to want to raise funds to meet this need.

So this GoFundMe event was born.

Texas summers get hot, fast. Not to mention our crazy weather. We have all heard the saying, “If you don’t like the weather in Texas, then wait 5 minutes”. To have a covered round pen that can be used for teaching as well as for preparing these horses for their new off-the-track lives regardless of what the weather or soaring temperatures are doing would be beyond wonderful. Plus LOPE does field trips and this would help them out a ton when they have school groups come out to learn about these wonderful horses.

This building would provide year-round access to the round pen, which is important for these horses, as well as being a tool for LOPE’s community outreach in teaching, medical assessments, and teaching for medical assessments.

With a covered round pen, LOPE could truly teach year-round – and help many more kids and horses learn from each other!

Quotes from my LOPE interns:

James (Cole’s older brother)

“LOPE has given me the opportunity to interact with animals that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see in my entire life. Meeting these horses and learning how to handle them will be an experience that I will fondly look back on for a long time.”

Mia (Cole’s older sister)

My favorite thing has been to see the different personalities of the horses at LOPE. I am grateful for being able to be around and learn about these animals.

Cole (the GoFundMe creator)

Q: What is your favorite thing about LOPE?

A: I love being around the horses.

Q: What have you learned during your internship at LOPE?

A: I have learned that you need to be careful around horses. You need to keep your calm around horses. You can’t freak out or they will freak out.

Q: In your experiences with horses, you have been able to spend a lot of time around horses. How does that make you feel?

A: I love to hug the horses and give them lots of affection.

Q: What made you think about starting the GoFundMe for the round pen cover?

A: The reason that I wanted to start the GoFundMe was because—at first—I just wanted to get out of the heat when we go there [to the round pen], but then I realized that it would also be great for the horses. And that’s when I asked my mom if we could start a GoFundMe for the round pen roof.

A Message from LOPE’s director, Lynn Reardon:

The first time I met Cole, he hugged me too. His home school group had come for a field trip at our horse rescue farm.

Cole was the kid in the group who asked the best (and most) questions. Even though he had little horse experience, he was calm and gentle with the herd.

We work with older racehorses (“warhorses”) – who raced much longer at the track than usual. Most racehorses stop running by age 5. Our warhorses ran till much later – like 11 or 12. They are like 50 yo QBs – still game to compete, even if they have worn-out knees or old tendon injuries.

But when they can’t run anymore, the warhorses can become at risk. They have little value in the commercial horse market. People tend to pass them over, in favor of younger horses with uninjured legs and less baggage.

We teach K-12 students about science, math and veterinary careers at our farm. The teachers are the warhorses! Their athletic spirit, sensitive personalities, long racing career “stats,” and gorgeous appearance make them the most appealing teachers ever. Can you imagine a world where your science teacher weighs 1000-lbs and won over $600K running in races? Very compelling, for sure!

The LOPE horses loved Cole (especially Santo and Oro). They sensed he was on their side. And they trusted him. Cole is of those kids who is completely himself – he is outgoing, funny (in a good way), genuinely quirky and very compassionate.

It must run in the family. His brother James and his sister Mia are equally gifted and talented young people – with their own equally endearing and unique personalities. The warhorses liked James and Mia too! Especially Cozy Kitten, a warhorse here with a sweet (but reserved) temperament. He can be a little shy with new people – but James and Mia were an exception. When they led him, Cozy was calm and relaxed. He knew he was in good hands!

With a roof on our round corral, LOPE can help many more kids like Cole, James and Mia learn from many more horses like Santo, Cozy and Oro! This will give us the ability to open up much more time to teach other students like Cole. Whether it’s 100 degrees or pouring rain, we will always have a protected area for teaching throughout the year.

A Parting Note from Jessica (Cole's Mom):

I would like to thank you in advance on behalf of my family and LOPE for any contributions that are made. Please realize that no donation is too small. A roof is built piece-by-piece – and each donation adds one more bit of cover to the round pen.

All donations go directly to LOPE.

If you want to find out more about LOPE and what they do here are the links to the LOPE website and the school program page:

www.lopetx.org

www.lopetx.org/lope-academy