On October 13, as we were watching the fire at the east end of the valley, we heard on the news that fire had broken out in Porter Ranch, to the west of us. The fire followed Sesnon Ave, which coincidently ends at our street. Our barn manager, Cathy and volunteer Alan stayed at the ranch to keep me informed of what they saw, and to be prepared to evacuate if necessary. The news announced that the fire was now at the end of Sesnon. Our Executive Director and several of our volunteers raced to the ranch to get ready to evacuate.
Meanwhile, a call came in from Kersten at Day Creek Ranch, who had trailered our horses to this ranch 9 months ago. She heard about the fire and asked if we needed help evacuating. We said yes, and she made it from Simi Valley to Granada Hills in a record 30 minutes! By then, we had heard that the fire had entered the canyon below us to the west, and was coming over the hill to the east. There was no time to wait for the trailers. 6 volunteers, our barn manager and our Executive Director took 13 horses down the hill to the park, arriving just as the trailers did. All the local evacuation centers for horses were full. "No problem", Kersten said. They were taking our horses to Day Creek Ranch. Unlike most of the evacuated horses, who are housed in close quarters or tied, our horses are now in posh stalls and grass pastures, fed the best hay and taken care of like the show horses that are housed at this amazing ranch.
Strides/Sinlimites is grateful to everyone who offered to help (and there were a huge number of offers!) and especially to Laura and Bob Day of Day Creek Ranch, for their generosity and caring for our special horses. A special thanks as well to the volunteers, most of whom had never led a horse before, for risking life and limb to save our horses. And of course, we thank the brave firefighters who fought off the fire right up to our fence and didn't let it enter the ranch! We are blessed.
If all goes well, Strides will bring the horses back Saturday and we will be open again next week. Saved by angels!!!
