What’s in a Name

“Where did the name Roanchar Ranch come from?” is the number one question that we get at the rescue.

Charlie and Roanie at the fence line
Charlie on the left and Roanie on the right

Roanchar is a combination of our founder’s two personal horses’ names; Roanie, a Strawberry Roan Tennessee Walking Horse, and Charlie, a Percheron/Tennessee Walking Horse cross. They are also the driving force behind the rescue.

Charlie and Roanie were the first horses that our founder owned. Roanie was a seasoned trail horse and Charlie was a 5 month-old colt who was a blank slate.

Owning a draft horse was a dream of our founder. She had fallen in love with Charlie’s mom Denea, a pure-breed black Percheron when she rode her on a trail ride while she was pregnant with Charlie. Denea was gentle, confident, and loving, all the traits that a gentle giant is known for.

A few weeks after riding Denea, our founder was on another trail ride with Denea’s owner, checking pastures for foals. In the middle of one of the pastures lay Charlie. He was no more than 12 hours old and a site to behold. He was glistening white and black and all legs. Our founder fell in love immediately

To prepare for Charlie’s arrival, our founder did research on how to care for a foal, and specifically a draft foal. It was then that she came upon the plight of unwanted draft horses.

Draft horses, who had worked their entire lives, were thrown away when they could no longer work. She knew that she wanted to make a difference in their lives and Roanchar Ranch Draft Horse Rescue was born.

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