Our Story
The RIDE Foundation was formed to help people and horses. A family friend, Russel, was the first person Sarah helped who had been diagnosed with PTSD. Through the healing power of working with horses, Russell was able to learn to control his emotions in order to gain the horses trust. Once Sarah realized she could help people with emotional trauma by working through it with wild horses, she set out to find work with someone who was doing this exact thing. To her surprise, there wasn't anyone at the time doing this in our area. She wanted to work with horses, with her daughter by her side, raising her in a positive environment, with a job she could be proud of.
Sarah started the paperwork for a non-profit in 2015. We were incorporated in 2017, and the RIDE Foundation was born. In the beginning, there was one horse, Hobby, and in July 2016, she went to a holding facility in Ridgecrest, CA and brought home the first BLM Sales Authority mustang, Monroe. At that time, participants were also volunteering. We worked with a firefighter, a veteran who had returned from Afghanistan and his girlfriend, as well as a woman who was in an abusive relationship for more than five years. Today, we care for 14 horses with many various animals at the ranch. We are at capacity for the property we are on at this time. We have about a dozen volunteers we can call on to help us out, besides our team members.
The plan for RIDE in the coming years is to prove our concept and horsemanship curriculum to obtain the funding to buy our own ranch to grow and help more people and horses.
About Us
The RIDE Foundation helps those with emotional trauma through the gentling process of at risk, wild horses from the Bureau of Land Management. When the mustangs first arrive, Sarah, our founder and CEO, gentles them down enough so that they are no longer dangerous. Once this has been achieved, Sarah invites program participants into the round pen to work with the mustangs.
Mustangs are much more sensitive to things like body position, breathing, tone, etc than domesticated horses. This allow us to teach participants a wide variety of skills including non verbal communication, leadership, relationship building, and more that they can transfer into their daily lives.
All mustangs start in our adult programs. Once they have graduated from these programs, they transfer into our youth programs. The length of time that this takes, depends solely on the horse and we do not rush this process for the horses or our participants. Many participants continue to come back year after year as they become attached to the horses and they enjoy learning what the horses teach them about themselves. The key to this process is to allow participants and horses the time that they need to be successful.
Once our mustangs have gone through all of our programs, our goal is to always find them a forever home.
*Reminder: We are not a horse rescue. We only adopt our horses from the BLM's Sales Authority List.*
Meet Us
Sarah Muzquiz
Founder & CEO
Sarah grew up around horses and was always able to get along with them well. She started her first horse when she was 12, and then began working with any horse that she could get her hands on. Soon, she was helping people with “problem” horses and having success. She has trained many horses that were very scared and completely untouchable. Once she realized how horses can help people who are dealing with PTSD and emotional trauma, she decided to start a nonprofit aimed at helping horses and healing hearts. In 2017, The RIDE Foundation was formed and with the help of family, friends, volunteers, donors, and sponsors, it has become what it is today. Sarah studies the teachings of Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, and Buck Brannaman. She has a lot of success with these methods and continues to use them today.
Paco Villarreal
Chief Financial Officer
As a United States Marine Corps veteran and Vice President of Advertising for McClatchy in the Sate of California, Paco Villarreal, a board member/consultant for The Ride Foundation, brings a wealth of business experience and expertise to the organization. With a deep understanding of the challenges faced by those suffering from post-traumatic stress, Paco assists on the business and marketing strategies of the organization.
Paco's commitment to serving others and a passion for helping those in need make him an asset to The Ride Foundation.
Riley
Program Assistant
Riley, Sarah's daughter, is one of the people behind the reason The RIDE Foundation was formed. Sarah wanted to create something for her and her daughter to have together. Riley loves being at the ranch around horses. She went on her first pack trip when she was five years old and continues to go on trail rides and trips to this day. She rode in her first clinic with Buck Brannaman when she was just seven years old. Riley enjoys studying horsemanship and going to the clinics and training with Sarah. She loves all animals and is truly at home on the ranch.
Riley can often be seen working a horse and joining Sarah at programs as her program assistant. You can also find her at most offsite events we attend with the mini donkeys and working the booth. She loves to meet new people and is an immense asset to the organization.
Cari Salwasser
Social Media Marketing
Cari has been around and loved all animals since she was a newborn and has always been involved in ag. She has an instinctual love for animals and has always gravitated towards working with them. She has volunteered at various nonprofits, mostly animal related, for over 20 years.
She manages all of our social media accounts and our website. She can be found at events helping in the booth, taking photos and meeting people. Her husband, Bryon, can also be found at events helping with parking and greeting visitors.
Heather Deal
Secretary
Heather is a mother of three and has workled as an educator for Fresno Unified since 2012. She has known Sarah for over 15 years. She has seen the passion Sarah has for helping people achieve their greatest potential and believes in the mission behind RIDE. The work done with veterans is especially close to her heart. So, in 2019, Heather came onto the board as our secretary.
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Heather can often be found running the RIDE booth at events and her daughter often helps Riley with the petting zoo.