About Us
Red Bucket Equine Rescue (RBER) is a compassionate 50-plus horse rescue located at Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center. This world class public equestrian facility is located in Huntington Beach, California. RBER was founded in January 2009 by David and Susan Peirce, who simply could not turn their backs on a group of starving and abandoned horses. They were joined by fellow founder Mary Behrens, owner of the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center, a lifelong horsewoman who wanted to give back.
During its first year, RBER saved 74 starving or slaughter bound horses. Nineteen horses were adopted and found safe “forever homes.” Red Bucket utilizes a “matching program” to ensure that horses and their new families are well suited in all areas, including temperament, age, training level of horse and riding/skill level and goals of the adoptive family. Integrity, honesty and candor are the foundation of each conversation and integral to every placement. If you want to adopt a horse, Red Bucket is your first…and only…choice.
Our mission
To save and rehabilitate horses, restore their trust in humankind and find them safe, loving and permanent adoptive homes.
We strive to be seen as a point of pride in the equine community by demonstrating integrity and living the following values:
1) To always make decisions that are in the best interests of the horse.
2) To rebuild a horse’s confidence through positive reinforcement, compassion and consistency.
3) To be trustworthy for our horses, our volunteers and our contributors.
The RBER mission has three parts. First, to save or rescue the horse that is starving, abandoned or slaughter bound. Second, to rehabilitate, restore trust and retrain the horse to prepare him/her for the third part of our mission, finding the horse a forever loving home.
All RBER horses are evaluated and assessed, receive a training and/or exercise plan, are groomed daily and handled extensively in order to prepare them for their forever home.
Many of our horses are in the Guardian Angel Program. This program matches a horse with a volunteer who wishes to contribute five to seven days a week and wants a special relationship with one horse. The guardian relationship helps the horse develop a connection with a human. This has proven to be very helpful in preparing a horse to transition to a “forever home.” Many of our horses come to us never having had a trusting friendship with a human.
The Red Bucket symbolizes more than nourishment. It is the beginning of a horse’s new life and reflects the intimacy, trust and relationship that each horse experiences at our facility.
Our horses are always referred to by their name. Each horse receives a goal and training plan to prepare them for adoption. We do not herd feed, as our goal is to create a relationship with each horse as they are prepared for adoption. Each of our horses receives a red bucket during intake. This bucket is personalized with the horse’s name and is used during supplemental feeding in the course of night time wellness checks. Diets are prepared based on a horse’s individual needs and are assessed and adjusted throughout their stay with us.
When one of our horses is adopted into a “forever home”, the bucket comes along, a concrete reminder that in addition to nourishment, you’ve committed to a special, loving relationship with a truly remarkable animal.
