10/23/2026
How did we learn how to care for the animals at a sanctuary?
One question we’re often asked during tours is how we learned to care for so many different animals. It’s an excellent question, and honestly, it’s one everyone should ask when considering an animal sanctuary. The people caring for animals should have the knowledge, experience, and practical skills to understand what those animals need.
For me, that education began long before The White Pig Animal Sanctuary existed.
🐴 I grew up on a horse farm. My mom was a horse lady, and I’ve been around horses since I was eight years old. From ages 10 to 14, I participated in Pony Club, where I learned lessons that have stayed with me throughout my life.
Pony Club teaches young riders to put their pony first and to create a safe environment for both pony and rider. Caring for a horse means caring for everything around them, too. Barns and equipment must be properly maintained, cleanliness is essential, and safety is never something to overlook. These principles became part of how I think about animal care, and I still apply them every day at the sanctuary.
As a junior rider, I competed at an elite level in hunter-jumpers (see pictures below) and had the opportunity to learn from many of the top trainers in the United States. Years of caring for horses exposed me to a wide range of injuries and illnesses and taught me to recognize when something wasn’t right. Many aspects of animal care and treatment carry across species, and experience can help you recognize signs of illness or injury sooner. This allows you to respond quickly and provide an animal with much needed care, especially when a veterinarian may not be immediately available. While veterinary care is essential, knowing what to look for and how to respond can make a critical difference in an animal’s well being.
🏡 But good animal care goes beyond knowing how to treat an illness or injury. It also means creating the right environment for animals to live their lives.
Throughout my years in the equestrian world, I saw how the best horse people prioritized excellent barns, safe shelters, well-maintained pastures, and enough space for horses to move, graze, socialize, and engage in natural behaviors. The goal is to provide an environment that reflects, as much as possible, the freedom and opportunities horses would have in the wild.
That philosophy has stayed with me. We don't believe animals should spend their lives confined to small pens when we can provide them with more space and opportunities to be animals. Their surroundings matter—not just for their physical health, but for their mental well-being, enrichment, and quality of life.
At The White Pig, we put that belief into practice.
🐷 Our main pig herd of approximately 30 pigs has access to a little over 30 acres of woods and pasture, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That works out to roughly an acre per pig.
🐴 Our horses have approximately three acres per horse, giving them room to move around, graze, explore, and enjoy their surroundings.
These spaces are more than acreage on a map. The woods, pasture, shelters, and open areas allow the animals to make choices, explore, rest, interact with one another, and engage in behaviors that are important to them. We believe these opportunities are essential to their overall well-being.
Of course, providing this kind of environment also comes with responsibility. Pastures and barns require ongoing maintenance, fencing must be safe, shelters must be cared for, and the land must be managed thoughtfully. Creating a sanctuary means thinking about all of these things—not just today, but for the lifetime of every animal who lives here.
❤️ My path then took me from the equestrian world to animal rights. After college, my focus shifted, and before opening a sanctuary, I volunteered with several nonprofit animal rescues and spent seven years volunteering at a farm animal sanctuary. Those experiences taught me so much—not only what works in animal care, but also what doesn’t.
I was also the guardian of four pigs for nearly 10 years before opening a private sanctuary in 2000. What began as a personal commitment eventually grew into The White Pig Animal Sanctuary, which later became a nonprofit organization.
All of these experiences—growing up with horses, competing, learning from experienced horse people, volunteering at rescues, and caring for pigs—helped shape the sanctuary we have today.
Running a sanctuary is about so much more than loving animals. Love is essential, but it must be supported by knowledge, experience, observation, clean and safe facilities, appropriate space, sound judgment, and a willingness to keep learning.
It means looking at every part of an animal's life and asking ourselves: What does this animal need to feel safe, comfortable, healthy, and able to live a fulfilling life?
So the next time you visit a sanctuary, ask questions. Ask about the experience of the people caring for the animals, how they approach veterinary care, how their facilities are maintained, and how much space the animals have to move around and express their natural behaviors.
These questions matter. Because sanctuary isn't simply about rescuing an animal and giving them somewhere to stay. It's about creating a life worth living—and honoring the responsibility we take on when we promise to care for them for life. 🐷🐴🐐❤️
PS-In case there's any confusion, I left riding many, many moons ago. I always preferred caring for horses over riding and honestly was forced to ride and compete to be able to keep horses as a junior.
