Horse Heaven
Ross Romeo’s Double R Heart Ranch is a haven for abused animals
By Vicky Waltz
“Whether they're here for a week or for five years, they will live ou their days in peace, surrounded by beauty, companionship, and love” Ross Romeo (GRS'87), owner of a sanctuary for abused horses in Elgin, Arizona. Photo courtesy of Ross Romeo
On a cold, clear January morning, with the thermometer at the Double R Heart Ranch registering barely 22 degrees, Ross Romeo wakes up, dons a fleece jacket, and starts his daily chores. With more than twenty animals to feed and water, sleeping in is never an option.
A retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, Romeo (GRS’87) is no stranger to hard work, which is precisely what maintaining a twenty-five-acre refuge for abandoned animals entails. Located in Elgin, Arizona, at an elevation of 5,100 feet, the Double R Heart Ranch is home to Whisper’s Sanctuary, a haven for abused horses and other animals. Now in its second year, the sanctuary harbors six horses, two burros, five dogs, and eleven goats.
But horses are Romeo’s focus. “Out West, they are often viewed as nothing more than a tool,” he explains, “and when they get older and are no longer useful, their owners auction them off.” What happens next is not pretty. The horses are typically sold by the pound and taken to slaughter, and the meat is sold overseas or ground into dog food.
The practice is intolerable to Romeo. “Discarding a living creature because it’s no longer useful or because it’s become too much trouble to take care of — it’s just disgraceful,” he says.
He describes Whisper’s Sanctuary as the last stop for unwanted and mistreated animals, particularly horses. “Whether they’re here for a week or for five years,” he says, “they will live out their days in peace, surrounded by beauty, companionship, and love.”
The sanctuary was inspired by Whisper, Romeo’s first horse. Purchased at an auction from an unscrupulous horse trader, Whisper was ad-vertised as a twelve-year-old gelding; in reality, he was closer to thirty. He was also terminally ill.
“Whisper is an example of all that is sad and wrong in the horse industry,” Romeo says. “We had him only eight months, but he left a lasting impression. We will always remember his joyful whinny and dancing eyes.”
Horses living at Whisper’s Sanctuary are free to roam and graze the grassy pastures. New arrivals have their shoes removed and are gradually introduced to the herd. Because Romeo wants the horses to live in a natural environment, there is no barn; the ranch’s fifty-foot juniper, walnut, and oak trees provide adequate shelter. “Horses are extremely social creatures; they need to be around one another,” he explains. “Locking them up breaks their spirit and makes them prone to illness and depression.”
Because many of the animals that come to Whisper’s Sanctuary have suffered severe abuse, they can be wary of humans. “When I first meet an animal, I always get low to the ground to show I’m not a threat,” Romeo says. Providing for their basic needs is a crucial part of the rehabilitation process. “You don’t have to coddle them,” he says, “but you do have to earn their trust.”
While only six horses currently live at the sanctuary, it can support as many as thirty-five. With basic costs of caring for a horse averaging between $1,800 and $2,000 a year, the ranch can’t afford to take on additional residents. Romeo works with shelters and sanctuaries across the country to place horses he is unable to accommodate, and so far he has found homes for forty horses.
“I want people to understand that there’s an alternative to the auction block,” he says.
“Every animal deserves to live its life with dignity.”
For more information on Whisper’s Sanctuary, visit www.rrheartranch.com.