Richard’s Place
Richard’s Place was founded in 2024 when a special needs mini dwarf horse named Richard needed a safe and forever place that fit his unique needs and physical limitations.
Richard was surrendered to rescue by a local hoarding situation as a 6 month old. He experienced a life-changing injury that required him to receive a FHO surgery that is much more commonly done on small animals like dogs and cats but because of his small size (he was about the size of a golden retriever), the University of Minnesota teamed up with their small animal department and Richard’s surgery was successful!
He lived over a year at Richard’s Place where he filled the hearts of all who he met. He was goofy, silly, and a little bit naughty and we loved every moment of it. There was never a day where Richard didn’t make us laugh.
Richard crossed the rainbow bridge the summer of 2025. His legacy however lives on at Richard’s Place where his buddy, Donk and Donk’s companion, Lily now permanently reside (on-site at CHDR).
We will always love you, Richard 🌈💜
Meet our Minis- Donk
Donk is a super young handsome miniature gelding who was surrendered to rescue on August 26th, 2022 from a local hoarding situation when he was just a yearling.
He was Richard’s trusted companion and was very good at his job! He helped Richard learn that horses can be safe and how to live as much like a “normal” horse as he could.
Donk is very special himself. He has only one eye after an injury took place resulting in losing his left eye. Because of this, he sees the world differently. Donk has attended our annual Children’s Day event as well as our summer day camps and provided education for young children and the youth in our community. He advocates for educating our future generations as well as is an ambassador to being different. With one eye, Donk has learned to adjust to seeing the world differently than a typical horse would.
Our team approaches Donk from the right rather than the left. This is atypical but so important for Donk to feel safe. Donk also thrives with children. He is constantly working on his trust and confidence around adults but children, he relaxes and enjoys their presence greatly. He is such a sweet boy who looks forward to meeting you!
Meet our Minis- Lily
Lily is a beautiful sorrel miniature mare who was also surrendered to rescue on August 26th, 2022 from the same local hoarding situation as Donk. We believe them to be related in some way- either mom/son or possibly aunt/nephew. She arrived to rescue pregnant and unfortunately, her baby did not survive.
Lily is the girl in charge at Richard’s Place. She is older than Donk by about 4 years and helps Donk with his confidence around others as Lily has always been more confident with people in general. Lily is Donk’s rock.
Lily is also broke to ride and is able to give short pony rides to small children. She adores children and helps them build their confidence around horses like her. She is bigger than Donk!
Lily also only has one eyeball (the same one-eye as Donk). A freak accident occurred during her training and her eye had to go. She has done very well with seeing the world with only one eye however similar to Donk, we communicate verbally to both of them so they know where we are at coming in and out of the barn as well as approach her from the right rather than the left so she can see people coming.
She would love to meet you- she is an A+ sweetheart!
Volunteer at Richard’s Place
We offer a unique volunteer experience for all ages to come out and spend time with our minis on what we call our “Enrichment Team”. This is a 7 day a week opportunity, very flexible commitment, with a lot of reward by providing interaction, socialization, and enrichment for Lily and Donk.
