A retired Alberta rancher living north of Olds is getting ready for a long trip to help hundreds of horses that have been displaced by the major wildfire in California.

Darrell Glover says that when he saw the news reports about the fires, he knew he needed to do something.

“We were just feeling devastated for the people down in Paradise that were losing everything with the fires. Through social media, I received a circulating post about people who had been picking up horses that had just been let go.”

He says the owners of the horses were forced to evacuate and they couldn’t take their horses with them, so they let them go to fend for themselves.

“As a horse owner, that created some emotional moments for us, so we started thinking that with all those horses, and there are hundreds of them, running free in the hills and people are picking them up, somebody had to help and try and feed these horses.”

That’s where Glover decided to organize an effort to gather up feed and take it down to California to help in the massive undertaking.

“We contacted Camelot Equestrian Park down in Orville, California. They had the fire just about 100 metres from their front gate, so they almost lost their place as well,” said Glover. “Those folks have taken in a couple hundred horses so what we’re going to do is take down this trailer load of feed and help them out.”

Glover has gathered 14,000 pounds of food for the displaced horses along with $3,000 to $4,000 worth of donated tack, including medical supplies.

He says that he is leaving on Monday morning and is ready to help out with whatever else he can when he gets there.

“Once my trailer is empty, then I plan to offer any assistance I can with the empty trailer. I might be able to pick up more horses or help them go and get some feed somewhere; bring some supplies. When I get down there, I plan to stay a few days.”

Glover says he wants to help all he can, especially because everyone in the region has lost so much.

“Lots of folks are messaging us, thanking us. We can’t really wrap our heads around the needs they have. Not only have they let their horses go to save their lives, they lost their barns, they lost their saddles and tack, they just don’t have any place to put their horses.”

Glover says the outpouring of support for their effort has been overwhelming as they managed to cover the cost of filling the trailer with feed and fuel in a very short time.

“I haven’t even counted up the donations cash-wise but it’s probably 100 people who donated. It’s smaller amounts and things like that, but it all added up and at the end of the day, these people fed a lot of horses.”

In a statement released on its Facebook page, the Camelot Equestrian Park Foundation thanked Glover and everyone who expressed their generosity:

To Darrell Glover and all our Canadian Friends, there are no adequate words to express our gratitude for all of your compassion and generosity. It is awe inspiring that our neighbors to the north are willing to put this very special delivery together.

We are overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and offers of help we have been receiving. So many friends and family have lost so much, but out of this we have a renewed understanding of the human spirit and the absolute desire to help.

It is very clear that people who love horses are among the most generous and caring on earth. Thank you for all you do to protect the wild horses.

The effort isn’t over yet and Glover is still open to receive donations to help in the relief effort. You can make e-transfers or PayPal payments directly to him at n40rancher@gmail.com.

(With files from Kathy Le)