Rancher will head to California to help horses displaced by fires

A retired Alberta rancher is getting ready for a long trip to help hundreds of horses displaced by wildfires in California.

Darrell Glover says when he saw news reports about the destructive fires he knew he needed to do something for the animals that have suffered because of the disaster.

He says horse owners who were forced to flee the flames couldn’t take their horses with them, so they freed them to fend for themselves.

Glover is planning to haul more than 6,300 kilograms of donated feed to a California ranch that is looking after the displaced animals.

“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 ... somebody had to help and try and feed these horses,” he said from his rural property north of Olds.

Glover is also taking donated tack and medical supplies.

His destination is the Camelot Equestrian Park in Orville, Calif.

“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.”

The Camelot Equestrian Park Foundation knows he’s coming.

“To Darrell Glover and all our Canadian Friends, there are no adequate words to express our gratitude for all of your compassion and generosity,” the Foundation said on Facebook.

Glover said he plans to start heading south to California on Monday.