Rhondavena LaPorte, Executive Director

I am a former Special Education Teacher. I have trained horses all my life. The mission of Serenity Farm is to prevent equine neglect, abuse, abandonment where we can rehabilitate and find loving, forever homes neglected or abused equine. We educate the public on the beauty and value of rescued horses. We give purpose to the lives of neglected or abused equines through interaction with humans, including emotionally or physically challenged individuals. We provide equine interaction to individuals with emotionally or physically challenging needs. We welcome all volunteers including adults and school-age with disabilities. We provide horsemanship instruction for our volunteers. We coordinate with agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia and by providing current and future equine owners and other relevant groups with information and resources. Key Programs: 1) Equine Rescue (36 Equine on site) a) Surrender Program i) Surrendered Equine accepted only if numbers in residence allow ii) Surrendered Equine accepted only if are classified as urgent need b) Seizure Program (25% of our residents) i) Seized horses are accepted if space allows. c) Rehabilitation Program i) Medical Needs. Treatment for SFES works closely with veterinarians for all equine medical needs. Follow-up care is handled directly, or supervised by, our Executive Director who has prior Large Animal Vet Assistant experience. All equines receive immunizations, chips and all stallions surrendered are gelded. ii) Refeeding Program. SFES follows a strict and industry standard protocol for the safest and effect refeeding. While we cannot mitigate organ damage, most equine completely recover. iii) Training or Retraining Program. SFES utilizes Natural Horsemanship methods. Trainers have trained with national trainers and have a total of 45 years of training experience. 2) Accreditation with Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries. a) Verification was completed in December 2017, 6-months after opening. b) Accreditation was awarded in December 2018 and renewed in 2021. Accreditation includes a farm inspection which is thorough! We continue to be accredited. c) GFAS Standards. The GFAS Standards of Excellence were initially developed and reviewed with the input of animal services officers, non-profit professionals, sanctuary managers, animal protection advocates, and veterinarians utilizing existing standards from outstanding sanctuaries as a starting framework and refined/expanded upon based on knowledge and expertise of contributors.