"I wish I could wrap my arms around every animal in the world
and keep them safe, let them know they are loved and take all of their pain away." Kim Meagher
Image by Joanne West, JWestPhotography.com
Kimberly Meagher – Founder and Chair
email kim@wildhorse.org
"Working with Horses is my Music." Kim Meagher
Raised by her Grandmother, in Saginaw, Michigan, Kimberly Meagher (pronounced Marr) grew up in a violent neighborhood far away from horses. She worked for Second National Bank Corporation in Saginaw, Michigan for several years. She moved to Arizona in 1985 and raised her two children alone. She worked for RC Hughes Corporation in Scottsdale for a few years, and then moved on to Intel Corporation in 1988. She worked at Intel until 2002.
In 1994, she bought The Yellow Rose Ranch in Gilbert Arizona. In 1995, she renamed it Wildhorse Ranch Rescue and began rescuing horses. Having no horse experience, she sought out clinics. She met Monty Roberts, Buck Brannaman and Pat Parelli. She read their books and attended all of their clinics. Seeing the difficulty of handling rescued horses beyond her skill set, she determined that the Parelli method was best suited for her unique situation of needing intense horsemanship, while also staying safe in the presence of horses that have abusive and horrific pasts. While all methods of natural horsemanship are valuable, the Parelli method proved to be best suited for retraining rescued horses and their potential adopters for a lifetime of success.
In Sept of 2002, after a lifetime in Corporate, she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a Parelli Natural Horsemanship Instructor! However, just 2 months later, in November 2002, her saddle broke while training, Dunny, a rescue horse to be in Wildhorse Ranch Rescue's fundraising play, Oklahoma! While in a full gallop, Kim found herself underneath Dunny and barely conscious on the ground. Dunny saved her life by acting quickly and stopping on a dime, something he'd been trained to do by his previous owners. However, that accident left her with a broken neck and ruptured lower back. With no medical insurance, in intense physical pain and a son to raise, she had no choice but to drain her retirement account to provide for the rescued herd, pay her enormous medical bills and provide for her son. She almost lost her home and the ranch for the rescued equines.
Realizing that her horse training dream would never be a reality, Kim set up several businesses to help bring in funds so that the rescue could survive. If she could not live her dream of being a Parelli Trainer, at least she could continue helping horses and animals in need.
Kim is part author of the book, Alternatives to Auction & Slaughter. A Guide for Equine Owners - A Better Way, which she helped create while she was the Arizona State Coordinator for the American Horse Defense Fund. She and Trina Bellak, Founder and President of the American Horse Defense Fund went to Capitol Hill for several sessions of congress to lobby for the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act.
Kim is also the author of a second book. The sales from her 2nd book go to Wildhorse Ranch Rescue to help provide food and vet care for the rescued herd.
In 2007, Kim had the opportunity to be in a movie titled "Jolene." She was the stand in for Jessica Chastain, the lead actor in the movie. Additional actors included, Dermot Mulroney, Denise Richards, Francis Fisher and Rupert Friend. "The ironic part about being involved with this movie, is that while we were filming one of the scenes, I spotted a horse trailer backing into the area where we needed to have a car drive away in the shoot. I called to the director to stop the scene so that we could get the trailer full of horses safely out of the way. It seems whatever I do, horses get involved one way or another. " Most of Kim's time is spent helping horses in need, whether it's writing a book, raising funds, tending to sick horses or earning a few bucks as a stand in for a movie.
In 2015, Kim was thrilled to be part of the movie, Witch Child. http://witchchildmovie.com/
She played the part of Kim Riordan. www.kimberlymeagher.com
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Quotes over the years by Kim Meagher:
"Make anywhere you are, beautiful, because life is made up of days you think are on the way to something, when they are really the days of your life." _ Kim Meagher
"You don't have to own a ranch to help a horse, you just have to own a heart." _ Kim Meagher, Founder of Wildhorse Ranch Rescue
"We should all be adept at knowing our ineptness." _ Kim Meagher
"Select your passion or your poison...often they are the same thing." _ Kim Meagher
"One thing I'm really good at, is knowing what I'm bad at." Kim Meagher in response to a reporter's question on what skills are important for running a charity.
"Who are You to Despise a Who, Just Because He is Not Like You? Welcome to Who-Ville." _ Kim Meagher
"Make the preservation of the horse as valuable as the slaughter of the cow." _ Kim Meagher 10/27/2015
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