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your homegrown newspaper December 17, 2025
Vol. 22, No. 15
Blind horse rescue nonprofit finds home in St. Ignatius by Joyce Lobeck for the Valley Journal
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Ninepipes grants pg. 5
Full ride to Yale pg. 6
Passenger rail pg. 7
here’s a ranch in St. Ignatius that rescues horses — not just any horses but blind ones that with time, patience, lots of love and training are now living full lives on LES Haven Ranch. Established in 2022, today the ranch at the base of the Mission Mountains is home and sanctuary to Sadie, Rio, Spirit and several other horses with vision loss, where they are showered with affection. Louise Schmidt’s passion for horses goes back to when she was growing up a “city” girl in Tacoma, Washington. She had always wanted a horse but her family couldn’t afford one. So in seventh grade she and her friend rode their bikes to all the equestrian centers in the area begging to be able to work for free just to be around horses. Owner of the last one took pity on them and gave them chores that eventually led to riding lessons. “I was placed on the
SUMMER GODDARD / VALLEY JOURNAL PHOTO
Louise Schmidt of LES Haven Ranch prepares to take Samson, a blind rescue horse, for a ride.
toughest horse,” Louise said. “That mare bucked me off whenever she could. That foundation made me a cowgirl. Today I have heart for difficult horses.” In 2011 while she was in college, Louise was gifted a filly, born blind in both eyes. “I was told
to euthanize her, but in my heart I didn’t want that,” she said. “Lea was so gentle, so willing to learn.” From the beginning, horse and woman had a strong connection and over time Louise was able to train Lea so she could ride her. Despite Lea’s w w w.va l le yj our na l.net
blindness, they barrel raced, went on trail rides, shared many adventures and moved herds of cattle – Lea’s favorite thing to do. “She just knew from the sound of the cows,” Louise explained, adding that she used voice commands to direct Lea on
the trails. And when her two boys, now 4 and 6, came along, Lea was so gentle that Louise would have them ride with her. When Louise and her then-fiancee Korey were ready to add another horse to the family see page 2