Why we love her: Oakley is very social and curious, gentle and kind with her riders. With her flashy coloring and long, expressive ears, she is the supermodel of the barn.

Years of service: Oakley came to The Shea Center in January 2020, and was working through her intake checklist when client services were suspended in March of that year. She made her debut to volunteers and clients during our Drive Thru Volunteer Celebration in June 2020, actively greeting the drive-by visitors by reaching her nose (and head…and neck) into their vehicles. She was the hit of the event!

Previous career(s): Jerry and Jan Barstow purchased four-year-old ‘Hoot’s Dash for Bunny Cash’ (nicknamed Bunny) in Jackson Hole, WY. The Barstow’s changed her name from Bunny to Oakley. She spent summers at the Barstow’s small ranch in Star Valley, WY, where she enjoyed trail rides and braved river crossings. Whenever a moose would approach her pasture, she would trumpet like an elephant and charge at it, scaring the much larger animal away from ‘her’ space. That girl’s got moxie! Because of her laid-back nature, Oakley had a successful side gig as a wedding photography model.

Fun fact: Oakley is the granddaughter of ‘Dash for Cash’, a winning racehorse who was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 1997, and whose ashes are buried at the foot of a life-size bronze statue of his likeness in front of the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum in Amarillo, TX.

Stats:

• Age: Born Jan. 1, 2007

• Breed: Quarter Horse

• Color/markings: Brown and white paint

• Height: 15.1 hands

Learn about the other horses in our herd, by visiting the Our Barn category page of our blog.