April 2026
Long before there were pigs, piglets, donkeys, chickens, and all the beautiful chaos that comes with sanctuary life, there were horses.
Horses were the original pull on my heart (Jessie here, founder and director). They were the reason I dreamed of creating a place where animals in need could feel safe, cared for, and loved. In many ways, EPIC Outreach began because of horses. They were the spark that lit everything else. Life has a funny way of unfolding, though.
When the sanctuary began to grow, pigs became the animals who needed us most often. Calls came in. Situations appeared. Animals had nowhere else to go. Time and time again, pigs found their way to our gates, and we said yes as often as we could (and still do today). What started as a horse-centered dream expanded into something much bigger.
Today, pigs make up a large part of the lives we help. They have become ambassadors for kindness, changing hearts and minds in ways I never could have imagined. They are smart, funny, loving, and full of personality. They have deeply shaped this mission.
But horses still hold a special place at the center of it all.
There is something about being near a horse that brings people back to themselves. Their size invites respect. Their gentleness invites trust. Their quiet presence has a way of calming the nervous system and opening the heart. Horses have taught me patience, humility, and the power of simply showing up with steady energy.
Even now, when the days are full of pig chores and pig stories, the horses remain a reminder of where this all began.
Sometimes the heart of a mission doesn’t always look like the busiest part of it. Sometimes it lives quietly in the background, steady and faithful, guiding everything forward. For me and EPIC Outreach, that has always been horses.
And because of them, so many others have found their way home.
In Kindness, Jessie, Founder/Director of EPIC Outreach
