The Paso Robles Horse Park is setting up temporary stalls to help those who have had to leave everything behind due to the wildfires burning throughout the state.
The horse park is hosting two nationally rated horse shows for hunter jumper competitions this weekend and next, but some competitors impacted by the fires are arriving a little early.
"It is great that we got to move in a little bit quicker here because it left room for the evacuees to come into our barn," said Holly Charlebois, West Marin resident.
Charlebois brought 20 show horses down from Northern California to the Central Coast for the Paso Park Fall Classic Series. Moving those horses frees up space at her barn where they have, in turn, taken in 20 evacuees.
"You know I feel horrible for the people that are more affected than we are. We are happy to help any way we can and hope that if we were in the same situation, they would do that same for us," Charlebois said.
Those at the Paso Robles Horse Park are also doing what they can by installing temporary stalls to house horses that may need to leave their homes due to the blazing fires up north.
According to park leaders, they started receiving calls days ahead of their typical load in time from people wanting to see if they could bring the animals they consider family to a safe place.
"Particularly being affected by the Kincade Fire, looking to get out of the poor air quality and into a safer zone," said Amanda Diefenderfer, Paso Robles Horse Park Director. "We also had some people calling and asking to pull in a few extra stalls to bring a few horses that may not be competing but they wanted to get them somewhere safe."
The park has set up about four barns to help close to 40 horse owners keep their equines safe.
"Luckily, we are really glad to be able to expand and doing everything we can to accommodate. We have actually brought in a few extra stalls from down the road to really work to help out everyone we can," Diefenderfer said.
This comes the same day as the Easy Fire broke out in Simi Valley. Horses there, like across the state, have also required rescue. Many of those horses are being taken to the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara.
