Ryker the horse found ‘starving’ and rescued, adopted by Doonan family

“We feel so lucky he found us”: the horse was rescued by the Gympie RSPCA after he was found malnourished and starving, and has had a second chance at life with a Doonan family.

Doonan mum Kylie Rowe said 11-year-old Ryker the horse has ‘won everyone’s hearts’, after he was found malnourished and rescued from a Rockhampton property in 2018. Pictured (left to right) is Jazz, Ruby and Abbey with Ryker. Photo: Kylie Rowe.

An 11-year-old horse got a second chance at life with a Doonan family after was rescued in 2018, with mum Kylie Rowe encouraging other horse lovers to do the same.

Ryker’s journey began when he was seized from the Rockhampton property in 2018 after he was found starving and malnourished, before he was taken into foster care at Traveston.

From there, he spent the next six months recuperating in foster care.

Mrs Rowe said she owned a horse when she was a teenager, and upon hearing of the Gympie RSPCA rescuing horses, said she originally wanted to be a foster carer.

Doonan mum Kylie Rowe described Rykah as her “dream horse”. Photo: Kylie Rowe.

“I had heard that you could become a foster carer, and we really wanted to have a horse, so I thought that would be a good way of helping horses,” she said.

But when Mrs Rowe heard about Ryker, she decided to adopt him instead.

“He was just so calm, and beautiful and lovely,” she said.

“I can’t believe he wouldn’t even be here if (the RSPCA) hadn’t have rescued him.”

She said Ryker’s past is a mystery, with no information of where he came from before he was rescued.

Kylie Rowe said she feels so lucky Ryker found her and her family. Photo: Kylie Rowe.

She described Ryker as a ‘strong’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘stoic’ standardbred horse, who is ‘the ultimate family horse’.

“She had a party here, and all her little friends were grooming him, and I was walking him around the garden when they were sitting on him, and he was just the ultimate family horse,” she said.

“It’s just so horrible that horses like this could waste in a paddock without people caring about them.”

She said Ryker has become a part of their family, even attending horseriding camps with Mrs Rowe’s two daughters and attending pony club.

Mrs Rowe organised to meet with the owner of another horse, Timmy, who was rescued from the Rockhampton property with Ryker on Sunday, but she was forced to cancel plans after the snap three-day lockdown was announced on Saturday morning.

She said she strongly encourages anyone interested in horses to consider adopting or becoming a foster carer.

Originally published as Ryker the horse found ‘starving’ and rescued, adopted by Doonan family