Meet Our Residents

Welcome to our dedicated section celebrating the beloved animals at SYA! Here, you'll meet our cherished personal pets and the permanent residents that are an integral part of our community. Each one of them brings unique joy and companionship, enriching our lives and creating a warm atmosphere. We invite you to learn more about their stories and the special roles they play at SYA.

Gusto

Gusto is a plucky Lippitt Morgan who you will usually see running across the pastures snorting like a dragon, or asking for scratches and attention from any passerby. Gusto is a companion to Slick and loves to take people out on trail rides, especially Hannah’s step daughter. Gusto is a great babysitter and takes care of his herd and his people. He has a very big presence on the rescue and is always there to cheer us up!

Enzo

Enzo is SYA’s farm dog extraordinaire! Enzo is a confident young black lab who takes his job as farm dog very seriously. Though he is a black lab he identifies as a livestock guardian breed, and barks at anything that may be askew in the pastures and wood lines. Enzo eagerly hops into Hannah’s truck every morning to venture to the rescue with her. If you come for a visit, Enzo will probably be the first one to your car to greet you.

Slick

Slick has been at the rescue since 2015. He was passed around like a hot potato from state to state and eventually surrendered to SYA because he could not be put in a stall without panicking and hurting himself. Hannah fell in love with Slick the moment she opened the trailer door and walked him off. Slick showed Hannah just how deep the emotional capacity of donkeys and mules go. “The mule wouldn’t get on the trailer without his horse friend so we had to bring her too!” The owners told me. When they left with Slick’s horse companion, he watched for weeks where he last saw the trailer disappear on the road. Though he was seen by many adopters to find him a home, all of them fell throughand Slick was gifted to Hannah. Nowdays, Slick has his own horse companions and will never be separated from them. Many people get mules as companions for their horses- Hannah has horses as a companion for her mule!

Seamus

Seamus is senior Gypsy Vanner who is the newest addition to our home herd. Seamus joined us in the summer of 2022 and he is my stepdaughters first horse. Seamus loves carrots, butt scratches and to doze off in the sunshine with his best buddy Slick. Seamus is a grounding presence at the rescue and and we love his stoic, laid back attitude about life.

Cricket

Cricket is our sweet and sensitive boy of the rescue. Cricket came from a rescue in Tennessee when he was just 3 lbs of adorable puppy. Cricket is a Tennessee walker coon hound, Chihuahua, Chinese Shar-Pei, sighthound mix, among a few other very random breeds. A super-mutt through and through. Cricket is the office dog/ donkey delivery road trip companion. Cricket is 45 lbs now but still loves to sit on Hannah’s lap to answer emails and can usually be found on the nearest couch napping or playing with his brother Enzo.