JOIN US FOR A TOUR OF RYERSS FARM FOR AGED EQUINES

WHEN:  SEPTEMBER

HOSTED BY:  Maryanne Gorman & Laura DiFransesco

ABOUT RYERSS

For over 130 years, Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines is the oldest non-profit horse sanctuary in the United States and continues to provide a haven for horses of all breeds, sizes, and walks of life.

Visitors to the farm are welcome to learn more about Anne Waln Ryerss and her mission.

The Golden Age of the Horse — and the People Who Fought for Them

The 19th century earned its nickname the “Golden Age of the Horse.” Horses were everywhere, pulling carriages and streetcars, powering mills, and foundries, fighting fires, and providing entertainment through racing and hunting. They were indispensable.

For the horses themselves, it was anything but golden.

With no laws to protect them, owners could treat their animals however they chose. Overwork, malnutrition, and beatings were common. Bearing reins, tightened to keep carriage horses’ heads artificially high, caused chronic neck and spine injuries. The average streetcar horse lived only four years. Many simply collapsed and died mid-route. By 1866, The Atlantic Monthly reported that Broadway was clogged with dead horses and wrecked vehicles.

The Reformers

Most people who witnessed this cruelty felt powerless to act. A few didn’t.

In 1866, Henry Bergh — nicknamed “The Great Meddler” for his outspoken advocacy — founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. In 1877, Anna Sewell published Black Beauty, a novel written specifically to awaken the public to the suffering of working horses.

In Philadelphia, another determined reformer was quietly doing the same work on the ground.

Anne Waln Ryerss came from a prominent Philadelphia family with deep roots in animal welfare. Her relative Morris Waln had donated $10,000 to help establish the Pennsylvania SPCA in 1866. Anne’s husband, Joseph Ryerss, was a successful businessman from a similarly philanthropic family. Their stepson, Robert Waln Ryerss, was a Philadelphia attorney who helped create both the Pennsylvania SPCA and the Anti-Vivisectionist Society of Pennsylvania.

Anne was small in stature but formidable in practice. Like Bergh, she would stop owners she saw abusing their horses and make her case directly — pointing out the animal’s distress and persuading the owner to send the horse to her farm in Burholme for rehabilitation. Some horses recovered. Many never did, and those stayed on the farm for the rest of their lives.

The Farm

When Anne died in 1888, she left $30,000 to establish a hospital for “ill, aged, and injured animals,” with an additional $40,000 endowment to maintain the farm. Robert Ryerss used the funds to purchase an 80-acre farm in the Bustleton section of Northeast Philadelphia.

On September 17, 1888, Ryerss Infirmary for Dumb Animals was incorporated as a charitable institution — its mission: to provide “a permanent home for old favorites whose owners, instead of destroying or selling them, desire to place them under good treatment for the remainder of their days.”

The first resident arrived June 11, 1889: a horse described simply as “old, blind and weak.” He was soon joined by retired hunters, ponies, workhorses, and about a dozen horses that had spent their careers pulling Philadelphia’s fire engines.

Moving Through the Years

The farm’s location changed several times over the following decades — driven by finances, the Depression, and the search for more suitable land.

• 1927: Horses moved to a leased farm in Chesterbrook
• 1933: Returned to the original Bustleton property after the buyer defaulted on the mortgage
• 1956: Moved to a 108-acre farm on King Road in West Whiteland Township, featuring a barn with 40 box stalls — one of the largest in Chester County at the time
• 1987: Relocated to Soleil Farm on Ridge Road in South Coventry and Warwick Townships — 363 acres assembled from three smaller farms
• 1991: Renamed Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines to better reflect its mission
• 2000: Added 20 adjoining acres
• 2001: Approximately 330 acres placed into the Chester County Agricultural Land Preservation Program

More than 130 years after Anne Ryerss signed her will, Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines remains the oldest nonprofit horse sanctuary in the United States and the largest horse rescue and retirement farm on the East Coast. Its 300-plus acres continue to shelter horses of every breed, size, and background.

It is the enduring legacy of a petite Philadelphia woman who refused to look away.