TRF Sanctuary Farm in Front Royal, VA
TRF Sanctuary Farm in Front Royal, VA
The Sanctuary Farm in Front Royal in Virginia is home to some very lucky retired racehorses. One of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation’s sanctuary farms, these sprawling fields are home to 85 retirees. They range in age from sixteen to twenty-two, and have been lucky to find Virginia home, coming from every background one could imagine.
Meet the Herd
The herd is under the watchful eye of TRF Farm Manager Aimee Leach. These horses are spoiled and loved by her, her employees, and her volunteers. Many of these horses are available for sponsorship, or adoption as a companion horse.
What does this herd need? You can help!
About the Farm Manager:
Aimee Leach, farm manager of our Virginia Sanctuary Farms, had already lived in California, Connecticut and New Hampshire before her family settled in White Post, Va.
That was fortunate because this was right smack in horse county, and for a girl who fell in love with horses through books like The Black Stallion and King of the Wind, growing up here was paradise.
Aimee would go on to work several other jobs, including stints as nanny to a special needs child, but she had always wanted to work with horses. She had learned to care for horses by spending most of her childhood on a neighbor’s pony farm.
In August, 2012, Aimee was hired as an assistant at Butch Eastham III’s Farm in nearby Front Royal, VA. For years, Eastham Farm housed many Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation horses. At one point , 115 TRF horses lived there.
Within a year of her arrival, Aimee was named Farm Manager. In 2021, she and her assistant, Ellie Dalton, tend to TRF 59 horses here, plus an additional 26 at Sunnybrook Farm, about two miles away.
