This year, Square Peg is setting an ambitious goal—to raise $50,000 to continue our mission of providing a safe and joyful space for retired racehorses and neurodiverse families.
Coastside Gives 2025 Giving Day is May 1st, but early giving starts April 1st—let’s make this our biggest year yet!
Donate – Every dollar brings us closer to sustaining and expanding our mission.
Share Our Story – Amplify our message by sharing our campaign with friends and family. Your voice can help us reach new supporters!
Fundraise for Us on Social Media – Coastside Gives makes it easy to create your own fundraising page and rally your community to support Square Peg. A few clicks can go a long way!
Get Involved – Volunteer, attend our events or visit us and experience the magic firsthand.
Content Creator Mike gifted us with a custom song to help everyone through transition times. As Ram Dass says “at the end of the day, we are all just waking each other home.” Don’t underestimate the power of a hug.
Giving Tuesday sparks the beginning of the year end fundraising season. Now more than ever, Square Peg needs and appreciates your help as we grow to address the growing need for services. We promise to make you proud to be a Square Peg Supporter!
Davis Finch Shares His Story of Watching How This Amazing Horse Changed Over Time
Irresponsible King (KY) TB, CH, G, FOALED MAY 10, 2002 ( KINGMAMBO – OUR FAIR LADY, BY THEATRICAL (IRE) 5 starts 0 wins, 2 Seconds, 1 third winnings of $20,400
When I first toured Square Peg, back in 2011 at Canyon Creek ranch off highway 92, I met several horses. One of the most memorable was an excitable 9- year-old chestnut son of KingMambo with the barn name Stan. An exquisite gelding who raced under the name Irresponsible King, I was told he was so dangerous only Joell could ride him, and even she could not always stay on. When I went to pet LeRoi, an older paint gelding who gave me my first ride, Stan butted in and bit him in the face. Even then, he wanted to be the center of attention.
Once I got to know him better, I learned that while he was a handful, he was also quite friendly and was eager to please, given the right circumstances. Still, I never dreamed that someday I would ride him.
During our almost ten years at Kastl Rock ranch, Stan aged and probably mellowed out a little, but still had his antics. He had a penchant for jumping, was a presence in the arena and if he got loose, let’s just say it would be an exciting afternoon. However, he also grew more trustworthy under saddle, so much so that Joell started letting teenage volunteers ride him. Eventually she even started using him in lessons. He was reliable on the lunge line and developed a nice trot. By the time Square Peg left for Ocean View, he was the “old man” of the off-track thoroughbreds but still had plenty left.
Since coming to Ocean View and living in a pasture full time, Stan has become a schoolmaster. He is now nicknamed “grandpa” and his quirks have become more endearing than dangerous. He loves the supplements I feed him and greets me at the gate each time I arrive. I have started riding him and have discovered his trot to be wonderful. While trail rides are not his thing, he is one of Square Peg’s best horses in the arena with a good walk/trot/canter and often a calm and happy demeanor. As the patriarch of the herd, he will show younger, more recently arrived horses who is boss in the pasture, especially when there is food involved. With people he is usually gentle and loves attention, snuggles and treats.
Author Davis Finch riding Irresponsible King aka:Stan
Even though he is calmer than he once was, he is still a sensitive horse. The good side of this temperament is he is highly responsive under saddle and reciprocates emotionally when I ride him. He is also very intelligent and will be waiting at the gate closest to me, even if he has to cross the pasture to be there. There are still moments when the fire that got him dubbed “the terror of Bay Meadows” in his racing days shows through, but it is rare enough that it seems almost quaint. Due to an old palate injury from the racetrack, he has always roared, but now it more of a sweet purr. He is Square Peg’s beautiful and quirky grandpa.
Square Peg Foundation is in its (ahem!) 20th year…. The stories we’ve amassed over the years are rich and sweet and even when it’s a story about loss, we’ve looked for the lessons and celebrated the joys.
Our commitment as we look to the next 20 years is to bring in new voices that bring fresh perspectives while upholding the value we place on playfulness, joy, and curiosity.
Mike walked into our lives about a month ago. Mike has a sense of timing and fun. Mike looks at a horse and feels their personality and his quick mind begins spinning stories, songs, and ultimately, movies.
Needless to say, Mike and I hit it off immediately and the horses adore him.
Mike is going to be producing content for Square Peg and I can’t wait to let you see what he’s going to serve up for us.
I hope you love his first musical video half as much as we do. Stay tuned for a series of interviews Mike will conduct with the Square Peg herd.
Coastside Gives is well underway with a local day of giving culminating on May 2, 2024.
You can support us by clicking the graphic below to donate and/or sharing this post on your socials.
Stay Quirky and stay tuned for more of Mike’s interviews with the horses!
