Jim Gath, founder of Tierra Madre Horse and Human Sanctuary, welcomed Northeast Valley News into his “safe and peaceful environment” filled with families meant for horses, and humans, in need of healing and care. 

Before the Tierra Madre Horse and Human Sanctuary began, Jim Gath had thirteen of his own horses he rescued. 

Gath told Northeast Valley News he originally wanted the sanctuary to be a boarding facility but began to struggle when he only had eleven boarders for his thirteen horses.  

“You’re all they’ve got,” his friend said to him when Gath asked for help. 

“It was at that moment, right then, I decided I would give horses that have been abandoned, neglected, injured, abused, no matter how they’d lost their happy home—I would give them the home, the healthiest happiest home—lives they could never imagine,” Gath said.  

Gath added “human” to the title of the sanctuary because people who work and often visit the sanctuary told him it’s their sanctuary too. A place proven to help them find peace. 

Various groups have been known to visit the sanctuary for this reason—homeschool classes, the Maricopa County Juvenile Probation Department, classes of neurodivergent individuals and members of the public at large. 

Tierra Madre Horse and Human Sanctuary lives by an anonymous quote saying, “Trust no man in whose eyes you do not see yourself reflected as an equal.”

 The meaning of the quote was meant to show that horses are to be seen as an equal. 

“Horses, they’re our equals. They’re built differently…but we all have a spirit,” Gath said. 

“By looking at the person in the eye you know whether you can trust him or not. Horses are even better at it than we are…and if you don’t consider that horse your equal, don’t trust ‘em. And it’s the same with humans, if I don’t trust you as an equal, if I don’t treat you as an equal, don’t trust me,” Gath said. 

One horse by the name of M’Stor (Mister) found his way to Tierra Madre after experiencing an injury during a race. Gath received a call from the race track saying that M’Stor had broken his knee, and if he wasn’t off the racetrack before the middle of the week, the horse would be sent away— in a slaughter truck.

“Get him over here,” Gath said.

The injury was identified as a slab fracture on M’Stor’s front right knee and was expected to take one year to heal. But due to M’Stor keeping all his weight on his font left hoof, he developed abscesses in the hoof, which decreased his chance of survival from 90% to 50%. 

After nearly two years of helping M’Stor, the doctor was able to confirm that he could return to the arena. 

“We turned M’Stor out into the arena and he ran around that arena three times as fast as he could, and he’s never looked back…but that’s the kind of stories we have here,” Gath said.

“We all have our own stories. Some are good, some are bad. We all have bad, and we all have good. All these guys (the horses) do too. Once again, proving that we’re all equal.” 

The sanctuary welcomes donations and the public can visit by appointment.

Contact the sanctuary at 480-747-1070.