The Big Purple Barn, A Sanctuary

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Bowie, MD
The Big Purple Barn, A Sanctuary

Providing a lifetime of comfort and care to our sanctuary animals and connecting our community.
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The Big purple Barn, located at Hidden Haven Farm, is a non profit organization that seeks to promote the horse human bond through innovative education and outreach programs we offer to the community that utilize our resident equines. We provide a permanent home and care to 15 special needs equines from our work with local rescues. We provide volunteer opportunities, horse care education, riding l

essons, day camps and various programs throught the year. Our volunteer staff is highly trained, our resident horses are personable and eager to interact with people and our programs are are geared towards teaching people about the joys and responsibilities of horses.

08/29/2024

The heat has returned and Cesquealia made it to her wallow! Did you know pigs don't sweat? They use mud and the water in the wallows to help them cool off. In this intense heat, it's critical to keep them cool!

Does Cesquealia remind you of anything else 🤔? If you said hippopotamus 🦛 you'd be right! While fairly far removed, they ARE actually related!

08/28/2024

While all the kids are headed back to school, we are quiety wrapping up summer ☀️ and preparing for the fall programs 😀. Miles hopes to see you soon!

08/26/2024

Happy National Dog Day! Our house horses love to be a part of everyday farm life. Pictured are Sookie and Sailor with their camp friends 🧡.

08/24/2024

We've spent the summer hosting in house camps as well as visiting camp groups from around the region, helping kids discover horses! Po has happily offered to be the spokesman for our groups, always kind and gentle and curious, which helps kids connect.

When you support our organization, you not only provide a lifetime of care for our residents, but you support opportunities for community connections like this! Check out our website for sponsorship and donation opportunities and be a part of our herd! For over 20 years we've been making a difference in our community 💜.

08/23/2024

Do you know what this is?

It's a hoof soak boot.

If you remember, last summer we battled an unrelenting abcess and bone infection with Bruce. One year later, we are abcess free!

He got lots of donations of supplies for his care including this boot that was too small for his foot. Instead of soaking a hoof in a bucket, you place their hoof in this boot, add the Epsom salts and water, and cinch it closed so if they move a little, the soak stays with them.

Abby now has an abcess and this boot it perfect for her smaller frame. Abby has been battling lyme disease and was diagnosed with Cushings disease as well. Ponies with cushings have a lower immune response and can struggle with abcesses, even when regulated on medication. Add to that her already damaged feet thanks to laminitis, and you have the right mix to get an abcess.

Our job at the sanctuary is to provide the very best care we can whatever the changing health status is in our residents. Abby already gets special accommodations for her ongoing health issues, and now she will get more specialized care for her hoof. Worry not! We are on the job providing her with soaks to help relieve the pressure and draw out any infection as well as bandage changes to protect the wound (which is at the top of her coronary band) and accommodations for her stall and turn out to ensure she has maximum comfort.

If you'd like to donate towards caring for Abby, and all of our residents, please click the link on this post or visit outer website for additional options!

08/21/2024

It has definitely been a challenging summer this year thanks to the heat! We have worked hard to keep our residents, volunteers and guests safe, while still providing opportunities for pur community to explore, discover and connect with our programs!

Po-tato has been quite the little star 🌟 and works hard to engage with his littlest guests and inspire them to be the next generation of animal advocates!

08/19/2024

All of us in the herd are sending love and light for a speedy and complete recovery to our friend and supporter, Rosemary! She got the liver transplant she's been needing for over a year. Her surgery is complete and the recovery is underway!

08/18/2024

We'd like to thank everyone who came to Party for Po-Tato!

We don't know how old Po is exactly, but we estimate him in him mid 20s by now. Po won't tell us and we don't ask! We are just grateful for each year we have to celebrate 🥳 with him, because he deserves to be celebrated 💜.

We had a great afternoon visiting with guests, and sharing treats that included sliced watermelon 🍉, cupcakes 🧁 and even cookies 🍪 decorated like watermelon! Po enjoyed everything and posed for photos with guests 😊. He's quite the little celebrity 😉.

If you'd like to support Po and his friends here at the farm, you can donate right through this post!

🎉Happy Birthday 🎂 Po-tato 🥔🥳

08/17/2024

Come grab some watermelon or a cookie and join us today for a Party for Po-Tato! We are here until 4...come visit the animals 😀

08/17/2024

We wrapped up our last camp of the season on Friday! 🎉 We had an amazing summer, meeting lots of amazing youth, that each taught us something as they learned from our animals, and left an indelible mark on the fabric of our farm.

We hope you will join us next year!

08/15/2024

Wow! 11 years ago, Jewel officially joined the herd. We watched her go through the the New Holland Auction just before Christmas amd get bailed to safety before the organization that pulled her got raided by the IRS and shut down. We lost track of her for months until she resurfaced on a post in the spring by the barn that had completed her quarantine.

After the original organization was shut down, they essentially abandoned all of the horses at various quarantine barns and stopped paying their bills and advocating for their adoption. This particular barn was looking to place her. At that time, we scooped her up! We did take her to out own quarantine facility for about 6 weeks as she needed to recover from a facial injury and gain weight.

We were so happy to finally welcome her HOME! You can come meet our amazing one eared marelet at the farm 💜.

08/15/2024

Life is better with friends! Just ask Po and his friends Sookie and Sailor 💜

08/14/2024

Six years ago, we put Summer up in the top field, when she was healthy enough to go out with friends after her extensive rehabilitation from starvation. Several days later, she buddied up with Jewel, our one eared marelet (our endearing term for her), and the two have been best friends ever since! ❤️

Horses are designed to be in groups. They need friendship and they find comfort and safety in their herds. Today, we are celebrating friendship! 🥰

08/13/2024

Come grab dinner at our Dine To Donate at Texas Roadhouse in Bowie, Md!

08/12/2024

Come see our volunteer, Dakota, at our Dine To Donate at Texas Roadhouse in Bowie, Md! Today until 9!

08/12/2024

Owen wants to know who this new pig is 🤭🤣

08/12/2024

Don't forget our Dine To Donate at Texas Roadhouse in Bowie, Md! Today!

08/11/2024

On today's adventures in horses....our resident velociraptors routinely test the fence line for weaknesses to exploit and they found one!

They must have decided breakfast should be served earlier than we planned and left to find us before getting sidetracked by grass 🙃. We could follow their hoof impressions in the soft ground caused by the rain and see allllll the places they ventured. 🫣 When we saw them and went to go put them back the look we got was clearly, "Oh! There you are! We were looking for you!"

We have perimeter fencing around the entire farm and close the gates each night to safeguard and contain the animals in case they get loose.

Happy Sunday!

08/09/2024

We've got 🌀 Debby making trouble around here. But fear not! We are on the job, working round the clock to make sure everyone is safe, comfortable and cared for!

💎Jewel is happy to have her run in stall freshly cleaned and bedded down so she can choose to take shelter if she wants and be comfortable!

Be safe everyone!

08/08/2024

Boop the nose! 👉 👃

Love, Suzie

08/06/2024

We have lots of expenses here at the sanctuary and it's been a HOT 🔥 summer which has limited our programs. Po-tato has taken it upon himself to come up with solutions and has started a kissing 💋 booth! Every little bit helps! 💜

08/05/2024

We had lots of birthdays 🎂 at the barn last week so we decided to celebrate a little yesterday! We had homemade oat cake, tiny cupcakes 🧁 and watermelon🍉 that the birthday ponies shared with everyone 😋 💜.

🎉We will be announcing Po's annual party information today!

Photo 📸 Left to right: Suzie (with Amber), Summer (with Taylor) and Po-tato (with Tara)

08/04/2024

We like to kick off August with lots of birthday 🎂 celebrations 🍾 ✨! Let's give some Birthday love to Summer!

Today we say HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY to Summer! Summer also came from Lynne Shpak's herd after she passed. When Summer arrived, she was the most emaciated case we had ever tackled. Her body condition was a 1.5 on a scale 1 to 10. We worked so diligently to bring her back to her full health and now she is thriving!

Summer ☀️ celebrates 🥳 each year with her absolute best friend, Jewel, and her favorite human, our Assistant Director, Taylor! 🎉💜

08/03/2024

Please help is shout out a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂 to our One in a Melon, Po-tato Pony!

He may look like a potato 🥔 with a dollop of sour cream, but make no mistake, for him...watermelon is literally life! 🥳 When Po first arrived in 2021, he was so sick and withdrawn. Through trial and error, we eventually discovered how much he LOVES watermelon and it would encourage him to eat when he didn't want to! So we decided to celebrate 🎉 his birthday on a day when everyone celebrates his favorite food...National Watermelon Day!

Happy birthday Po-tato! We love you! ❤️

08/02/2024

Please help us shout HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎂 to Suzie! She is turning 11 today 💜 Suzie was born on this day at Lynne Shpak's Statesman Farm and was named Statesman Ja Dorr. Her mother is Statesman Audacious and her father is Amberfield Stetson.

We don't normally have so much information about our residents, but Lynne was a tremendous influence on our programs and a wonderful mentor and supporter. When she passed away in a freak accident, we were watchful of the dispersal of her horses and were able to bring Suzie here a year after we were able to help Summer.

07/30/2024

Here is Jonas with a very important post 🤭

The farm is closed this week to allow our animals some time to decompress after camp and to allow some down time for our program volunteers. Our animal care volunteers are still working hard to provide top notch care for the residents 💖

We will be back to our normal posting and activities next week!

07/27/2024

Two years ago, Bruce presented us with a dental emergency, a week long stay at the vet clinic, and a diagnosis of EOTRH. Equine Odontoclastic Tooth Resorption and Hypercementosis (EOTRH) is a painful, progressive dental condition that affects horses' incisors and canine teeth, and sometimes molars. He is now monitored 2x a year by the vet and/or dentist, gets medication to provide more comfort and gets extractions as needed. We also manage his feed and hay to provide accommodations for his condition!

One year ago, Bruce was battling an abcess in which the infection invaded the coffin bone and he was in a literal fight for his life for several months as the infection undermined the structures that support the bones in his hoof. He has had countless veterinary visits, additonal farrier support and round the clock care with bandaging and booting to get him back to a point where his body can rebuild his damaged hoof structures.

This year, Bruce celebrated 🥳 overcoming these major health challenges by being a camp pony! Our team has worked tirelessly for the past 3 years to provide Bruce with the support and care he needs and he has blossomed 🌸! This past week he loved interacting with the campers, being groomed, helping the kids practice their veterinary exams and observations, and even made an appearance as a unicorn 🦄! His gentle nature really comes through now and he is a favorite with the camp kids!

Bruce doesn't need to be ridden to make a huge impact in our programs and the people who come participate in them. He also doesn't need to provide a service to be worthy of our time and care. He is definitely here to teach some important things to us and we hope you will come meet Bruce and all of our amazing herd members soon!

When you support our organization, you help us provide for the care of amazing residents, like Bruce, and you help us make a difference in our community through the programs we provide. 💜

07/26/2024

Maggie has been busy this week keeping an eye on campers and helping them learn all about the animals in the sanctuary!

07/25/2024

This week our kiddos learned how all of our animals eat hay and that hay is made from a dried grass. We have LOTS of bamboo on the edges of the farm and we learned that bamboo is also a grass! So, we harvested a bit and opened up the summer ☀️ bamboo bar for business!

The campers got to provide some enrichment for the animals and the animals got a tasty treat so everyone wins! 🏆 We watched them while they enjoyed and we removed the central bamboo stalk when they were finished ✅️.

📸 of Maggie and Suzie enjoying their treat!

Address

6407 Hillmeade Road
Bowie, MD
20720

Telephone

+12406876995

Website

http://www.thebigpurplebarnbowie.org/

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Videos

Po-tato is on the loose! It's time for adventure ✨️ #bigpurplebarnbowie #teampobpb #ponypower #poniesofinstagram #nonprofit

Bruce presents his way of eating a popsicle!

Jewel identifies as a seahorse 🌊 🐎! She loves water in all forms! #bigpurplebarnbowie #teamjewelbpb #oneearedmarelet #seahorse #animalsanctuary #bowiemd

The party must have been amazing! #bigpurplebarnbowie #party #animalsanctuary #bowiemd

The Herd wants to welcome you to summer! ☀️ #bigpurplebarnbowie #summertime #nonprofit #bowiemd

It's been a crazy spring trying to escape the winter doldrums, plan out our Unicorn 🦄 Festival, and get ready to kick off all of out 2024 programs! Here are just a few highlights ✨️ #bigpurplebarnbowie #nonprofit #animalsanctuary #bowiemd

One of our volunteers 🙋‍♀️ donated a case of this watermelon 🍉 hydration water, and Owen is a BIG fan! He says everyone should stay hydrated 💪 It was HOT last week, with temps in the upper 80s and fluids were important! #bigpurplebarnbowie #pigpenbpb #watermelon #nonprofit #animalsanctuary #bowiemd

Bugatti and Bruce...still going strong on the shenanigans into year 3! 💪 😎 Rock on guys 🤟 #bigpurplebarnbowie #shenanigans #animalsanctuary #bowiemd

Caring for over 30 animals, all of whom either have special needs and/or just want to find new and inventive ways to hurt themselves, means big veterinary bills! We've accrued over $4,000 in bills for the first quarter of 2024. Your donations help us provide the BEST care for our animals! #bigpurplebarnbowie #veterinarybills #nonprofit #bowiemd

We know WE feel like millionaires!

Sending a little love to anyone who need it ❤️#bigpurplebarnbowie

Oh yeah Sophia 😎 #bigpurplebarnbowie #teamsophiabpb #horsesanctuary #ohyeah ##horsesofinstagram #nonprofit #bowiemd

When your hard work at the mud farm finally yields results! Mud ponies! #bigpurplebarnbowie

Presley would like for you to send more cookies ASAP! 🍪 😋 He promised to share! #bigpurplebarnbowie

2023 was a challenging year, but we made it through with new skills and knowledge to share with our community. We are looking forward to continuing to create more memories and share more knowledge and experiences with everyone in 2024 and beyond! We deeply appreciate the community of care that supports our mission and believes in our animals and programs. #bigpurplebarnbowie #farmlife #educate #outreach #nonprofit #animalsanctuary #bowiemd

Ahhh, the joys of winter weather on the farm ❄️🙃 #bigpurplebarnbowie #farmlife #winterweather

First snow of 2024 began on January 15th! #bigpurplebarnbowie #snowday

Welcome to the shenanigans of the jingle dork 🎅🤣 #bigpurplebarnbowie #merrychristmas #happycrisis #lol #teammilesbpb #nonprofit #animalsanctuary #bowiemd

Lighting up the Po-tato lamps! These capture Po and his love of watermelon 🍉 perfectly 👌. One stays at the farm, and one will be part of a fundraiser! #bigpurplebarnbowie #teampobpb

We got a super special package to unbox! 2 special, hand-made, one of a kind Po-tato night light lamps! 🤩 If you know Po, you know he loves watermelon 🍉 and these capture that love. Po was a Christmas miracle we made happen in 2020, and today, we are excited to see these. One will be staying at the farm, and one will be part of a fundraiser! Part 2 will see them light up! Let us know what you think!

Shortcuts

Our Story

The Big Purple Barn was originally called Hidden Haven Farm, and established as a sanctuary for special needs horses and ponies. Since 2001, we have cared for over 25 resident horses, ponies and minis, until their call home to the rainbow bridge. In that time, we provided countless outreach experiences to our community and began community based programs to allow youth and adults a way to learn about and interact with our residents on a personal level in a supportive environment

The concept for The Big Purple Barn emerged in 2010 as a place for people and horses to connect and have the opportunity to learn and grow together. We are pleased to announce our non profit application acceptance in 2013. Prior to this, The Big Purple Barn was part of Hidden Haven Farm, established in 1991 and finding a permanent home in Bowie, MD in 2001. The farm worked closely with local rescue organizations providing a permanent home for special needs horses and ponies and minis as well as providing opportunity and access to the animals and basic riding and horse care programs to the community.

As our relationship in the community deepened, The Big Purple Barn was born out of the needs of our community to provide more focused opportunity to discover horses and provide opportunities for special needs populations as well as community service learning opportunities for local schools. Since 2010, we have expanded our programs to include volunteer opportunities, school and event outreach as well as interactive and educational opportunities for special needs members of our communities. In 2013, we received our 501C3 designation. In 2015 we began accepting new animals into the sanctuary and now we proudly provide a home to pot bellied pigs, sheep and goats! Our programs focus not only on animal care and appreciation, but on land conservation and stewardship and urban agriculture.