Restoring Hope for Shiloh Equestrian Center (after Milton)

Shiloh Equestrian Center began as a God-inspired dream to touch the lives of people through the ministry of horses. Our names are Travis and LaNae Luttrell, from Plant City FL, and we would like to share our story with you, in the hopes that it may inspire you to help us financially restore what Hurricane Milton destroyed in October 2024.

As children, Travis and I had extensive experiences with horses that left an indelible impact on our hearts. As college sweethearts, we were married in 1992 and began our careers – Travis as a band director and myself as a graphic designer, ultimately landing in Orlando. Travis later joined the US Navy in 2001 and we made the move to the Tampa area to be near MacDill AFB. It was during this time the seeds of our horse-addiction began to grow. We leased, boarded, and then purchased two horses at a local stable. The dream that had laid dormant for decades was now in full bloom!

After much prayer and searching, in 2012, God provided 18 overgrown acres and a small, run-down farmhouse from the 1970s in a rural area of Plant City, Florida. IT WAS PERFECT!! As we walked and prayed for God’s peace over every inch of the neglected property, we saw God’s vision for what it would become through eyes of faith and enthusiasm! The prayer was that all who visited our ranch would feel Gods love and an overwhelming sense of PEACE. And that’s how our ranch name came to be; for the word “Shiloh,” is a Hebrew word that means “Place of Peace.”

With the help of many human angels, it took just six months to renovate the little farmhouse, prepare the land, create a tiny 6-stall stable out of an existing lean-to, and have tons of fencing installed. Now, it was finally time to bring our horses home! Shortly after, several friends began to board their horses with us, and Shiloh Equestrian Center was officially in business!

The next phase in our journey was building our dream barn…a gathering place that would become the heartbeat of our ministry. Travis and I would sketch ideas together for hours, and all the while, God kept whispering to us both, “Go bigger.” We would start over… “No kids. Dream bigger.” Again, we would take a deep breath and start again. Once we both finally had the “Ah-Ha” moment from God, we laughed out loud and understood immediately what Noah must have felt. For this would not be just a barn; God was calling us to build an ARK. Trusting for His provision, we took the leap of faith, secured the loans, and the first loads of fill dirt were delivered in 2015. Once the main structure was complete, we had 12 beautiful stalls. These were quickly filled with horse friends we cherished, and others were filled along the way by horses who had owners who needed rescuing.

Each year, we would use our tax refund to complete the interior phases of what everyone fondly called the “Taj-Maha-Barn.” Our hands literally touched everything in the building process from studs, drywall, plumbing, electrical, painting, to cabinet installations. Our bodies were so sore, but our hearts were so full building this dream. Our “ark” soon included a tack room, feed room, a small downstairs apartment (intended to take care of our parents in the future), two bathrooms, and a large central gathering room with a full kitchen, where people could relax and connect with one another. Upstairs was a loft with two beds and another small apartment which provided a home and safe haven for our “adopted niece” for three years. After she married, the upstairs apartment became a place where many friends, snowbirds and family would stay, for free, to enjoy the peace that the ranch provided. Most guests had a favorite horse they liked to love on. Some even found fulfillment in doing chores around the barn. Many prayers, laughs and tears were shared over group dinners and deep conversations. It was magical!

Throughout the nine-year building process (which was almost done), we never knew what the “official horse-centered ministry” would be in the end. We were called to be the ark builders. We believed that God would bring a partner alongside us to take the ministry to the next level. It could have been anything horse related, such has helping veterans with PTSD, horse rescues, physical therapy, helping people with disabilities or anxiety, or simply remaining what it was - a horse-boarding facility. Until God chose to give us that answer, our ministry was to love on whomever God put in our path.

We provided superior care for every horse, and shared God’s love with the owners and every guest that visited. Over the years, we saw so many people suffering from unfathomable hurt, bitter divorces, friends who lost jobs, people under tremendous burdens, and many who were grieving lost loved ones. God has used our ranch and these amazing horses to help ease deep wounds and bring people some semblance of peace…. even if it was just for a few hours. We have had the privilege to see hundreds of guests swing by our ranch – which has NO social media presence. These guests were hand-picked by God to come, whether by our invitation or our boarders. What an amazing gift to be stewards of such a place!

Enter Hurricane Milton on October 9, 2024. The Itchepackesassa Creek is a small creek that runs behind our 18-acre ranch. Tremendous development in Plant City and the surrounding area is contributing massive amounts of stormwater into this creek that has never been maintained or expanded to accommodate the runoff. To prevent disaster, we begged for help from local, state and even federal agencies for almost ten years to fix the failed watershed BEFORE allowing new development, but nobody would listen.

Hurricane Milton only dropped 10-12 inches of rain (compared to Irma’s 9 inches, and did not flood any structures), so we thought we would be ok. On Wednesday night, with only three inches of rain, our property was almost at Irma flood levels! By 7:00am the next morning, the water billowed into our property in staggering waves. It was rising an inch an hour and we watched helplessly as it engulfed our land, our home, and then the entire barn. Of 18 acres, our driveway was the only remaining dry patch of land.

Four of our boarders were able to get their horses to other dry barns in the area. My sister and I walked the remaining 10 horses down the street to her dry pasture. My family and our “adopted” parents who lived in the barn apartment began getting things off the floor and onto tables and beds – as high as we could, not knowing how high the water would rise. In the end, there was 18-inches of water in our home and 10-inches in the barn. Days later, an army of coworkers from Wish Farms (my current employer), and other friends, came to help us remove all the damaged items and pack up what could be saved. We watched in disbelief as five dumpsters hauled away our furniture, beds, bookshelves, dressers, desks, the cabinets of three full kitchens, appliances, and the hardest of all, my mother’s heirloom piano that she bought when she was just 18 years old in the early 1960s. We had lost our home, our barn, our ministry, and our business in a matter of hours.

It is now one month since Hurricane Milton and work continues to try to find a new normal as we wait for God to show us the path forward. Our flood insurance will only cover the original, little farmhouse, but our home is no longer a viable living option, due to the risk of future flooding in this now, overdeveloped area. Unfortunately, insurance companies will not cover barn/agricultural structures for anything other than fire. None of the damage to the barn (tack room, feed room, downstairs apartment, central gathering area), the loss of feed and hay, the removal of over 6-10 huge oak trees, fence repair, damaged farm equipment or the contamination of our grazing land is covered by insurance. This is why we need your help!

Travis and I have always been the givers. We are the ministers. We are the rescuers. Yet, God has placed us in this position of vulnerability and need, and it has been humbling and rewarding at the same time. The love and graciousness that others have poured out to help us has touched our hearts in ways that words cannot express. It has reassured us that God’s purpose for our lives, and the time we were honored to invest in the lives of others, will never be lost. Our ministry involved horses, but it was always about the people…it was about being salt and light in this dark world.

Our heart’s desire is to rebuild and continue God’s ministry of healing people through horses, but we must seek God’s face and wait on Him to order our steps. Do we rebuild in our current location when we believe it will be flooded year after year by new development that is much higher than our land? Is He calling us to start over in a different location? Or is God calling us into a new season that doesn’t involve horses at all? (We believe it is important to be honest with you, as we do not want to accept your donations under false pretenses.) The truth is, we don’t have God’s answer yet; we must trust Him and wait on Him. But, in the meantime, we still have 14 horses to care for, and must press forward to do what we can, where we are, with what we have. Your donations will fill a critical need as we put our lives back together and find our new normal. We are extremely grateful for any financial gift you can give, but more than that, we covet your prayers the most as we seek God’s will for our future.

With great humility and thanks,

Travis & LaNae Luttrell

This is what we want to get back to...