Hi, we're Elizabeth and Tom Hayes. For the past 10 years we've lived and worked at Pal-O-Mine Equestrian, where we're raising our three daughters right here on the property. Pal-O-Mine is a therapeutic equine facility that uses horses to foster growth, learning, and healing for veterans, first responders, and everyone who comes through the barn.

Tom is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who deployed to Afghanistan in 2018. When he came home, Pal-O-Mine helped him find his footing again, and he learned what so many veterans and first responders discover at the barn: horses reach people in ways words often can't. They read energy and body language, and they respond to honesty, calm, and presence, not rank or what someone has been through. For people who have lived in high-stress, high-alert environments, that bond builds trust, confidence, and a sense of peace that's hard to find anywhere else. Today Tom is part of Roping for Service, Pal-O-Mine's program that teaches veterans and first responders to ride and team rope.

The plan

Every year, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice auctions horses that have served as partners to law enforcement officers. They're well trained, well cared for, and steady, exactly the kind of partner a veteran or first responder needs. Next Labor Day, we're heading to Texas to bring one home. After a career as a partner to law enforcement, this horse will come home to serve those who served.

This won't be another hard-working job. Think of it as a retirement job with purpose. The horse will be ridden only a few days a week at a five-star facility where the horses get vacations several times a year, and it will be loved on every day by staff, volunteers, our girls, and the two of us. We'll donate the horse to Pal-O-Mine for the Roping for Service program, and after its initial care, we'll personally cover its ongoing vet and farrier costs.

Where your money goes

The horse: $10,000–$20,000, depending on the auction.

Hauling/Travel: approx 6,5000

Getting settled: a vet exam, farrier, dental, chiropractic, bodywork, Reiki, and supplements, plus tack: a properly fitted saddle, a bridle and bit like the horse already knows, support boots, and blankets for every season, because a Texas horse has never faced a New York winter.

Anything raised beyond what the horse needs goes directly to the Roping for Service program.

Full Transparency

This is a private family fundraiser, not run by Pal-O-Mine Equestrian.

You can also support Road to Texas by purchasing merch from our online shop, AmericanMade0917, and follow along on our Road to Texas pages on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.

Thank you for helping us bring home a horse that will carry veterans and first responders forward. 

We will be posting updates regularly on our fundraising efforts, farm life, preparing for the new horse, and eventually traveling to Texas for the purchase and bringing him or her home. Come follow our journey! See you on the road!

This is a private family fundraiser, not run by Pal-O-Mine Equestrian. Donations are not tax-deductible and are gifts with nothing received in return. 

Merch!

https://americamade0917.printify.me/

TickTock

www.tiktok.com/@roadtotexas_

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/roadtotexas_/

Thank you for helping us bring home a horse that will carry veterans and first responders forward.

Semper Fi, and see you on the road to Texas.