Lauren Johnson

Region: Southeast

I was born and raised on a cattle farm outside Lake Charles, Louisiana. My father rescued retired racing horses and used them to round up cattle on the farm. Riding since age five, my first horse was a Shetland pony named Nancy. At 13, I began competing in rodeo events: barrels, poles, and goat tying. In my junior year of college at Indiana University in Bloomington, I worked at Dublin Racing Arabians where I learned how to train horses, drive a dump truck, and manage the farm.

In 2000, after moving to North Carolina, I started rescuing horses. I now have five rescues, including my personal trail horse Luna, a Tennessee Walking Horse. All the rescues are trained to work with children and veterans or other people with PTSD.