Let's Talk Local

Most of us have heard the horrifying stories of human trafficking. But there’s another dark world operating in the shadows that few people ever hear about: animal trafficking.

Texas sits along a major trafficking route between the U.S. and Mexico, and innocent animals can become victims of unimaginable cruelty. Animals are exploited, abused, and even used to conceal illegal substances. For some, rescue comes just in time. For others, it never comes at all.

Dawn Olivieri is determined to change that.

At Moon Mountain Sanctuary and Rescue, Dawn has created 160 acres dedicated to second chances. Nearly 200 horses rescued from kill auctions now call the sanctuary home, along with bison, camels, zebras, donkeys, and other animals that needed someone willing to fight for them.

When Dawn isn't feeding horses, caring for rescues, or even fly spraying the bison, she's in front of the camera. Fans know her from Taylor Sheridan's world, with roles in "Yellowstone," "1883," "Lioness," and more. But at Moon Mountain, there are no scripts. This is Dawn's real life and her real mission.

Join Sarah Zubiate Bennett as she steps inside Moon Mountain Sanctuary, comes face to face with its incredible animals, hears the heartbreaking stories behind their rescues, and discovers just how far Dawn Olivieri is willing to go to save a life.

Some of these animals were running out of time. Now, they're getting a second chance.

Creators and Guests

Host
Sarah Zubiate Bennett
Venture Philanthropist, Host and Executive Producer of Let’s Talk Local, bold leader driving growth in private and social sectors.
Guest
Dawn Olivieri
Actress and Founder of Moon Mountain Sanctuary and Rescue

What is Let's Talk Local?

Join host Sarah Zubiate Bennett on Let’s Talk Local as she uncovers the stories, people, and places shaping Dallas, fostering a stronger and more connected community—let's get to know the real Dallas!

Dawn Olivieri:

What? Do a drive around? You wanna do a drive

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

around talk about it. Yeah. I think. Yeah. I think so.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Do mind?

Dawn Olivieri:

I love it. I love it. Really, the moon is under construction. As you can see.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Well, yeah. That's huge. That's a big building

Dawn Olivieri:

over There's a ton well, that's gonna be my house.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's a big building.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Hallelujah. Good for you. But, all of this

Dawn Olivieri:

is gonna change. Obviously, that's gonna stay. It's like a relic. But we're gonna build a welcome center here. Oh.

Dawn Olivieri:

Right now, we're completely remodeling the main barn Uh-huh. Which is so exciting. But this whole area is gonna be like a welcome area, benches and grass under the trees, this whole like a circle drive with a fountain in the middle. You know, it's gonna be a whole thing. We have a whole design coming together.

Dawn Olivieri:

Right now we have this as a pop up feed room because we've torn literally everything out of the barn.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh. Yeah. We walked in here. Oh, you just gave

Dawn Olivieri:

it I'll take you on a walk through there because normally, this is not what this looks like, but

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

we had to take and reach out. Whatever you want from it.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's okay. I mean, this is a, you know, it's a story of stare of, like, our sex. It's this is this is a necessary evil. Oh my gosh. Look at those beautiful Do it so so many things.

Dawn Olivieri:

Right now, we're just gonna head down here to feed the baby. To feed Soot. That's his name.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

His name's I've seen on your Instagram.

Dawn Olivieri:

Alright. This is Tinsel. She's a sweetheart. Friend. Hey, Tinsel May.

Dawn Olivieri:

You just getting a little salt drink?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Are you just getting a little salt lick? Yeah?

Dawn Olivieri:

You wanna give

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

a salt kiss? Oh, okay. Oh, thank you.

Dawn Olivieri:

Thank you so much.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It's away. You gonna see everybody? We see everybody. My goodness. She's adorable.

Dawn Olivieri:

You're the sweetest girl in the whole world. Okay. See you later.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And so do you right now, do you live on property?

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, yeah. I live I'm Tippi Hedring it Hedring in it.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Is amazing.

Dawn Olivieri:

Tippi Hedring lived in a camper while she had a big cat rescue. So I feel like once I heard about that, was like, oh my god.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

We're all

Dawn Olivieri:

I was already doing it. I'm like, okay. That makes me happy. So how many

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

ranch hands do you have at this point?

Dawn Olivieri:

Mostly girls, which I find interesting. Isn't that? Isn't it interesting? Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

That is crazy.

Dawn Olivieri:

Mostly girls. I mean, have a a couple guys that do the building stuff. Yeah. We have a crew here right now, obviously, remodeling the barn. Uh-huh.

Dawn Olivieri:

What is it, Rosa? But mostly girls. And I would say it's probably like eight eight girls with a few guys, but all the main hands, barn manager is a girl. Uh-huh. She's off today, but mostly all girls here.

Dawn Olivieri:

Wow. They just work better. Guys end up bickering and they're really gossipy and it's like, get them out of here.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Isn't that funny? Yeah. It's funny. It's It's really really weird.

Dawn Olivieri:

They'll revolt faster.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. Get little fights with

Dawn Olivieri:

each other.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, there's the

Dawn Olivieri:

bison. He he sprained his ankle, so he's a little bit slow, which makes it good for visitors because

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my goodness.

Dawn Olivieri:

Doesn't try to headbutt nobody. Hi, Timber. Timber's a wolf mix that we pulled out of the out of the Humane Society. Hi, Cha Cha. How's your foot doing?

Dawn Olivieri:

You rub some DMS so

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

on it.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, this stretching. He loves sitting in front of the a frame. Can I give you a fly spray? Love you, Bubba. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

I gotta do your fly spraying. It's okay. How you doing? You feeling good? That's a big

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

pee. So she, like, literally takes care of these animals. Wow. So you take care of these animals?

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You're out here like every day.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, yeah. He usually stays the night on the porch, so I take care of him in the morning and fly spray him every day and give him his loves and him scratches.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You fly spray him? Oh, every day.

Dawn Olivieri:

Every day. Yeah. Because he gets a lot of flies. Oh, your foot's doing a lot better today. Oh, yay.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hello. He likes chin scratches. That's his face.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You like chin scratches? You're a big guy.

Dawn Olivieri:

He's a big baby. Oh, he did a yawning.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, you're hot.

Dawn Olivieri:

That's what it is.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, my gosh. Know. Look at him. Hello. So where did you get him?

Dawn Olivieri:

He came from this seedy auction in Alabama.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Uh-huh. It's at

Dawn Olivieri:

an itchy spot right there. I mean, I had to go, oh, that's my baby. I love you.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

The seedy auction in Alabama.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yep. And I I was actually because I had Yacolina already, and I felt guilty she didn't have a friend. She'd always go in the water,

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

and so

Dawn Olivieri:

I was like, you know, maybe I'm gonna try to find a water buffalo friend for her, but I needed a bottle baby because they can be dangerous Yep. If you don't raise them from young. So I was looking for a water buffalo baby.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

What does that got out there?

Dawn Olivieri:

And there were two at this auction, and I was like, okay. Does that feel better? Yeah. That feel good. And so I was I called the auctioneer and it was kind of like a like a rednecky kind of place Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

In Alabama. And they're like, well, we don't have anything online, but we'll call you when they come in the ring and then you can bid on them over the phone. I was like, okay. I'll do that. Let me do your leg, cha cha.

Dawn Olivieri:

Maybe it's helping. Okay. Yep. You kinda go over. Get out of his way.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. He's let me do your knee. Okay? Can I put this stuff on your knee?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh. And So you do this every day?

Dawn Olivieri:

Well, because when his leg is hurt. Yeah. He's just putting some DMSO.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

So what are you putting on there?

Dawn Olivieri:

DMSO. Oh, I love you too, Bubba. I love you too. I know. You're my baby.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

This is so you.

Dawn Olivieri:

I can't yeah. Is how All

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

of our animals are wild, and the thing is like, it's it's crazy.

Dawn Olivieri:

Well, I just love on everybody, and I talk to everybody, so we all become very close. He's we call him our resident watchdog because he will go after anyone. Like, if you're staying in the camper hill, patrol the camper and rock the camper. Yes. If you're in it, we're gonna have to build some sort of fencing because, like, there's a volunteer that's staying here.

Dawn Olivieri:

So he's like, I need to know who you are, why you're here. I'm in charge, so you can't go anywhere without my permission. Like, that's literally now he's a little injured, so he can't do it as much.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

But Aw. But you're strong. You're a mighty guy, aren't you? He's a big baby. Yes.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You are.

Dawn Olivieri:

But also very strong. Very Oh, absolutely. You know? Like, you don't mess god. You don't mess with him.

Dawn Olivieri:

And when he's feeling a 100%

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, yeah. He's healthy.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah, he'll try to play and see how much he can, like, are you gonna spar with me? And, like, no. You're like, go.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It's like I stand down. I know.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's a no go. Yeah. But he lets me ride him too. I don't when he's, you know, injured, but he's my big baby bear. He's my big baby bear.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. He's my big baby So not all of the animals are up for adoption?

Dawn Olivieri:

No. There are some sanctuary animals. Sanctuary sanctuary watch your watch Swipey.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

So Oh my gosh. I'm like,

Dawn Olivieri:

what is Yeah. He's fumbly, but he'll still come at you.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. He's just you know what? He teaches mindfulness. You just have to always be aware around him. Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

I know his movements, but for people that don't, they you just have to always be aware.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And it's funny because I was going to say hi Yeah. To this one, and he was like No.

Dawn Olivieri:

Just him. He's the baby. Yeah. Yeah. He wants all the attention.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. What's that, ChaCha?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You're good boy.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Know your best girl

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

too. Oh my gosh. For sure. Yeah. He's huge.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Right.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. And he's a baby.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And he's the only one?

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Yeah. He's just a year old.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And are these too close?

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. They all hang out. There's like a bovine crew, so she's in the crew. Yacalina's in the crew. Sometimes the zebras and the camels, the kind of the exotics will all kinda roam around together and and hang out.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hi. A lot of times they go underneath the structures that are being built because there are really just giant sundecks that are now covering them so they can get out of the flies. Yeah. But DMSO, you were asking me, DMSO is anti inflammatory. It's really an incredible thing that will permeate through the skin barrier and pulls anything in.

Dawn Olivieri:

So if you were to put this on and then add some magnesium, it will draw that magnesium straight in. And you you also as a human can use this, and my parents use it every day. So and anything that hurts, if you've got any muscle or joint issues and you wanna pull something in, like castor oil will pull, this pulls even more. Wow. So that's what it is.

Dawn Olivieri:

Wow. They they sell that everywhere. Wonder if Tanner uses

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

this.

Dawn Olivieri:

I'm sure he does. Yeah. It's it's great for injuries. And even since I started putting it on, he's he's getting better now. So it's feeling better.

Dawn Olivieri:

Maybe he stepped in a hole.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

This is really cool. Well,

Dawn Olivieri:

you know, that was my dream here is to have an interactive place where it's not like you don't just go look at the animals.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes. Under

Dawn Olivieri:

supervision,

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

you Of can course. Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

Connect with them.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

So do you do you do you sell any zebras?

Dawn Olivieri:

No. I don't sell anything.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You don't sell anything?

Dawn Olivieri:

No. Because I don't really breed anything. So I don't have anything to sell. I just rescue them and then they come live here. Now there are some that I I absolutely could rescue more, like I could pull more out of these pipelines.

Dawn Olivieri:

Uh-huh. Especially zebras. There's a lot of zebras Oh. And friendly zebras too. I mean, these groups, like, the two brothers so that we have three zebras.

Dawn Olivieri:

Zanzibar is the oldest.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Uh-huh.

Dawn Olivieri:

He came in with Chanu.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Uh-huh.

Dawn Olivieri:

And they were best friends, so I was like, oh, I can't split them up. Yes. You know? So I pulled him as well as Chanu when I was going to get those those water buffalo. Then they're like, oh, we forgot to call you.

Dawn Olivieri:

They already sold. I was like, oh my gosh. This is like so annoying. And so I went back on the website just to, you know, dream about missing the water buffalo, and I saw him. He was a baby bison, bottle fed baby bison, and I was like, okay.

Dawn Olivieri:

Maybe that would be a good friend for yakking. Wow. And so I I called on him, and then he had a best friend that was a zebra. And I was like, okay. I guess now we're getting two of those guys.

Dawn Olivieri:

And I had him transported after that auction. So that's their story. Okay. I know you're a

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

five zero one c three, but as far as revenue goes, I mean, you have to make revenue.

Dawn Olivieri:

Well, we right now have a pretty pretty strong donor base.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, okay.

Dawn Olivieri:

So we have we have benefactors that feed in to our operational costs, our building costs. It's not forever. Yeah. Obviously, nothing's forever. But the reason I'm connected with Austin outside of a horse that we connected over is that we are working on a merch line

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

Because that is exactly my aim. There are alternate revenue Yeah. Lines so that we can be self sufficient. Yes. One of my Oh, here we go.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Hey, Zai Zai. Oh. One

Dawn Olivieri:

of our

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

the doggy.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hello,

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Ozi. Oh my gosh. Look. Ozzy, you're so little. I know he's so little, but he

Dawn Olivieri:

runs everybody out here.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Hey, Ozzy. Oh, yeah. Thank you. Are you Taffy?

Dawn Olivieri:

Where are going? He's like, whatever, dude.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Get out

Dawn Olivieri:

of my way.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes. So, yeah, there.

Dawn Olivieri:

That's his attitude. There. That's his friend, Oliver. They just got out one day, and they were just he's best so Oshi's best friend since he was a baby with the big mule out here, and he's really like, yes, Zaya. I'm gonna stop.

Dawn Olivieri:

Don't worry. I'm gonna stop. Hello, Ziya Ziya.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Hi. I

Dawn Olivieri:

was telling them all about you and how you love kisses. Oh.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Do you wanna have a baby?

Dawn Olivieri:

Maybe one day. I'm only one year old, so maybe in four years.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Hi, baby.

Dawn Olivieri:

I told her that girl

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

camels are beautiful. Hello. Look at the lashes. Oh my gosh.

Dawn Olivieri:

She even burned half of them off because she loves fires so much.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

What?

Dawn Olivieri:

They love fires. They love bonfires. Look at Hey, boys. Where are guys going? See the boys.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, they're leaving. Okay.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Is so crazy. Oh, she

Dawn Olivieri:

Love you.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Hi. It

Dawn Olivieri:

was nice. I love you.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Hi. Oh, gosh. Okay. So you don't sell any of the horses?

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, no. The horses, yes. The horses The exotics are just Okay. Here as sanctuary animals. No.

Dawn Olivieri:

The horses, 100%, we adopt out Yep. As many as we can.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Got you.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. So the horses, we have a whole program. So I almost think of the horses as separate as

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

these Okay.

Dawn Olivieri:

These guys we have here as obviously for sanctuary animals but to draw in for kids when they come in for the kid programs and for people. Because one of the designs of Moon Mountain is that we are putting together cabins so that people can come stay

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, I love that.

Dawn Olivieri:

Volunteer and also interact with the animals. Yeah. And give kisses to the camel. Camels, that's Oh my gosh. Me and my baby.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And interact with the animals. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

So that's hence why I mean, it just works that they're all really friendly. My goodness. They Oh. Okay. What did he do with my hat?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Like I have so many questions. Yeah. Because this is amazing that you're gonna open this up for more kids to come. Oh, yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

Mean, that it's so under construction right now, but as we go, it just will everything will become beautiful, you know. Like down here we have a trash pile, but we're erecting like a like a privacy fence there so you won't see that. Oh, there's Santa brothers.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Let's see him. Oh, I love your I love the the bigger hills out here. Yeah. It's beautiful. The mountains really.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Zanzi, are you eating in

Dawn Olivieri:

the shade? Zanzibar.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Hi. Come here, Zanzi. Hello.

Dawn Olivieri:

Can I have a kiss?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh. How funny.

Dawn Olivieri:

Can I have a kiss, Zansi? Hello.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You're saying hi. Say hi, buddy. Oh my goodness. Are you gonna show her your teeth? Some nice

Dawn Olivieri:

grass you got in your mouth? Are you the most handsome zebra here?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh

Dawn Olivieri:

my gosh. I would say, yes. I would say, yes, you are. Yes, you are.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And it's really, like, crazy because our zebra herd, it hasn't really grown.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, interesting.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And so think that the male is just not

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, are they all girls?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

No. We have a male. But they haven't

Dawn Olivieri:

I mean, it's one boy babies. Uh-huh.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Interesting. I guess Yvette's gonna go try and To see if he's check out. Like, but they are they have a symbiotic nature with our wildebeest.

Dawn Olivieri:

Okay.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

So they're always together. Uh-huh. I would never approach them.

Dawn Olivieri:

I know. When they're wild, they're legit. They're wild. Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And so I see this and I'm just like, what? My mind is and I know I saw it on Instagram. It's just connect it

Dawn Olivieri:

in real life. Because because you have yours at your place and how they are.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I'm like, this is not computing for me Because right

Dawn Olivieri:

No. He goes to school, so he gets training. He's had foundational training. He's had a saddle even school.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Right here. It's your school?

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Here. We just train all the babies. Yeah. We have trainers that come in.

Dawn Olivieri:

I'm one of them. And we work with everybody. He's in the training program too. So and since he started just some foundational training techniques, he has completely changed. Like his energy, when he first got here, he was very mouthy, very like wanted to play hard and bite a little bit or pretend to bite.

Dawn Olivieri:

But since he started school, he's gotten so relaxed and so chill. And he's just like a nice guy.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Now he's just a nice guy. Oh my gosh. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

This is the adoption pen. So pretty much every baby and horse in this pen is available for adoption at various levels. We can go in

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

there. Too.

Dawn Olivieri:

I know. Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

This is

Dawn Olivieri:

a catastrophe.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I don't need to be here. Oh my gosh.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hello babies. No. Are you guys the sweetest babies?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Lily, look. Oh, we can go in?

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Yeah. Come on in. Interactive. Hi, you guys.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hi. This is Shenandoah. I don't know how she's not been adopted yet. She's literally a beautiful wild mustang that we have just trained from the ground.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

This one.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yep. Shenandoah. Beautiful girl. Yes, you are. She rides now.

Dawn Olivieri:

She does all yes, the she does.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, my

Dawn Olivieri:

She's like, what is that thing? No. Babies. But, yeah, all these babies are in different levels of their training. Oh, gosh.

Dawn Olivieri:

Some are fully rideable, some are new and still putting on weight, some are Hi you, you're a sweetie.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And these are some of the ones that you've rescued?

Dawn Olivieri:

All of these are horses. Yeah. They were all slaughter pipeline horses.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my Mostly

Dawn Olivieri:

foals or yearlings that we pulled and brought them into the program. And so Oh, gosh. Right now, we're building these fences with these paddocks in this alley, and then a round pen in this front one because the the point of this whole situation is that we split the group up into four sections

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Uh-huh.

Dawn Olivieri:

And we section by section bring them in each week to the round pen to work and then we let them out again and then they do they do this rotation out. This is Chico, he's so cute. He's like He

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

looks like a

Dawn Olivieri:

chinkateague pony mix.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

He's so cute. He's a

Dawn Olivieri:

You're such a cute guy with a

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

face. Does. And you're mane, you

Dawn Olivieri:

have the best hair. I don't know why you're so scared right now. Is it because all these people are here? Probably. Why?

Dawn Olivieri:

See, back up and he come forward again. There you go.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

That's like, what

Dawn Olivieri:

do you know the password? They're like, do you know how to back up and give me space?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I grew up writing and my daughter loves writing. So my son, he's like, take it or leave all the writing.

Dawn Olivieri:

You gotta revisit the even beyond the writing honestly, it's the connection I

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

know it.

Dawn Olivieri:

With them and what they teach about pressure and release.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know that.

Dawn Olivieri:

Even if your kids learned that, I'd be like, who even cares about the riding part? Learn how to connect and communicate using a cosmic conversation of that pressure and release. Yes. And so many people even when they ride they don't even know this conversation and it blows my mind cause it's how they talk. How could we be riding on a being if we don't even know their language?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes. Yeah, I mean equine therapy is is I mean it's it's a true blessing.

Dawn Olivieri:

This is Ranger. He was actually by a boy and he you know, the boy really had big aspirations and wanted to get a trainer and learn how to He's do beautiful. But he was a little too green for the boy and he ended up jumping their fence and running through their town and they lost him for a minute and they just couldn't handle him. And I think what horses offer in their reflections is the truth of where you're at. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. And sometimes it's more than you wanna admit because you wanna think you're a better than you really are. And so the horse will reflect back to you exactly how much of a cowboy you are. Yeah. And in that case, I think the the boy was kind of put in his spot and he's like, you know, I think he's too much for me.

Dawn Olivieri:

And it's funny because we'll get returns sometimes and it's never the horse, it's always the person and ability to manage it. Of course. And but now we we placed because that's kinda how we do it. We don't really people don't come here and go, I want that one, you know. We go, what do you know?

Dawn Olivieri:

How are you? Let me see how you are with animals. Yep. Okay. That's how that's how they talk right there.

Dawn Olivieri:

But then and then we say, you know what? Rather than that situation happen, let us match you.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

Let us match you with what you need. Because if you're aspiring, if you really are serious about training and you're watching the videos every day and you really wanna learn, then we'll give you one that will teach you because Yeah. You're gonna have to hit some roadblocks Yep. To learn.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

But if you just kinda wanna get on and ride and get confidence, then there's a whole another horse for you. Yep. He's usually an older horse that's been through

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

it. Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

And is Yep. More relaxed Yep. More accommodating. We just had an autistic kid, well maybe he had Asperger's, it's borderline, But he his energy was all over the place and he's like, I want this one, I want that one. But then one of the ones that he had chosen was very calm around him and I was like, that's the one that's gonna go with them because he actually felt that little boy and was like, I can hold space for you.

Dawn Olivieri:

And it was amazing to watch honestly. Because in my mind I was like, oh, you're not gonna go home with this one, this one. I could see how they were all reacting to horses. Yep. And I'm like, none of those are the right fit, but Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

He actually is rising to the challenge of that kid's of that kid's disposition. Yeah, Maverick, you're a toughie. You're gonna go with a little boy one day.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

This is incredible. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

This is it's energy matching.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It is. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hey, you're a boss.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Love

Dawn Olivieri:

guy. Look at what you've done. You're in a war all the time. Yeah. Now, being out here is really special.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's like the master class of energy.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

You learn a lot. Anyone that comes here to volunteer, they just leave like a fully It's an incredible program.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And people ask me, they're like, oh my god, your children are so awesome. They're so down to earth. It's because of that. And I'm like, it's because we're like outside all the time. That's why.

Dawn Olivieri:

Makes you the best humans.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And it really does. It does. Hello. Hi. Hello.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Hello, baby. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

It really trips me out because these horses like, that's him. He jumped fences, ran away. I mean, who's that? Like, don't even know that horse. That is He's relaxed, he's happy, he feels safe.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hi. There he didn't feel safe, so he had to run

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

out safety. Absolutely.

Dawn Olivieri:

Because he's like, they don't know how to talk

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

to me here.

Dawn Olivieri:

I don't have other horses that I'm connecting with.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. Oh my word. This is so awesome. Yeah. Cause I've I've wanted to use our stalls forever.

Dawn Olivieri:

Well, we could come up with a program even if you took some and we rotated through, you know, and you wanted to use some as a program for some way of doing something at your place.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

We have a girl down in Texas, she does a full a full a full starting competition, which is so cool. And that's also something we could play with at your place because she's in Texas and she wants to start more of these fall challenges.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Do you know where in Texas?

Dawn Olivieri:

I could look it up very easily. Her name's Haley Higgins. It's called the Haley Higgins Foal Challenge. I wanna say it's down outside like a little bit north of Houston.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Okay. Okay.

Dawn Olivieri:

She drives all the way up there from there to pick up horses because she picks up babies. We donate them to her program. Yep. She's a five zero one. And she does this or maybe she's I don't know if she's a five zero one.

Dawn Olivieri:

I don't know if that's true or not. But she does this full starting competition. Hold on, just saw a water ball. And excuse me, bud. Can I come in here?

Dawn Olivieri:

Maverick, I'm a be at your butt. Okay. No scaredies. Okay. And but we that's part of our philanthropic arm is that we will support any five zero one c threes, we'll support any programs like her program with these kids.

Dawn Olivieri:

I mean, it's literally these four h kids will get the horses, they'll do a full challenge, they adopt the horses, and two of those horses just went and won the Texas four h competition. Oh my god. Yes. She just sent me the pictures today. Incredible.

Dawn Olivieri:

And one of those was a moon horse. So she a moon baby, which is just so cool. Right? It is. Is.

Dawn Olivieri:

That's that's part of what we do. I mean, we we do all kinds of different things. If you're a trainer, you have programs, we'll donate to your program. Our main thing here is just saving these horses from slaughter. We end up when we end up with so many, we then have a lot of training going on because as we have them, we might as well give them skills and make them more adaptable to wide range of people.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yep. That's really mostly I mean, that's that's what we do here. That's the program. We started as a horse rescue, but then we're ending up being also a training facility now because Of course. We have so many students.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It always morphs and it's crazy because Mhmm. How many are there?

Dawn Olivieri:

This beautiful blue guy right here, his name's Lavender, he actually was he placed pretty high in the Wild Horse Res Challenge, this guy. We also

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Which one?

Dawn Olivieri:

This one right here. This blue roan. He's just gorgeous. Look at me, baby. Lavender, you wanna come say hi to everybody?

Dawn Olivieri:

You're so handsome. So he has like video content. He was trained by a Navajo Indian. And yep. So we do this wild horse res challenge every year.

Dawn Olivieri:

We started it. First year was last year. We're gonna do another one this year. Hold it here. And the Navajo trainers come.

Dawn Olivieri:

They have a certain period of time to train wild completely wild colts. So he was a completely wild. I pulled him from the slaughter pipeline and he went straight into the res challenge and he's just he's the coolest horse ever. Wow. And so again, like he's one up for adoption.

Dawn Olivieri:

Probably on the higher side of our prices because we we do kind of home things for pretty pretty low amounts. But in his case, like he's at the higher end of our 6,000 is

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

what his price is.

Dawn Olivieri:

Just because of what he knows how to do Yep. How he was trained Mhmm. He was he was in a competition Mhmm. Placed high in the competition. Right?

Dawn Olivieri:

So but that kinda runs our gamut. We don't really have performance horses here. Yep. We don't really we don't really care too much about that

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. Be

Dawn Olivieri:

I mean, you wanna come here and adopt one and

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

do it. Yeah. Yeah. And do it. Yes.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

That's that's so special.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. I'm really good at rescuing them and then and then so particular about the homes that they go to. And I end up we end up with 200 horses very quickly and then I have to pause through the rescuing. Yep. So the more outlets, the more places that they can move or even be a part of programs Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

It just means that we can open up space and rescue more. So it's frustrating when you have to stop rescuing them

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Of course.

Dawn Olivieri:

From immediate needs. But, you know, we're we're doing a lot. I mean, the fact that we opened up just three years ago and we're doing this many head, we're able to we're we're doing awesome considering how new we are. I always call us a baby because we're just starting. Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

And we do we know, there's a couple people that know about us and support us, but we're growing. Hey. And it's it's just the coolest of of ambitions for sure.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know it. It really is. And

Dawn Olivieri:

Ugh. And so many personalities. And they're all individuals and they all appreciate it so much. And the families and the kids that end up coming and picking their best friend is mind blowing.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yep. And how much acreage is this that you have for

Dawn Olivieri:

right here that we've been on is 80. Yeah. I have another I have another 80 that's kind of exactly the same size side. We've been clear cutting. We have it almost full.

Dawn Olivieri:

We have it fully fenced. We just have to get the gates on. Yep. And then a little extra water moving through there. But then we're gonna move we'll flip the herd eventually to go forage forage over there and then give this grass a rest.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's kinda how our plan is. Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Is that

Dawn Olivieri:

right side? Did you go swimming? Yeah. You went swimming. Thank you.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh. Thank you.

Dawn Olivieri:

And this is my first rescue. Hi. River. River. Hello.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hi. Hi, Ricky.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You're a big boy.

Dawn Olivieri:

This is a big girl.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, it's a girl.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. It's a girl. She's such a she's just, like, does her own thing.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh. Does she ever go oh, no. I guess those are up for adoption.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. She just she's free range. That's what we call them, the free roamers. They're the free roamers. So I call this the family.

Dawn Olivieri:

They were covered in cockaburs and like skin and bones, so they're gaining their weight slowly but surely. Blackberry was the worst. She was literally a bag of bones. So she's getting better. You know, it just it takes time.

Dawn Olivieri:

We like we prefer them to be outside and, you know, we bring food for them. So rather than in a stall and then that he just joined their group. He had a a tooth infection that we pulled and treat and

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

treated. Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

Do that about go down. We have multiple pets.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. We have many. Yep. Yep. Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

So that group is just kind of gaining weight and living together as a group. Very happy. A pretty famous horse, at least for the moon anyways. Broke to ride. I don't know if you remember seeing him at all and anywhere.

Dawn Olivieri:

He strolled back. He was a wild mustang that had rope to ride spray painted in red across his body. Yes. Yes. He's a sweet, sweet guy.

Dawn Olivieri:

And definitely one we'll keep on sanctuary, I think. Just because he he's pretty special. And one day we wanna make billboards out of that picture. Yes. So just to spread awareness.

Dawn Olivieri:

So that's his story.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

How many horses do

Dawn Olivieri:

you have on property right now? Probably 200. 200. Handsome. Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

200. It doesn't feel like that though, honestly. Sometimes when they're all in one spot, maybe. But when they're all spread out, you just drive around, you check on everybody. This is a new well.

Dawn Olivieri:

We have Yep. It's gonna be the biggest well on the property, which is cool. This was donated by a donor.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, good.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yep. Just because he built shopping centers, and he's like, you need a municipal water system out here because in case one water goes down, you need to make sure that Yep. So that's amazing. That's Apache. A lot of times the buff the bison and the yak will go underneath here and just get out of the fly.

Dawn Olivieri:

We have this animal communicator come in and she's talking to all the different animals and she goes into that pen and she's like she's like she's talking to this one and he's like he asked her later and he's like, well what did she say? And she said she said she's like she said she didn't like the name someone picked for her. She she wants to be named Twinkles.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You're joking. You're joking.

Dawn Olivieri:

So he's like, okay. I I guess her name is Twinkles now.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Wait, what? Yeah. Wait, okay. Did the lady know what the name was?

Dawn Olivieri:

No, no. She didn't say it. But she called a lot of things true. And when she said that she would actually She's asking, she's requesting that her name be Twinkles. He's like, okay, this is my horse Twinkles.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my god. So that's Twinkles. Oh my god. That's Twinkles.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hey, Star Star. That's Star Star Star. And she was one of our first group of rescues that had the you would have to scroll really far back in our in our story, but she looked like she had been in a bar fight. Her face was so swollen and

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

so beat up.

Dawn Olivieri:

She was given to us by a quarantine facility because she's like that that lady was like, you know, here's your 10 that you rescued but like there's these other five that they all have really bad strangles. She was the worst. So we pull in at like 3AM and I I said to all the volunteers, I'm like, you guys can go but like I can't leave her. I have to doctor her right now and she has to get antibiotics. And it was raining.

Dawn Olivieri:

It was the crate. And everyone's like, we're not leaving, we're staying to help do this. And so we stayed up till four in the morning helping her and she freaking lived. No one can believe it. One can believe it.

Dawn Olivieri:

Is like such So a success many people followed her healing journey because Oh. I documented all of it, and it was such a turnaround. The fact that she lived is insane. Hey, Star. Hello.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hi. Hi, my baby. Say hi, my baby. My baby. Say must be baby.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hi. Yeah. You must be this baby. Love you, Kay. Love you.

Dawn Olivieri:

Just told you a story. Okay. Get out of the sun. It's so hot.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know it. These poor babies. And then you wonder, like, they seem fine. Right? They're fine.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Because they'll find shade.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, yeah. They're fine. They could be in shade

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

if they wanted. I know it. I know it. You're essentially doing this full time, but then you still are acting on the side. Right?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. Or, like, mean

Dawn Olivieri:

All the time when

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I am. All of All of

Dawn Olivieri:

I'm just I mean, the front half of this year, I was acting most of the time. I was doing that more than I was here. So now as of right now, I have one movie in LA probably I'll go do for just a week, but then the rest right now, the rest of my schedule is open.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, that's nice.

Dawn Olivieri:

I just go really hard out here and try to get as much done as I possibly can. Uh-huh. Man. Oh, man. So, yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

So this is really exciting. This is essentially we we had started where this little room was the feed room, but now we're gonna make it bigger, two stalls worth, full feed room. There'll be a door right there leading out to a deck that runs the whole backside

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Uh-huh.

Dawn Olivieri:

Where they'll be able to wash the bins, wash the buckets, wash the wash the feed zone stuff. And these will be stalls, all stalls, and another stall here. This will be a hay room completely covered. This will be another utility room kind of thing. So a

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

lot of work rooms on this one.

Dawn Olivieri:

This is exciting. This is going to be an ozone therapy room. Where? Right this

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, here.

Dawn Olivieri:

You have to imagine it. It's right here. Oh. Here's already some of the fans that have come in. It'll have ozone therapy.

Dawn Olivieri:

It'll also I'm also gunning for this other therapy called Brown's gas, which is an internal molecular hydrogen transport system. Uh-huh. So it can go into your cells and essentially through a charge just neutralize any infections, viruses, bacteria. It's so cool what what that those therapies are doing. But it'll be like a steam room that the horse can stick its head out of and Oh,

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

the the horse.

Dawn Olivieri:

The horse will go inside of this. But people can go in there too. People can you can go in there too.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

The whole time I was like, why is I

Dawn Olivieri:

know. Trust me. It's fine. You. Animals can get in there, but also hanging out in there.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh. Got

Dawn Olivieri:

it. The ozone goes after topical pathogens. Yeah. Brown's gas can go internally into the cell, so this will be a very very cool room to be able to walk the animals into, treat them.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh.

Dawn Olivieri:

Dogs too, anything really. Wow. Then this will be an indoor outdoor break room, which everyone's really excited about. The bathroom's gonna go right over there. The outhouse will go away.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yep. Guess that's all we have right now. And then there'll be like an adoption courtyard, which will be connected to the adoption pens. So Oh my are gonna get done. The all the rafters are being kind of upgraded.

Dawn Olivieri:

Anything rotted is being replaced. We ran all new electrical electrical down down the the spine. Spine. We're We're gonna gonna put big wagon wheel chandeliers down the whole Uh-huh. Length of the barn.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes. It'll be beautiful.

Dawn Olivieri:

My word. Is just the roof pressure washed as you can see the difference. Like, that's what we're working on too. And then we're just gonna keep going down the way. We're right now, they were they just replaced this whole entire section on the wall there.

Dawn Olivieri:

We'll go and do the we're gonna do the other side. And then for wintertime, we're playing with there are these weather blocking curtains called that chicken houses use. Uh-huh. They're on pulleys or automatic drop systems, so Okay. We'll install those, and then it will drop for winter for storms and such, and we can insulate the building.

Dawn Olivieri:

And then in summertime, because it's so hot, we need airflow, and it's it's actually wonderful when this place is all open and airy. Oh, yeah. So for me, it was important not to block that breeze. Yes. So that hence why we just went with the fence design, and we just made it as open air as we possibly could.

Dawn Olivieri:

This is to get that.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. This is great.

Dawn Olivieri:

I know. It's gonna be it's a game changer because now all the stalls have drain systems that are all gonna be able to be cleaned and drained out which as you can see when we walk through the of this, we didn't have that luxury before. We don't have that luxury. So it makes it very hard to sanitize and to clean things. And if we were a regular barn, wouldn't be a big deal.

Dawn Olivieri:

If but because we have a lot of sick horses, pretty much every horse that comes here is sick to start. We it's really important as a rescue, you're able to sanitize spaces so that you can sanitize and then open it up for the next group.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

How many horses are trafficked a year? Do you know that? Approximately?

Dawn Olivieri:

I don't know the number. You don't know? I don't know the number because I think a lot of them are reused too. Yeah. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

It just depends on what exactly is the number you're looking for. Hi. Hi babies. Hi. But yeah, I work with a rescue out of Tennessee that is has a lot of underground stuff going on Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

And they have a firsthand knowledge of everything that's that's happening. And so I get a lot of information. FBI is involved. There's an FBI case open through these rescues working Yep. With underground information.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes. And that's the thing, like, I think The it's fact that this is not even known to It's wild. It's our community I know. Is crazy.

Dawn Olivieri:

I know. Well, that's why we do what we can do to make content, to tell a story, to just lead with that story Yeah. So that these guys that are such sweet beings can get out of that horrible trade. I mean, you know, I hear myself speaking, it's like Try it's same thing.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's like, why do we traffic the innocent? Oh, gosh. It's because they're very easy I to know it. It's awful.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And then what I read is that there's even more association with, I guess, the crossover where there is horse trafficking or trafficking of any sort that it overlaps with human trafficking and drug trafficking.

Dawn Olivieri:

You can lay that

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

map right

Dawn Olivieri:

over I the know. Makes sense though.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Of course it does.

Dawn Olivieri:

It makes sense and it gives

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It's just It's a really

Dawn Olivieri:

easy pipeline to take advantage of because it's running all the time and a lot of time officers are just like, oh, it's a bunch of horses, we can't deal with that. So they just let it through. Sure. It's really smart actually in in the case of a criminal.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah, it is. It really is. And I mean, they're they're transported in large, you know, very large vehicles

Dawn Olivieri:

horse trailers, numbers. Yes. A lot of times with just a pass by. Go ahead, you got wild horses. We can't let them out of the road.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

What are

Dawn Olivieri:

we gonna do? Search that? We can't do that.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Think about dogs. Even with dogs. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.

Dawn Olivieri:

They do it with all of them, babies. I know. That's why we gotta we gotta do everything we can to help you.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know it. It's so true.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. That's why literally when we have space, we just open up more room and I literally go out there and grab a bunch and bring them over here. I'm like,

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

you're good. And you're safe.

Dawn Olivieri:

Eeyore, you're the got the cutest face in the whole wide world. Look at that look at that face. Igor. Know. Wait, what?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I

Dawn Olivieri:

know. He was literally he was adopted when he was a baby. His mama recently is going through a divorce, so he just came back, and his name is Igor, and that's his face. Stop. Debbie's like, I don't know if he'll get adopted very soon.

Dawn Olivieri:

Like, he's gonna get adopted so soon. He's got the cutest little sad

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

face. And

Dawn Olivieri:

this is his friend Pluto.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Hi, Pluto.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Pluto was his other friend he was adopted with. He's very beautiful. He has a blue eye. Eeyore's so cute.

Dawn Olivieri:

Can't stand it. Ollie. Ollie's my baby.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh. His face is something else.

Dawn Olivieri:

I know. He's got so much character.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Look at those ears. I know it. I know it.

Dawn Olivieri:

He looks like another type of animal.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

He does.

Dawn Olivieri:

He doesn't look like a horse. You look like another creature from another land.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

He does. That little purple I love him. What is that little purple animal?

Dawn Olivieri:

The the little That has his little ears.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes. What is his name?

Dawn Olivieri:

I have no idea,

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

but I

Dawn Olivieri:

know course, that's where

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

you know you do. Yeah. I should know, but I don't. It's fine.

Dawn Olivieri:

Hey, don't put your head in the ear. Mhmm. Oh, man. Yeah. So, again, you know, we're kind of in the middle of a big shift here, so everything's all over the place.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

But it's great.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yep, it is. Well, for me, when you've seen it at its best, you've seen it at its worst, there's a lot happening right now. Hey, Rosa, come on, you can Hello. Get under

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I'll find a way.

Dawn Olivieri:

That's classy. She's recently in, and she's she's could be pregnant, so we have her

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

in here. Oh, Just

Dawn Olivieri:

giving her

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

a lot of food just in case.

Dawn Olivieri:

There's a baby in there. Yep. And in case there's a pony baby in there.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

There could be a baby, Yeah. Are you pregnant?

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah, she does. They'll figure They'll it out. Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

Maximus, this guy is very special. He's very young, maybe 2.5, And he was crippled and had a blind eye. Oh, And the vet was like, we gotta pull the eye out. And I said, you know, it was right around when I learned about this amniotic drops, this this amniotic fluid that they were using on people to bring sight back. And I go, I wanna try these amniotic drops.

Dawn Olivieri:

We have to find them. So he found one company, a bovine company that made them, yeah, I love you. You love me. I love you. And and so we did a protocol.

Dawn Olivieri:

The vet I forced the vet to do a protocol in his eye and his eye came back to life. It's stem cells essentially what it is And in the his eye shot out veins and started to reconstitute itself.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my gosh.

Dawn Olivieri:

I love you.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

This is incredible. Baby.

Dawn Olivieri:

And the vet freaked out. He started to he like did another higher learning class on ocular medicine.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Uh-huh.

Dawn Olivieri:

And he went to this big Hi. Talk and brought photos and showed what we did with this guy and so he got his his sight back. So now I'm like, we don't pull eyes anymore here. We're gonna we try this. We have two blind drafts down in the arena now we're gonna do the same thing with to see if we can help bring their vision good.

Dawn Olivieri:

Back. And I've told every rescue I know, I'm like, no more pulling eyes. I have a fix for that if you guys give it a shot and you try this. And it was literally these bovine amniotic drops. You got cut on your eye.

Dawn Olivieri:

Careful, be careful with that eye.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know it. Dear God.

Dawn Olivieri:

I know, right? PRP and antibiotics. Yeah. This is And then we fixed his crippled hawk. There was a surgery for it, so we got him the surgery, and now he's just on stall rest until it's all done, and then he can run for the first time in his life.

Dawn Olivieri:

I know. It's all he wants to do is run this guy.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I'm sure you're a baby.

Dawn Olivieri:

He couldn't even really walk right. He would trip and fumble all the time.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

My baby.

Dawn Olivieri:

Gets so excited. He's got so much he's getting so healthy now. But, he's so beautiful. Oh my god. He's beautiful.

Dawn Olivieri:

He's such a sweet soul.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

But too.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's gonna be a party. Mandy is a wild mustang. She came in with this puncture in her Uh-huh. But being a completely unhandled wild mustang was a little difficult, so plus we thought she was very pregnant. Yes, she's a green.

Dawn Olivieri:

And she so we have a trainer working with her now. She's obviously getting haltered, and we're gonna lead her into that tilt squeeze soon as she's ready. Yep. And we'll get a vet here, and he will look at that spot. Most likely, there's something lodged in there that is not able to come out, so we'll have to lay her down, and he'll have to flush it.

Dawn Olivieri:

And hopefully, the last horse we had that had something like this, she had a pine cone piece stuck way down like a foot down into her body. So but it came out and she did great and it healed up, and so we'll have to do the same with her. The animal communicator said that she was asking where her husband was. She has a wild husband and she is very she misses him a lot. Seriously?

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Seriously. And so there was another rescue that pulled the other group that she was with and we're thinking her husband is in that other group. So we're gonna do a little research and see if one of those horses is her husband by pulling up the photos from when we rescued the groups. And if the communicator, when she comes back, matches the photo with what the photo is we think is what the horse is, then we're gonna bring her and and go let her be with her husband.

Dawn Olivieri:

I'm gonna cry if I take a photo.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

This is crazy. Oh, I I totally believe in this. Yeah. Me too. Well, you know what?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Absolutely.

Dawn Olivieri:

There were you don't know who's

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

telling this and who's not. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

But when she came she's been here a few times and she's giving she's given very accurate information. So, at by the by this time, you know, we've watched the information be successful. We had one new new baby that came in and she said that one of these Arabians that we have, she said that and she was down the way in a stall. She said, you know, this horse, Tula, is offering to be that baby's mama if if that baby needs a mama. And so we were like, oh, okay, you know.

Dawn Olivieri:

And but the baby was so little, Chinle, who had all the fungus on his face Yes. That we saw. So he was a little newborn baby that we rescued off of the Navajo range because somebody roped him and caught him and pulled him off his mama, but he was very brand new. And so we saw the ad and we called on it and then had him transported that night in a truck, in the back of a truck all the way from Navajo Nation to here Wow. Which was great because he was still on on milk, like he couldn't survive over there.

Dawn Olivieri:

And so when he came, he got really sick. We had to go to take him to the vet. He had salmonella, $6,000 later, most I expensive breast know it. Brought him back. And then Tula was down the way and she's like, I'll I'll act as his mama if you want.

Dawn Olivieri:

And so we heard that, but then we were like, well, let me try I tried Star first because she's very very calm and Uh-huh. Tractable, but she got in there and she like kicked him around and wanted to push him away and so pulled her out. And then I thought, well, she did say that Tula was mother. Let's see. Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Wants to

Dawn Olivieri:

be a mother. And so I took Tula and I put her in with the baby, and immediately she was, like, protecting the baby. She raised him. We put them out in the nursery pen together. She was like, this is my baby.

Dawn Olivieri:

I'm protecting him. And he just used her as his protection until he got older, and then But, he was you know, it's like stories like that. Like, tells us

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I can't make it up.

Dawn Olivieri:

No. Nope. I get it. There's been more

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

than makes me emotional.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. More than one more than a singular event like that Yeah. But multi events.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I mean, the whole Red Run thing, as funny as it is No. That is crazy.

Dawn Olivieri:

I know. Crazy. Well, one honestly that really sold me was she told me one horse who was a new racehorse that had come in, she's like, his mouth is hurting him on the left side. Check his teeth. And so I didn't say anything to anyone.

Dawn Olivieri:

I told the girl we have a girl that trains here who also does teeth. She's a dentist here. And I said, go check his his mouth, just tell me what's in his mouth. And she goes and she's like, oh yeah, he had some sharp teeth on that left side, was cutting his left side a lot. And I was like, that's what

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

she said. Is she native?

Dawn Olivieri:

Nope. Nope. She's not. Nope. But she speaks she talks to animals.

Dawn Olivieri:

She started at a bear refuge and she was just What? She learned there. She like it started happening when she went there and she's like, I I can hear them. And, so, she just started doing it as business, and then she actually absolutely believe in it. No.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh The my horse that ran the derby this year and won, she was coaching the horse from the team.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my

Dawn Olivieri:

gosh. The team had hired her to talk to the horse, so the team would relay information to the horse while it was racing, and the horse won the derby. And she was literally communicating with it on the back end. They were like, go on the inside line. Go right.

Dawn Olivieri:

Go right. And so the horse would

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Talk about having a leg up. Like, that's yeah. Literally, that That's insane.

Dawn Olivieri:

Isn't that crazy?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

That's the coolest.

Dawn Olivieri:

It is the coolest.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. That's that's unbel and how did you come across her?

Dawn Olivieri:

I met her at a convention I was at, and I just went and I talked to people, and I went straight to her booth. I was like, hey, hi. You can talk to animals? I can you come talk to mine?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Literally. I'm like fly

Dawn Olivieri:

her out. I yeah. She she likes to drive. Okay. So I pay for her gas pay for her trip.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. And she drives out here. She comes like twice a year and she talks to she does a full walk through. Takes her like four days and she just talks to everybody. You could have her go out to your place.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know it. That's why I'm

Dawn Olivieri:

like to the herds.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Can you share the information?

Dawn Olivieri:

Why the babies aren't being born, the zebras. She could talk to them.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Even if they're wild.

Dawn Olivieri:

A 100%. She can tap into the group. Yeah. She can even do it over the phone, like you wouldn't even have to have her there, but she can come in person.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I wanna do it in person.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah, do it in person.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You know how she has that that kind of gash there? Yeah. Is okay. I know that it's Hollywood. This whole, like, spin off where the with the Beth, Rip Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Kohlhauser, whatever Yeah. And they have that whole scene where they have the cow, I guess the trafficked cow Yes. That had fentanyl being I'm not even sure if you watched Inside. Yeah. Is that Hollywood or is That's that legitimate.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

They

Dawn Olivieri:

use blowers, they slice the animal's skin, they use the blower to open it, and then they pack a full of drugs, and then they seal it up.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I knew it.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, yeah. There's pictures of that. And we find all kinds of horses at auctions with tracheal

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes. Openings where

Dawn Olivieri:

they'll open it, and then they'll put drugs down the throat.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh. The little bags. Yeah. Oh, my

Dawn Olivieri:

god. And then they'll cut the horses open and get the get the drugs out. They have found even horses with really bad UTIs at these auctions, and the vet will go in and they'll pull plastic out because they've been stuffed full of drugs. So we have a very open conversation with all rescues. We have threads that run Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

Some of the biggest auctions I mean, the biggest rescues in the country Yeah. That go to the same auctions. And so when these things kinda come around or we see one person raising for a horse with these type of injuries, then we we all know and we send them to vets to get tested Got it. Just so that we can log it as another example

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

Of that happening.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, jeez.

Dawn Olivieri:

So it's it's a conversation between the rescues that that this is

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

absolutely happening. Or is it public?

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. It's public.

Dawn Olivieri:

For decades, Americans have been told the horse slaughter pipeline was about shipping horses to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. An undercover operation has exposed a disturbing reality.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

What we've learned is shocking. The horse slaughter pipeline is being used by a vast network of criminals. Drug smugglers and the criminal cartels are taking advantage by using these livestock trailers in order

Dawn Olivieri:

to move these deadly products.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Narcotics are being surgically concealed in horses by transnational criminals. I got a horse trailer here with the UDA. Send me a border patrol. He's gonna go to the auction. He's got two ponies and six cattle.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It's public information.

Dawn Olivieri:

I can send you a deck on that information.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

That would be great if you could send that, please.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's the deck that circulates in Washington. Got And the that that rescue in Tennessee, Horse Plus is the name. Okay. Tawny is the woman that runs that. She's been doing it for twenty five years.

Dawn Olivieri:

She is really at the forefront of that particular aim angle of

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

it. Okay.

Dawn Olivieri:

Which is why they've put the the horse, the safe act, the version of a Yep. Of a anti slaughter bill Yes. In the transportation bill

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

Because of all of this transportation angled trafficking and slaughter.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I'm gonna go sign it. I was reading it on the way here. Yeah. Okay. I thought, okay.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I need to I need to agree to adopt either a donkey or a You

Dawn Olivieri:

know what? What you're doing here with content is one of the biggest pieces. Right?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Course. People need to know more. And where is where is the bill now?

Dawn Olivieri:

Do you It's still in the house. It is. Yep. It's still in the house.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And it's clearly bipartisan, non partisan, I should say. Yeah. Oh my gosh.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. So this is the moon under construction. Yep. It is. It's a labor of love.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Thank you so much for showing us around. Yeah. This is I'm

Dawn Olivieri:

very proud of Even though I'm not really proud of this, like, as it is, but this is like

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

is a stage. Yes. That's my house in Dallas

Dawn Olivieri:

right god. Don't want you to come here.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh, yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

But you can still see the heart of a place no matter what it looks Yep.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

That's exactly right.

Dawn Olivieri:

It doesn't matter.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

This is so so unique. How did you even get called to this?

Dawn Olivieri:

So I think anytime you come across any any creature, I don't care what it is, I always joke that even if it was a pangolin, if I found that a pangolin was being mistreated, I'm like, I'm a pangolin sanctuary. You know what I mean? I heard recently the fireflies are gonna maybe go extinct. So I'm like, maybe I need to put a firefly sanctuary on a corner here somewhere. But it's just that.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's when you find some corner of life that's struggling or is not being represented correctly or needs a voice Mhmm. And you feel called to be that voice or to help in that mission, I do it for any living thing, truly. The horse just ended up I saw what the horse was going through and I couldn't believe what I saw.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Wow. And was it because of the not the movies, I guess the well, guess movies and

Dawn Olivieri:

because I went it is because I went to rescue two horses from a kill auction and I I ended up rescuing 29 because I saw what was happening and I couldn't bear the Yeah. And I was like, I have all this room. I could just bring them to my house.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know it. Know it.

Dawn Olivieri:

Dear God,

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

that's how it starts. Wild horses It is how it starts, isn't it? Yeah. But then

Dawn Olivieri:

you just figure it out and then it becomes this beautiful thing that that creation wanted you to do. Yeah. It literally wants you to do it. Your heart will tell you and if you're bold enough to follow your heart, then it takes you into some of the coolest places you could never dream of.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.

Dawn Olivieri:

I never thought I would do this. This was never on my book of like, this is my dream life, you know? Never, I've never thought any of this. Didn't even know what a horse rescue was. Never even been to one, never seen one.

Dawn Olivieri:

And then I was I had become one overnight and had no idea.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

So this is an oasis.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Is Sanctuary for animal and human.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It is. My cortisol levels are so low. Good. I am Good. So peaceful.

Dawn Olivieri:

Because your sweat levels went up

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

like Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

Sweat out all your toxins and starting your minerals. That's why I just remineralized you.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

But I do this almost every weekend, but I don't feel like this.

Dawn Olivieri:

Okay. So why? Why do

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

you feel like I'm not interacting with animals like this.

Dawn Olivieri:

Interesting.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Like we have I have my dog. Yeah. Right? I I have our little cat. Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I have but I'm not

Dawn Olivieri:

tell you possibly because this isn't your place. Right? I'll tell you, I definitely get moments of reprieve, but when you're the one running the show Sure. And you're the one running the show where you're coming Yeah. From, it's almost essential for you to go to another place.

Dawn Olivieri:

Or I'm even playing with this concept of going to another place on this property Yeah. But a place that has nothing I need to do. Yes. I don't know how it's gonna work. I'll get back to you.

Dawn Olivieri:

I'll let you know. But I think that when you leave and you come into another place and you're not responsible for anything, you don't have to worry about who's feeding those horses. You don't have

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

to worry

Dawn Olivieri:

about building that fence.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know it. Right? You're right.

Dawn Olivieri:

That's more

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

than likely what it is.

Dawn Olivieri:

That I think it has a lot to do with it. Yeah. But it's why we create these spaces for other people to do because then we're invited to go to your space and I get I

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

don't know what you're doing. Don't know what you're I'm stressed out.

Dawn Olivieri:

But that's, you know, I work like a dog here so other people can come and they can experience this dream, this poetry that I and vice versa. The same what you're doing is the same.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It is. Yes. You have to come out. You'll absolutely

Dawn Olivieri:

love each other alive.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

We will. We will. We will. I gotta come to

Dawn Olivieri:

your place and you have to come here.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Without question. Without question. And I know that there's some type of a future for us and I so look forward to it.

Dawn Olivieri:

I'm excited.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

This is I am too. I am too, Dawn.

Dawn Olivieri:

Not you. Everyone's allergic to

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

you. You keep going. I'm not. No. Okay.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I'm not. I'm not. He's been over here with me. But, so people know you because of, I mean truly because I think of all of your roles Yeah. In all of these insane shows

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Right? Taylor Sheridan picked you up and you've just kind of

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Dominated. Yeah. I mean

Dawn Olivieri:

I've molested everyone's TV screen for my my villain portrayals

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Attorney, right? Yeah. With Jamie and kind of the Yellowstone and Yeah. The lioness. Oh my gosh.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Are you coming? Are you coming? Yeah. I'm in the whole season.

Dawn Olivieri:

You are. Yeah. I think that I'm not trailers right now. It seems like they're surprising. I'm I have so much dialogue in this next season.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's more dialogue than I've ever had in my entire career. I'm almost like I don't want people to watch this because I don't want other people to see that I can do this much dialogue. Why? Because then they're gonna cast me in more things that have dialogue and I'm not really interested in saying all these words all the time. But you had a lot in Yellowstone?

Dawn Olivieri:

No. It's not even comparable. No. It's not even no. The monologues that I deliver in are on another it's like a master class level of acting.

Dawn Olivieri:

Wow. For sure. For sure. I it's the it's some of the hardest stuff I've ever had to do.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Wow. Yeah. Well, I can't wait to see it. It comes out Me too. I don't know.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Like really soon.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. August 2. Is that the day? Look at that. Next week.

Dawn Olivieri:

Next Sunday. Yes. The launch

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

of this. Oh god.

Dawn Olivieri:

I did good job.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I know. I know it. Oh my gosh. Well, no. This is beautiful.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. So that's where you were working.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yep. I worked. I did that. Also went and shot another season of Homestead, happens in Utah. Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

That will air sometime later in the year. Uh-huh. So that'll come later in the year. Yeah. I mean, I had a really cute film just dropped called Six Days in Evergreen, which was I played a rock star.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's a indie film. Oh. A lot of people are loving it because it's very wholesome but still fun. It has music involved. I sing in

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

it Uh-huh.

Dawn Olivieri:

Which was, you know, it just proves anyone can learn a skill and do it. You just have to get a coach and like they practice with you a lot and then you can perform something. Yeah. That's beautiful. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

But that's kind of that's what I've got going on right now. I did one episode on Frisco King with Samuel Jackson. Alright. That will come out whenever Frisco King comes out. Uh-huh.

Dawn Olivieri:

I think they just finished shooting it, so it'll be a minute. But, yeah, there's things always in the pipeline in the works.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

But the fact that you are that Yeah. And then you're this.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. This is who I really am.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

There are very few women, if any, that I know Yeah. That that love this kind of life Yeah. The way you appear to. Yeah. It's refreshing.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. And so, okay, tell me how people are able to come out here and and enjoy Moon Mountain Sanctuary.

Dawn Olivieri:

Well, at this moment, no one's really ruined it for anyone. So everyone can kinda come out. It just depends on your level of interest. If you are interested in coming out and really rolling your sleeves up and working out here, you can come out here, and we have stays. There's ton of Airbnbs in town.

Dawn Olivieri:

So usually peep if we don't know you the first time,

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

you stay on Airbnb. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

You come in, you can volunteer. Yes. If you work well and the crew loves you and the and the and the staff loves you and you wanna keep being a part of this family, then you can come back and and it just you know, we have a lot of people. We have a lot of repeat people that come and help out and it's just fun for people that maybe don't have access to this world and this lifestyle and these type of animals to have these interactions like you've been experiencing today is really special. And I have personally put my energy and love and connection into every single one of these animals here.

Dawn Olivieri:

So what you're interacting interacting with is Mhmm. Somewhat a zebra, but it's also a zebra being connected to Dawn. Yep. You know? And I and and I purposefully create these very gentle beings Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

Because they love, they trust, they're they're fed, they feel very satiated, they're very safe here

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

And they're heard. And I think it's a big piece for them. And they're socialized. Yep. They have friends and they have adventures that they go on.

Dawn Olivieri:

And they are very grounded, very happy animals.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And yeah. It's and it shows.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's palpable.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It shows Yeah. In every Yeah. One of the

Dawn Olivieri:

interactions They're we not uncomfortable. They're not in fear. No. New ones that come, you know, are, but we make sure that they're settled. And a lot of times, some of those new energies just need to be around the energies that are here and they they'll harmonize.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Mhmm. And I'm gonna be signing this Safe Act Yeah. Document Great. When I get in the car.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, good. Oh, good.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And so I was I was reading through it on the way here. I'm not one to sign something without it. Yeah. Can more people like you, like me, or or anywhere become involved in this type of rescue mission? Even if they're not able to come out here and

Dawn Olivieri:

volunteer, let's say? I think you have to listen to what's in your heart. Right? You have to listen to what you wanna do. Maybe you're really good and organized with paperwork, and you wanna volunteer on the lobbying side of things to help organize efforts.

Dawn Olivieri:

Maybe you want hands on experience and you want to help one of these type rescues that's out here doing the work. Maybe maybe you want to come out and see if there is something you want to do on a smaller scale. Maybe you have resources and connections. Everybody is this unique integral part that maybe all you can do is share content from your house. Right?

Dawn Olivieri:

And even that's important. Maybe you can make flyers and hang them up in your community. Maybe you can adopt five foals and do a foal challenge at your little ranchette

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Mhmm.

Dawn Olivieri:

And bring kids and and then spread awareness that way. Maybe you have an Airbnb and cabins and maybe you wanna put a pamphlet in every one of those cabins. You know, there's everybody has their own unique way of being involved and and I think the whole key of it is when when the majority is like, this is enough. Nobody wants to see this happening.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Of

Dawn Olivieri:

course. Then that's when change happens. Yeah. Because up until everyone thinks they can get away with something, they just do.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Mhmm. That for me, like the show is called Let's Talk Local. Right? But I'm a Texan. We're right now in Arkansas.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. But this is our home.

Dawn Olivieri:

But what's to you is the horse. Texas is the horse. It is. And Texas It is. Honestly, Texas is the gatekeeping between the horses of That's the where United going.

Dawn Olivieri:

States and Mexico Mexico. Where the

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

horses shipped. Yep. Where it's happening.

Dawn Olivieri:

The biggest kill auction in the nation is in Bowie, Texas. It's in Texas. You guys hold the key. That's where all of these slaughter brown horses come from. They come from the edge and the edge is in Bowie, Texas at the Bowie Livestock Auction.

Dawn Olivieri:

Wow. Yeah. That's where all the biggest rescues, we all culminate down there and every month. I mean, I have had to sit the last few months out because we are at capacity.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Sure.

Dawn Olivieri:

But when I'm open and I have space, that's where I go. And that's where we fundraise and that's where we pull horses. Because that is their last stance right there.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

For people like me, let's say, who have some land and who come here and they see what you do, and then were sort of inspired to to change, to to possibly help in some way. Mhmm. Do you have a footprint that you've created that we can possibly follow?

Dawn Olivieri:

I think what is even better than following what I've created is what can you create?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Well, no. Yeah. Just a different extension. A different Because way to what you look If

Dawn Olivieri:

you look at what we've done because

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I can't do what you've Well, done

Dawn Olivieri:

but we work together, we do more. Right? So what we're really good at is pulling them from the edge, getting them vetted, getting them assessed, getting them like in a stable space.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Mhmm.

Dawn Olivieri:

Then from there, you can come to us and say, Dawn, we need so many for this program. And then we go, perfect. Let's put these horses in your program. This guy wouldn't be good because he has this thing that we're still working on. That guy would be great.

Dawn Olivieri:

This girl would be perfect. So you're skipping the unknown of pulling them from a kill auction with it's just that. It's unknown. You have to have a lot of resources, a lot of know how, a lot of time, and a lot of patience, and a lot of compassion. Not to say that you don't have that, but it's like its own program.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yep. Just do that.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Right? Oh, yeah. But rather than do another one like that, if you gave us a place where then we could connect to what you're doing and it becomes now a chain reaction

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Mhmm.

Dawn Olivieri:

Then you're accessing a whole another database of people that maybe wouldn't know what's going on that you can do your your whatever your program would be and Yep. We can support your program.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

And so along with the the outreach that I have and then you combine it with the outreach that you have, oh, these are some jets that come through and scare

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

everything. They came so low that thunder? No. It's a jet.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's like a jet that they flew so low the other day. It was crazy. But I think that that's where the real beauty comes from is, you know, Haley Higgins down in Texas is at the foal challenge.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

Her combination of us being able to rescue the horses, she tried to do it where she did what we were doing and she's just like, it was so expensive for me to do I end up with 10 horses that I can't That's even right. And then now I have to become a sales, like I have to, you know, find other homes for these horses and it's just like not what her program was meant to do. Uh-huh. When she found us, was like, it's a blessing because now we donate those horses to her program. She's able to jump right into the kids.

Dawn Olivieri:

She's able to we she knows exactly what she's getting because we don't we're not gonna lie to get the horses moved. Of course. We don't wanna do that at all. We want the horses to go to exactly where they're meant to be. Mhmm.

Dawn Olivieri:

And that means brutal honesty. Mhmm. Right? Complete transparency for that being's future and the the home that it's headed to.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Mhmm.

Dawn Olivieri:

So there is there is full transparency here. And I think that's one of the that's one of the beauties of using us as a resource because we care so much about these animals. It's not it's definitely not to make money here. We're very good at being a nonprofit and we spend every dollar that is given to us for sure. Zero savings over here.

Dawn Olivieri:

But that's part of it, you know. It's it's part of it that we are fully philanthropic here. And that's the one that's something I'm really proud of honestly. I don't take a a salary from this place. I have my own job and my own way of making money.

Dawn Olivieri:

And I just love the mission and I love the people that it attracts Mhmm. And the purpose.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yep. I understand Beautiful. I understand that. And it's Beautiful. It's so beautiful to be able to meet someone who is similar in that respect.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I don't take the salary for anything that we do Yeah. Because I I don't need the salary. It also feels good.

Dawn Olivieri:

Does. You're going against Yes. A system all built around profit Yes. Money and commerce. Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

And you're like, you know what?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Let's let's be bold and different.

Dawn Olivieri:

I can find abundance

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yep.

Dawn Olivieri:

In the opposite way.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

That's

Dawn Olivieri:

right. And it's it's a bit of like a it's almost a trick. It's like a hack. It's like a life hack, I call it, to go against that current Yep. Of like, I have to make money, I have to build my wealth, I have to like invest, invest, you know.

Dawn Olivieri:

And I mean like, do that. It's important to do Of course. But there's also this other little side thing that's really fun to be like, what if we just spend it all? Yeah. On good things Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

That aren't made to make money for

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

you know what mean? Yes. Yes. We we were talking about this on the way here. Mhmm.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And just how people spend their money differently. Mhmm. And there's kind of a whole culture of people who will say, I need the newest private jet. I need this. I right?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And it's just.

Dawn Olivieri:

But you can win that game.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Just the element of more more

Dawn Olivieri:

more It's carrot in front of you. Yes. It's a total trick. Bless Bless you. It's a racket.

Dawn Olivieri:

It is. You get caught up in because the second you buy the bag, you're like, I have this wonderful designer bag and then you look over there at that woman and she's got the newer bag. And you're like, that's not even out. How do I get that bag? And now suddenly this bag represents how you're not ahead.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. And it almost becomes an albatross. And I sat a long time ago and I I saw this game, this racket. Mhmm.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Because I was in it. And it is.

Dawn Olivieri:

I had Gucci this, everything, shopping sprees, jets

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

nice stuff.

Dawn Olivieri:

You know?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

But it's not

Dawn Olivieri:

Look, I'm back again where I can be in that world and I enjoy that now.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Dip in.

Dawn Olivieri:

But I had to reject it. Yep. Because there was a moment in time where I was like This is controlling me. It's controlling my worth. Uh-huh.

Dawn Olivieri:

If I have the newest bag, I'm better than you. Mhmm. The second she has a better bag, now she's better than me and I'm worse. And I'm like, now I have to be better than you. So how do I get the better bag?

Dawn Olivieri:

It's just like Oh.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

What are we doing?

Dawn Olivieri:

Someone's always gonna have nicer than you. It's just gonna happen. It's just the nature of the game.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

For sure.

Dawn Olivieri:

So you can never so what are you signing up to have like mediocre worth? I don't even wanna be in that game at all. No. I don't even wanna subscribe to it. So I'm out I got out of that a long time ago and I and I'm like I'm no more designer anything and I got rid of everything.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Everything?

Dawn Olivieri:

Everything. I it all. I got rid of it. I I literally I Purged. I purged it.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh my god. Because it was a part of me that was like, I don't wanna be defined. My worth is not defined by materialism.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Right? Yes. Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

And so there was a large swath of time where I went to very everything old was interesting to me. Everything worn was beautiful to me. Everything vintage was what I wanted around me.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

That's what I love. I love my own. And so So good.

Dawn Olivieri:

I I spent a large period of time in that space where I regained control of my worth. Yeah. My power. Yeah. It was mine.

Dawn Olivieri:

It belonged to me. Yeah. And it was and then I I leaned on nature. I, you know, I came to the land of no mirrors. I didn't want any of that to pull my power.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. Yeah. I got a really good sense of what that was. And now I can have designer things. Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

Know? I got Eves Saint Laurent bags now. I'm back in my heel game. But I never wear them. Don't even know why I have them.

Dawn Olivieri:

But I sometimes I go into, you know, parties.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Go to a

Dawn Olivieri:

party and I'll wear things. But I now it no longer I can flow with it. It define me Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And it's Yeah. I It's interesting, you know, because like Ricky here, she's she's, yeah, been with me for Yeah. Eight years.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

She has gotten after me a lot for not updating my bags. Oh, Oh, my It's a whole thing. She's like, you need Sarah, this is not appropriate. And I'm like She's

Dawn Olivieri:

trying to keep you relevant. Yes. She does a good job.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Okay. She's the best. She's the best. And just this year, I was like, you know what? I will do it.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I will just spend a little bit more on just a little more of this. But I thank God. And I always thought it's because I was from West Texas, and

Dawn Olivieri:

I just

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

never had a lot growing up, and so it never was something that I felt a need to upkeep because I just didn't have it when I was a little young. I didn't have it. So but now, like, kinda where you're you're coming from, kind of in that mental space Yeah. I don't mind having, you know, the designer bag here and there. I'm never gonna be the person to go get the newest because I'm just I like the older, the used, kind of the story.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And I'm okay with that. And, you know, but I think it's beautiful to hear from someone like yourself. Someone who's a face in so many relevant, iconic. Like, these are iconic creations that you're a part

Dawn Olivieri:

of. They are. Mean I pinched myself.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Don't even You know how I got are going to be something I'm just showing my 13 year old twins all the Yellowstone. Right? Because I'm like, okay, they're finally at the age. Have to kind of fast forward Yeah. Some of the stuff with, you

Dawn Olivieri:

old enough. They could be

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it's it's that. You are that face.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You're part of that story.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And so I understand how probably for you it's a little bit more in your face. Maybe. It's a little bit more

Dawn Olivieri:

I also get a lot of I get an excuse because I can be an eccentric act actress. I don't conform. So everyone's almost looking at me like, what is she doing? You know? So I can kind of lead a charge even if it's an imaginary one that I just create in my own mind.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You know what I mean?

Dawn Olivieri:

But it's it's really real. Give you a concession because I also never felt I'm not really much of a follower. I kinda do my own thing and I move to my own beat. And that's more of an energy that's intrinsic to your flow Yes. To your movement.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yes. So you're not gonna be someone that is gonna fit in any box. They're gonna be like, what is that creature?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yes. You know

Dawn Olivieri:

what I mean? There? Yes. And I'm not really concerned with it. I think everyone is cool in their own individual ways.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yep. And if I meet, you know, a little Dallas, Texas woman and she's got the whole thing, it's just gonna be great. Whatever the thing is, you know? It's just great. But I I move to a different rhythm.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

You do. But you're a breath of fresh air. Yeah. Well, I You really are.

Dawn Olivieri:

I think I also allow that part of you to come out should it want to. And that's freedom. Yeah. Right? It's a freedom.

Dawn Olivieri:

I I watched recently I went on who was it? What's her name? Oh, shoot. What's her name? Pamela Anderson.

Dawn Olivieri:

Have you ever gone to her and what looked at her feed recently? Of course. She's

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

so The no makeup. She gets the no It's that. Yes. I get that

Dawn Olivieri:

feeling from because I'm like, oh my god.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

She's unburdened. Unburdened. Yes.

Dawn Olivieri:

But the you know, but I think what does it is that it's such a diff what a stark contrast to when she gets dolled up to when she's got no makeup on. That's right. I mean, she is a scary old lady, which we all are

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

and we're all We headed that all are.

Dawn Olivieri:

But I say to her letting her scary old lady come out and just but it gets Own it. It's so far out there that it's beautiful.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah, it is. It is.

Dawn Olivieri:

And I I applaud. If I could stand up and give her a standing ovation, I applaud that fierce Yeah. Confidence.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Truth. Yes. I'm with you. I'm with you. You But I but you are that in in your own way.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, I'll be I am that. Yeah. You are that. And I'll be as I grow older. That's think that's why it affected me so much because I'm like, it's but it's incredible how maybe we do feel pressured certain way and to not be able to be natural and to feel beautiful.

Dawn Olivieri:

So I just I, you know, I look at her and I'm like, that's gonna be neat.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Don't know if

Dawn Olivieri:

gonna be exactly like that.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

And, ugh, I don't know about that. Know what? Coming out here, I mean, I came with my lipstick, all the things, I had grays, and I was you know, my my daughter dyed my hair. Yeah. Was like, I can't But do I do believe that at one point in my life Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I will reach that

Dawn Olivieri:

as well.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I've had so many

Dawn Olivieri:

grays since my teens. Yeah. But It's okay.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

But I today.

Dawn Olivieri:

But it well, you didn't mean

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

to even

Dawn Olivieri:

get there truly because technology is gonna be able

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

to our aging,

Dawn Olivieri:

so we're not even gonna need anything. So actually enjoy when it goes a little gray because that's gonna reverse itself and you won't have that anymore.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

I I believe you're right. Yeah. I believe you're right.

Dawn Olivieri:

And then people are gonna dip into it. They'll be like, let's see what it's like to just grow older, and then they'll reverse again. Yeah. And then, you know

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah.

Dawn Olivieri:

This wasn't fun. My joints hurt. You

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

know? Well, I just Yeah. I thank you for your time. I feel like we've just stayed here for so long and

Dawn Olivieri:

It's you've just wonderful.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

So welcoming Yeah. And so hospitable.

Dawn Olivieri:

Yeah. That's what it is.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Person inside and out. It takes Well, to see thank you. Yeah. Thank you. And we're birthday twins.

Dawn Olivieri:

Forget it. What are we doing for our birthday

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

next year? Know it. Know gotta have a

Dawn Olivieri:

good we gotta have

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

a big party. We will. We will. Could be fun.

Dawn Olivieri:

We could break out all our designer stuff that we have that we don't care about. We'll do it. Yes. We'll do it.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

But thank you

Dawn Olivieri:

for this. Surprise.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Yeah. Thank you.

Dawn Olivieri:

Oh, and this is your new kitty. I'll keep her here.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Thank you. Yeah. Thank you.

Dawn Olivieri:

She'll be here. What do wanna name her?

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Oh my goodness. What are you? Are you wasn't he the boy?

Dawn Olivieri:

No. It's a girl.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Are you sure? Didn't you I'm not sure. See his like didn't

Dawn Olivieri:

see the balls, but let's check again. I'll just go from the back side.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

Let's see. I know it's a girl. No.

Dawn Olivieri:

It's really hard to tell. I think it's a girl. It is? It's a girl. Yeah.

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

It's a girl. It's a girl. It's a girl. This whole time I was like, he loves me.

Dawn Olivieri:

That's gonna be the cover of

Sarah Zubiate Bennett:

the video. I know it. Swear to blowing at me. That is so funny.