Truck donation is a 'game changer' for Calistoga's Sunrise Horse Rescue

CYNTHIA SWEENEY Mar 2, 2022 Updated Mar 29, 2022

During the 15 years the nonprofit has been in operation, Calistoga's Sunrise Horse Rescue has never owned its own vehicle. Instead, it has been relying on staff and volunteers to carry out the multitude of daily tasks. All that changed on Saturday, with the delivery of a Ford F-250 donated by the new owner of Sager Ford in St. Helena.

“This is huge for us,” said Sunrise business manager Kelly Licina.           

Board member Shari Bluband agreed. “This is a game-changer,” she said.

The truck will serve a multitude of duties, including pulling one of the rescue’s two trailers and taking horses to Napa Valley Equine or UC Davis when they are ill or injured. It will also be used when traveling to assess horses that need help in surrounding communities and throughout northern California. Then there is picking up hay and feed and delivering it to horses in need in surrounding communities, and delivering supplies to satellite pastures. 

Even more importantly, during fire season, staff will be able to have the trailer hooked to the truck and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

In a low-key but heartfelt ceremony, Cal Sager handed over the keys to the 6.4-liter diesel truck to Bluband, then explained the various “bells and whistles” to a handful of staff and volunteers.

The 2010 pickup is fully reconditioned, with “power everything." “It’ll go for one million miles,” Sager said, adding it’s a favorite model for agricultural workers in the Valley. Along with the donation, maintenance of the vehicle is also included in the donation. “They have my cell phone number, actually,” he said.

“Not only to have a truck, but to have one of this caliber that can do all these things for us … thank you,” Bluband said.

Sager, who ran a Ford dealership in Fresno, took over the 55-year-old Zumwalt Ford dealership late last year, saying he was very eager to carry on the dealership’s relationship with the community.

Sager also said he has “a soft spot for horses” and respects and admires Sunrise for taking care of injured or neglected horses. He chose to donate the truck to the organization, he said, recalling his childhood experience with horses. His father is from Jordan and would take Sager to the Arabian Desert. The tribes there treated their horses with something like reverence.

“The horse’s tent was better looking than their tent,” he said. “It’s a heritage from thousands of years ago.”

Staff and volunteers took Sager and his family on a tour of the sanctuary, relating each horse’s story.

“Sager Ford is new to town, and I’m sorry I couldn’t get them a brand new one. But hopefully one day, because they deserve it.”