BRHC History

John Longhill founded Blue River Horse Center in 2015 to meet the needs of children and adults wanting to participate in a transformative outdoor educational experience on a historic Colorado Ranch with horses. In 2021 BRHC moved to a new location 15 miles north of Silverthorne, CO, in the Lower Blue River Valley, on a beautiful, 80-acre ranch along the Lower Blue River.

John has been actively involved in outdoor educational experiences with children and horses since 1989. He has founded three non-profit educational organizations and serves as a board member for two other non-profits.

The BRHC Board of Directors has all local members. We have hundreds of supporters who serve as volunteers, donors and ambassadors. BRHC is funded by individual and corporate donors, the towns of Silverthorne, Dillon, Frisco, and Breckenridge, along with the Summit Foundation, Breckenridge Grand Vacation Gives, Slifer Smith & Frampton Foundation, Colorado Unwanted Horse Association and many others. ReSaddled Thrift Store in Silverthorne (started by a volunteer) serves as the organization’s primary fundraiser.

Blue River Horse Center now partners with other Colorado horse rescues to foster and rehabilitate horses (to help them become more adoptable) while providing life changing experiential educational programs with horses for Colorado youth.

John Longhill has dedicated the last 30 years of his life to promoting the value of horses in human lives as an educational resource and transformational opportunity in human development. Since 1987 over 10,000 children have participated and benefitted from these programs.