The Horse Rescuer Bringing a Karmic Glow to This Ranch Resort
Photo Credit: This would not be an uncommon scene at Lodge at Blue Sky, where the Saving Gracie Equine Healing Foundation is rescuing horses and other animals while educating guests about conservation. Flickr / Tim Vrtiska
Skift Take
Melissa Smolik runs a world-class animal rehabilitation center and sanctuary close to Park City Utah, which lends a special aura to the adjacent luxury property that brings guests much closer to nature.
Many social good initiatives in hospitality happen out of the eyes of the guest. Often, these are the choices made along the supply chain of a hotel, as well as decisions with sourcing and community relations.
While important, the irony is sometimes the best ones happen in the background. In the case at the Lodge at Blue Sky, part of Auberge Resorts Collection, it happens out in the wide open. Guests drive through pastures and a sizable horse facility to get to the actual property. But what happens inside is quite unique. Since 2015, the property owner Barbara Philips and the Saving Gracie Equine Healing Foundation has rescued 28 horses, 30 cows, and counting, from mistreatment and abuse. Rather than the hunting lodges and meat-producing farms that pepper the landscape in Utah, the entire property is dedicated to the wellbeing of animals.
Melissa Smolik is the foundation director of the program, overseeing the operations of the foundation and the farm, and can often be seen ridin
