Willie Nelson rescued 70 horses from a slaughterhouse to roam free at his Texas ranch


Willie Nelson is an iconic singer and advocate for marijuana legalization, but when he’s not on stage he loves nothing more than spending time at him Texas home: “Luck Ranch”.

He jokes, “When you’re here, you’re in Luck, and when you’re not, you’re out of Luck.”

Willie’s not the only resident in “Luck” – there are also 70 rescue horses that live on the 700 acres of land.

“My horses are probably the luckiest horses in the world. They get hand-fed twice a day, and they were just ready to go to slaughter is probably the last thing they remembered, so they’re happy horses,” Willie said.

Rescuing animals is another cause that is very close to his heart. In 2015, he won the People’s Silver Telly Award for his music video, “The Love of Horses”, which showcased him meeting with campaigners working to put an end to horse slaughter.

Willie Nelson is nearly 86-years-old, but he has no intention of stopping either his activism or his music. In fact, he’s actually in the middle of a tour, and will spend 200 days on the road.

“It’s a lot of traveling and being away from home,” he said. “But that’s what we do.”

Nelson also has another side project that he enjoys: producing and selling his own weed brand called Willie’s Reserve – but only in the states where it’s legal of course.

When asked about his future plans of retirement, his answers are always mixed.

“I retire after every show,” Nelson said. “I say, ‘That’s it, I’m not goin’ no more,’ but then we hang out awhile and people [his band] feel like playing, and so we go play again.”

But for now, he seems happy with the way his life is: he’s got his music and his horses. Sounds like a pretty good life.


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