Along a wooded road that cuts into the mountains near Half Moon Bay lies a 13-acre plot of land where a group of regal creatures wake in comfort that others may not have known.

The Square Peg Foundation was created in July 2004 by Joell and Chris Dunlap to help displaced horses find haven away from once tumultuous lives. However, these deeds have been a regular occurrence for Joell since before the inception of the foundation.

“I spent most of my career with race horses,” Dunlap said. “I had always taken race horses that couldn’t race anymore and put them back together and found them homes.”

However, equestrian caring doesn’t come cheap — then or now.

To help pay the bills, Dunlap said she began teaching riding lessons to disadvantaged children and developed a positive rapport with parents whose children have disabilities.

She soon drew a correlation between the horses that didn’t fit in where they had once been, and children who shared similar boundaries. Square Peg was born.

About nine years ago, before Square Peg was founded, Jeanne Freiberger introduced her son Max, then about 5 years old, to horseback riding at the Dunlap’s ranch one summer and it has stuck ever since.

As the years went on, Max was diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and Tourette’s syndrome, which made learning in a classroom setting difficult for him, Freiberger said.

“(Square Peg) helped me be who I am,” Max, now 14, said. “Square Peg accepts you for who you are.”

For Freiberger, the nonprofit foundation had boosted her son’s confidence and helped him fit into a leadership role among other children at the ranch.

“Max turns into the most patient, loving teacher I’ve ever seen,” Freiberger said. “It’s so wonderful to see this part of him.”

Being a nonprofit group, the Dunlaps try to get funding any way they can. It involves private and public donations, but riding lessons provide the majority of the support.

Caring for Square Peg’s 16 horses are two independent contractors, but the brunt of the work comes from a team of 40 volunteers, Dunlap said.

After moving back to California from New York, Penelope Whitney said she searched for a group that helped kids. What she found was a dedicated organization that would link her 30 years of riding experience with her pursuit of assisting others.

Among the duties of some of the volunteers are cleaning the horses, getting them ready for lessons and cleaning stalls, but for those that are willing and have the drive, helping disadvantaged children is part of the normal work day, Whitney said.

During Whitney’s time at Square Peg, she has helped kids with autism, cerebral palsy and youngsters who are homeless. But the lives she’s touched, in turn, have touched hers, she said.

Whitney, who has scoliosis, experienced limited mobility growing up, causing most of her vertebrae to be fused together along with a metal rod to keep her spine straight, she said.

“It just really puts things in perspective when you work with kids that have much greater limitations than you do,” Whitney said.

For Dunlap, she said she is thankful everyday for the profession she’s chosen and the people she interacts with daily.

“One of my most rewarding groups is working with kids with learning disabilities and realizing that people really do learn in different ways,” Dunlap said. “I’m just so lucky to do what I do everyday.”

For more information about the Square Peg Foundation go to www.everyonefits.org.