The Ryerss family were philanthropists and early animal rights activists. Robert’s stepmother, Anne Ryerss, would care for elderly and sick work horses on the Burholme estate. When she died in 1888, she left $30,000 to care for "aged and infirmed" horses and an additional $40,000 to create and maintain a hospital. Robert W. Ryerss bought an farm in Bustleton and became the first president of the Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines until he retired in September 1894. The facility was among the first in the United States to protect horses and large animals. Today the Ryerss Farm for Aged Equines still exists in Pottstown, Pennsylvania.