Wow, what an interesting looking dog! I can't get over those eyes!
It's been forever since I've been out to the barn, but figured I'd jump in and say hi to everyone. I have a new dog now, I was on my way home from the track late one night, and stopped at a gas station, and there was this poor emaciated black dog. I tried to talk someone else into taking him home, but nobody would, so long story short, he's sleeping on the bed as I'm typing this. I don't know where the small strays are, Diesel (what else do you call a dog from the gas station?) is already 75 lbs, and looks like he's going to get a bit bigger! He's a beautiful black lab, and it's hard to believe it's the same dog I found 2 1/2 months ago. He was all skin and bones, had a broken lower jaw that was horribly infected, his eyes were infected shut, and he had a big gash on his head. He must have fallen out of someone's truck. Anyway, he's doing great, and was the 'last straw' that finally made me decide to buy a house instead of my condo.
The house closing is Thanksgiving week, and I'm really excited about it. It's over in the Pasadena/Deer Park area, and it's a pretty good sized house on 1/3 acre, with room in the garages for 4 cars. Perfect, because I'm still out racing my 70... There's a race in Florida I'm going to try to make in a few weeks, so I've been staying busy with that.
I hope everything is going well out at the barn! I need to stop by and see how everyone's doing! I miss you guys a lot, and think of you often :)
hey pple! i'm bored so i figured i'd see if anyone wanted to talk!! not
many good things are goin on on my end of the world (you know, the one
thats a WHOLE 30 minutes away! lol)...long, icky story to tell
later.... but that's not the point, i wanted to know how everyone else
is doin and what they've been doin!! i'd love updates on everyone
else's lives! I have a weird question of the day...Why is the plural
for goose geese, but the plural for moose is MOOSE?? Think about it....
YAY!! Im finally comin back to ffe!!!! i am channelingecstatic energy!!! i just thought i should write a little somethin-somethin about nothin....! i miss my goat...i cant wait to see his pretty-boy face...:) so, make sure to e-mail me all the time peoples because i have nothin better 2 do then read your e-mails!! the barn is SOOOOOOOOOOOO B-E-A-U-tiful!! i loved the pumpkin-carving dealie-o, i made a horsie!!
luv y'all,
Krystalynn
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Hello from brisk NE. Congratulations on the new barn. Wonderful
news. If there is anything I can help with from afar, please don't
hesitate to contact me. Hope everyone is doing well. I miss you
guys.
I am still in the process of pursuing my certification in equitherapy.
I hope to complete it within the next 6 months. In addition, I am
volunteering at High Hopes in Old Lyme, CT.
For those of you who have my phone number, it hasn't changed. I kept
my TX cell number. Call anytime.
Talk to you guys later. Take Care.
Christina
Hi, just wanted to let you know that we moved the horses into the barn
today. We are very excited. The arena is still wet, but a friend from
church loaned us a sump pump that is helping drain the standing water
around the place. It is working great. I am going to be posting some
files to the files section in a few days.
Also, we are in need of help for fundraising ideas. If you would like
to help raise some funds, let me know on this list and we will get
together for some brain storming,Sheri
SANTA FE — “Horses give us wings” is the motto at Flying Free Equitherapy, a nonprofit equine-assisted therapy center in Santa Fe.
Situated on six acres at 7317 Ave. P, the center includes a covered arena, tack room, office, small pasture, barn and 10 therapy horses.
Founded in 2002 and funded through grants from the Children’s Fund of Houston as well as donations, fund-raisers and sponsorships from area businesses and individuals, the center utilizes the energy, time and vision of its founder and executive director, Sheri Holmes.
What began as an attempt to fill a gap left by the demise of Hope Therapy of Galveston has blossomed into a facility with a clear “flight plan” for the future.
Holmes became a certified therapeutic riding instructor in 2003. She has 20 years of experience teaching English and Western riding.
One day, a student asked if her 4-year-old cousin with cerebral palsy could ride the lesson horse, Faith. Two weeks later the child, who was wheelchair bound, had her first horseback ride. Holmes says she “grinned from ear-to-ear” the whole time.
As her mother placed the girl, who had never purposely verbalized, back into her wheelchair, the girl looked right at her and said, “Had fun.”
Shortly afterward, with the encouragement of her student, Holmes attended a North American Riding for the Handicapped Association conference in Baton Rouge to learn about equine-assisted therapy.
“I was hooked,” Holmes said.
She began working at Hope Therapy and remained there until it closed six months later. With no other facilities in the area for the children, Holmes decided to start her own.
Ongoing and new expenses include horse board and care, repairs to the arena from Hurricane Rita, a proposed therapy room and a new barn with stalls for the horses. Volunteers clean stalls, wash and groom horses, clean tack, lead lesson horses and help with fund-raising.
Jamie Thibodeaux, barn manager and instructor, volunteers her time and expertise as a certified therapeutic riding instructor. Donna Lindsley, a diagnostician at Clear Creek Independent School District, volunteers her time to develop the special education program.
Equine-assisted therapy is used to help people with physical, emotional and cognitive disabilities. Riding a horse promotes balance, coordination, relaxation and teamwork. But, for the children who come to Flying Free Equitherapy, fun tops the list.
“I look forward to it all week,” 9-year-old Pete Weisner said.
Pete’s mother, Jolie Weisner, wanted “gentle horses and a place where my son would have a safe and positive first experience.”
She says she found just what she wanted at Flying Free Equitherapy.
“Riding helps him focus,” Jolie Weisner said.
Pete Weisner, who suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder, says his favorite horse is Faith, a 14-year-old chestnut Quarter Horse mare who was one of two horses that helped launch the therapy program. Weisner won a first-place buckle for barrel racing at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in February on the other horse, Capacina, a 20-year-old purebred Arabian mare.
Therapy horses receive special training, and patient, gentle dispositions are a must.
Besides the two founding horses, there is Chip, an Appaloosa gelding, R.J., a Welsh pony, Trovador, a chestnut Peruvian Paso gelding and three miniature horses named Jewel, Shadow and Dakota.
The two newest additions to the stable are Haflingers from Ohio, a matched pair of stocky golden draft-pony mares named Pearl and Kristy who were purchased with grant money. Used for therapy riding, they will also be used as cart horses for people unable to sit astride a horse’s back.
Special equipment allows riders with physical challenges to mount and ride a horse. Bareback pads, a vaulting surcingle with special handles, breakaway stirrups, colored “rainbow reins” and “bicycle reins” custom made from nylon webbing and rubber handgrips make staying on the horse’s back safer and easier.
For those who cannot ride or are too large for the therapy horses, there is Lily the “Equicizer,” a horse simulator.
A custom-built mounting ramp allows wheelchair-bound riders to mount safely. English and Western Saddles, bridles, harness and other regular horse tack are used, as well.
Logan Willard, 9, and his brother Ronan, 4, are autistic and come once a week for their riding lessons. Their mother, Tammy Willard, saw an advertisement and decided to give it a try.
“The therapy helps with self-confidence, muscle tone, teamwork and balance,” Tammy Willard said. “So far, it’s helped Logan a lot with his confidence to do other things.”
Beverly Arnold’s daughter Sara is 10 and has Rett Syndrome, which renders her nonverbal and unable to stop wringing her hands.
“On the first day, she connected with the horse.” Beverly Arnold said. “She reached out to the horse and the horse lowered its head and it was an instant connection.”
But the best part of the therapy for Beverly Arnold is the progress her daughter has made since she started riding last November.
“Sara is more alert; she’s awesome out there.” Beverly Arnold said. “It gives us an incentive to be proud of her.”
For more information about Flying Free Equitherapy call (409) 925-1942 or visit the Web site www.flyingfree.org.
Information on equine-assisted therapy is available from NARHA a national nonprofit organization that promotes and issues accreditation for equine therapy.
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Yes, we are open on Saturday. Her lesson is scheduled for 3:30. We can do two lessons if you like or we can do a couple of Saturdays in a row. It is up to you. Just let me know before Saturday. Tell Caleigh to make sure and go to the horse arena while you are at the Rodeo. She will enjoy seeing all the show horses. Sheri
"Horses Give Us Wings"
Sheri Lee Holmes
Executive Director
Flying Free Equitherapy
www.flyingfree.org
From: flyingfree@yahoogroups.com [mailto:flyingfree@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Laurie Goforth Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006 7:54 AM To: flyingfree@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [flyingfree] top hands horse show
Hi Sheri -
I'm glad to see everything went well. I'm taking Caleigh to the rodeo for the first time on Thursday.
What time will Caleigh's class be? This Saturday, correct - March 4? Did I understand correctly that she'll do 2 lessons on Saturday?
Hey everyone. We just returned from the Top Hands horse show at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The two students we took to the show did very well. They won two first place buckles, two second place,two third, one fourth, two sixth place. The kids loved their trophies, but the buckles were the best. Well talk to you later. Remember classes start back up this week. Sheri
Yes, we are open on Saturday. Her lesson
is scheduled for 3:30. We can do two lessons if you like or we can do a couple
of Saturdays in a row. It is up to you. Just let me know before Saturday.
Tell Caleigh to make sure and go to the horse arena while you are at the
Rodeo. She will enjoy seeing all the show horses. Sheri
"Horses Give Us
Wings"
Sheri Lee Holmes
Executive Director
Flying Free Equitherapy
www.flyingfree.org
From:
flyingfree@yahoogroups.com [mailto:flyingfree@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Laurie
Goforth Sent: Wednesday, March 01, 2006
7:54 AM To: flyingfree@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [flyingfree] top
hands horse show
Hi Sheri -
I'm glad to see everything went well.
I'm taking Caleigh to the rodeo for the first time on Thursday.
What time will Caleigh's class be?
This Saturday, correct - March 4? Did I understand correctly that she'll do 2
lessons on Saturday?
Hey everyone. We just
returned from the Top Hands horse show at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The two
students we took to the show did very well. They won two first place
buckles, two second place,two third, one fourth, two sixth place. The kids loved
their trophies, but the buckles were the best. Well talk to you
later. Remember classes start back up this week. Sheri
Hey everyone. We just returned from the Top Hands horse show at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The two students we took to the show did very well. They won two first place buckles, two second place,two third, one fourth, two sixth place. The kids loved their trophies, but the buckles were the best. Well talk to you later. Remember classes start back up this week. Sheri
Hey everyone. We just returned from the Top Hands horse show at the
Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The two students we took to the show
did very well. They won two first place buckles, two second place,two
third, one fourth, two sixth place. The kids loved their trophies, but
the buckles were the best. Well talk to you later. Remember classes
start back up this week. Sheri
My deepest apologies for the obscene posting from the now banned member. I am going to change the way you can join this group so hopefully something like this will not happen again. Sheri
Thought i would share something with ya'll. Great fun and it does actually work.
Met my girl on here, http://www.meetthemonthenet.info/llan and so far it's been
the best year of my life ever! Wish you all the same happiness.
We would like to announce some very exciting news for all of us connected to the Equicizer and Equipony and their use for rehabilitation and therapy.
On our trip back from a very successful NARHA Conference in Houston, Texas, we stopped in Georgia to make a presentation to the ShepherdCenter. The ShepherdCenter is an Atlanta-based catastrophic care hospital, treating people with spinal cord injuries, acquired brain injuries, multiple sclerosis and other neuromuscular illnesses and urological problems.
Our presentation was attended by approximately 30 therapists and administrators. At the end of our demonstration the therapists were offered the opportunity to try the Equicizer & Equipony. They loved them! Before we knew it, Deborah Backus, PhD,PT from their Clinical Research Institute was approaching us to see if we would agree to a formal study and research being conducted on the uses and benefits of the Equicizer & Equipony!
After further discussion, we did agree to leave the ShepherdCenter with an Equicizer & an Equipony. They are planning on introducing them to their programsright away and once the Research Department receives official approval they will begin the study. This is a great opportunity for us and we are grateful and humbled by everyone's reaction and support of our product.
Now this is where you all come in. The ShepherdCenter is not an Equestrian-based program. They have offered to include our suggestions and input into what we would like their research and study to investigate. So what we need from any and hopefully all of you, is feedback on what we need to have them research for all of our Equestrian Therapeutic Programs; What findings would be important to you as a professional? Why? How would this research benefit you? Your program? Would positive results on the benefits of the Equicizer & Equipony make it easier for you to obtain Grants, procure Sponsorships or aid in your fundraising efforts?
Please share this email with anyone you believe might be interested in sharing their input with us. We need information as soon as possible so that we can put together a specific request on what we would like them to add to their studies. We ask that you please respond by December 16.
We look forward to hearing from anyone who is interested in this very exciting opportunity for all of us!
I wanted to thank many of you for a very special conference and also to let you know that if you have a chance, take a peak at the Equicizer Home page for the latest news and photos from the conference!
Thanks Frank. You know I never thought of putting Lily on the page. I will work on that this week. Sheri
"Frank Lovato, Jr." <EQUICIZER@...> wrote:
From Frankie & Sandy, the makers of "Lily", the Equicizer
I just wanted to mention to Sheri and eveyone at Flying Free that my wife, Sandy and I recently visited the Flying Free website and saw the page with the Meet the horses!
That was made so beautifully and what a great inspiring idea!!!
There were the barn doors with the names of each of the doors for the horses along with General the Donkey. Clicking on all of them Sandy and I fell in love with everyone of them.. and then the little barn!! There was the little guys! Oh.. where's Lily!! ?? :) Maybe she can make next years cut!
Well.. if we ever get in the position we can sponser.. we definately would. We aren't there yet, but the way that was set up was so inspiring for those to remember the horses. We just wanted to say, great idea and great job!
God
bless everyone at Flying Free.. we are fans! Frankie and Sandy Lovato Wooden Horse Corp. www.equicizer.com
From Frankie & Sandy, the makers of "Lily", the Equicizer
I just wanted to mention to Sheri and eveyone at Flying Free that my
wife, Sandy and I recently visited the Flying Free website and saw
the page with the Meet the horses!
That was made so beautifully and what a great inspiring idea!!!
There were the barn doors with the names of each of the doors for the
horses along with General the Donkey. Clicking on all of them Sandy
and I fell in love with everyone of them.. and then the little barn!!
There was the little guys! Oh.. where's Lily!! ?? :) Maybe she can
make next years cut!
Well.. if we ever get in the position we can sponser.. we definately
would. We aren't there yet, but the way that was set up was so
inspiring for those to remember the horses. We just wanted to say,
great idea and great job!
God bless everyone at Flying Free.. we are fans!
Frankie and Sandy Lovato
Wooden Horse Corp.
www.equicizer.com
Thank you for letting us know that the horses were moved to a safe location. Glad to hear the barn, office, arena and house were spared from major devastation. Please let me know if there is anything I can do from afar to help.
Christina
jamielynn100 <jamielynn100@...> wrote:
Hi everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know that all of the horses were removed from the facility due to hurricane Rita. This morning I made my way back to town and visited the stables. Every thing is in ok shape. No major damage to the barn, office, arena, or the Holmes' house. We will be getting in touch with everyone to let you know when we will be starting sessions again. Thank you Jamie
Thanks for the update, I'm glad everything's ok. I'm sorry I couldn't amke it to the barn to help move everyone out, but let me know if you need help there this week with them all coming back. I'm still in Austin right now,but will probably return tonight. I'd love to offer to traier some horses back, but my truck has air bags in the back for suspension, and it weaves a bit when I'm towing my car, so I don't think it's stable enough to pull the horses safely.
Hi everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know that all of the horses were removed from the facility due to hurricane Rita. This morning I made my way back to town and visited the stables. Every thing is in ok shape. No major damage to the barn, office, arena, or the Holmes' house. We will be getting in touch with everyone to let you know when we will be starting sessions again. Thank you Jamie
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Hi everyone! Just wanted to let everyone know that all of the horses
were removed from the facility due to hurricane Rita. This morning I
made my way back to town and visited the stables. Every thing is in
ok shape. No major damage to the barn, office, arena, or the Holmes'
house. We will be getting in touch with everyone to let you know when
we will be starting sessions again. Thank you Jamie
I am so sorry I haven't emailed sooner. We have been at conferances and dealing with some issues due to the hurricane. Yes, we always need volunteers. We are planning a volunteer meeting for this week, Sunday. Write back and I will give you more details. You can email me at admin@... or reply to this email. Sheri
komacozicowgirl <komacozicowgirl@...> wrote:
Greetings everyone; I was made aware of your program through NARHA, and am thrilled that you are close to the Clear Lake area. Are you in need of volunteers?
Jennifer Oborn
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Welcome to Flying Free. We are always in need of volunteers. Have
you ever worked with a center before? Please feel free to call us at
the office and set up a time to come out. Jamie NARHA Certified
instructor
--- In flyingfree@yahoogroups.com, "komacozicowgirl"
<komacozicowgirl@s...> wrote:
> Greetings everyone;
> I was made aware of your program through NARHA, and am thrilled that
> you are close to the Clear Lake area. Are you in need of volunteers?
>
> Jennifer Oborn
Greetings everyone;
I was made aware of your program through NARHA, and am thrilled that
you are close to the Clear Lake area. Are you in need of volunteers?
Jennifer Oborn
This is a great idea! I love that we would be able to tell if a client was using too much preasure and not have to worry about our horses mouths. If you had a different colored light for left and right, we could teach them how to tearn with a visual reward. Sheri
EQUICIZER@... wrote:
Dear Sheri,
Thank you very much for your email with your suggestion concerning the Equicizer. One of the things that are most difficult about building the Equicizer is keeping the cost down for everyone. Unfortunately if I was to design the neck or head to move left to right when pressured applied, the mechanism that would make it most effective to move in such a manner would most likely make the Equicizer unaffordable for most of our customers.
So many ideas such as this are very good and have crossed my mind but I have had to prioritize to offer the best product possible for everyone.
One of my first cost effective solutions for what you are looking for, is I am working on developing a small device that would connect to the rein and the bit. This device would offer 2 things. First feel and resistance, secondly a light would be attached that would light up brighter as more pressure was applied. There would be two different colors for left and right.
Do you feel that would help what you are looking for? I hope to have something developed before the year is out.
I also hope to always have new cost effective accessories that can be used with the Equicizer and Equipony. I promise never to give up trying to help you guys do what you do.
Thank you!
Frankie
Frank & Sandy Lovato WOODEN HORSE CORPORATION 50 THOMPSON STREET VALLEY STREAM, NY 11580 email: Equicizer@... Phone/Fax 516-872-2933 web address www.equicizer.com We now also have the domain name www.exercisehorse.com Much easier to spell and remember!