Our Mission
The Foothills Equestrian Nature Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing facilities and focus for education, recreation and preservation in nature studies and equestrian activities with the aim of enhancing those endeavors to enrich the quality of life for the community.
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 WATER FROM ABOVE
With this past summer's drought serving as a wake-up call, FENCE has embarked on the early stages of a storm water retention project to help reduce the amount it draws from the natural water table and from Block House Creek (at right). Working with the same environmental engineering firm that designed the restoration of the creek last year to its more natural course, FENCE has filed an application with the Clean Water Management Trust Fund for a $65,000 planning grant, to be used to design a system of underground cisterns to capture and store storm water runoff. Prime candidates for the system are the covered arena and barns at the Equestrian Center, with the roof of Ring C alone amounting to nearly an acre of hard, non-absorbent surface. The Equestrian Center uses a significant amount of water each show season, drawn from wells to supply the barns and from the creek to water the show rings. Capturing and storing storm water during the wetter seasons would have an important impact on maintaining local water tables during the drier summer months. FENCE hopes to learn of CWMTF's decision on its application by early spring of next year.
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TROT Awarded National Grant
Our therapeutic horseback riding program for disabled adults and children has been awarded a $1,000 grant by the Bear Hugs Foundation, a charitable outreach of the Build-A-Bear Workshop,  which manufactures a popular line of plush animal toys for children. The Foundation awards a series of such grants each year to benefit children's health and wellness, the wellbeing of animals, and for literacy and education programs for children. The TROT grant will be used to purchase and install rubber mats in the stalls of Rosemary's Barn, TROT's headquarters at FENCE, to provide a more comfortable and safe footing for TROT's equine helpers. And speaking of TROT, the program is now accepting applications for its Spring, 2009 term, which will begin in March. Click here for more information and application materials.
TROT is a Premier Accredited Center of the North American Riding For The Handicapped Association.
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Green Tip: Putting Your Computer On A Diet
Reading this digital newsletter is a great way to help cut down on paper usage...but what about the electricity your computer's using? With an estimated one billion computers in use worldwide, cutting down on the amount of power they use could have a tremendous impact on resource conservation and pollution levels. And now there's a software program that can help you do just that. The Climate Savers Computing Initiative recommends a free download of a program called Edison, offered by Verdiem, a supplier of corporate energy-saving applications. The consumer-oriented Edison allows you to set your machine's maximum energy usage levels, even to the point of a "deep sleep" state in which it will use just five per cent of its normal power consumption.
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 Thanks to PCCF!
FENCE is grateful to the Polk County Community Foundation for two grants that made a big difference this past summer. One grant, for $7,000, purchased a much-needed, shiny new red tractor to replace a decades-old machine with major mechanical problems. The tractor is being used for a variety of tasks around the property and has made life a lot easier for our hard-working maintenance crew. A second grant, for $5,000, supported the salaries of interns who staff our summer day camps and other summer activities for children. PCCF's support is an important component in support of our community service.
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A Quarter Century
Next year, FENCE will celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary of community service in nature education and outdoor recreation. Since opening its doors in 1984, FENCE has grown from its original 117 acres to its present 384, and recently protected those acres for future generations by conveying a conservation easement to our sister organization, the Pacolet Area Conservancy. We're just completed an extensive remediation of Blockhouse Creek on the property, too. Meanwhile, our in-school nature education program is now serving over 8,000 elementary and middle school students in five counties; our five-year-old therapeutic riding program has been recognized as a Premier Accredited Center by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association; and our Equestrian Center now sports a new covered arena for equestrian exhibitors and for communtiy events. But new challenges in an increasingly difficult economic environment await. Won't you help with a tax-deductible contribution? Click the link at left of our partner Network for Good to make a secure online contribution, or visit our website' donation page to complete our donation form and mail it to us. With your help, we can look forward to another twenty-five years of service.
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"I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out."
------ Paul Newman, 1925 - 2008
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