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Visit us at the
1st Annual Pet Symposium
Nov. 26-Nov. 28
| Hosted by PetFolio Magazine
Held at Sierra Feed & The Saddlery,
7460 S. Virginia St., Reno
Horses for the Spirit will be there daily from noon to 3 pm
For more information visit PetFolio Magazine
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| DONATIONS |
To make a tax-deductible donation via secure online form, please click here and look for the yellow "donate" button. Or mail a check to Horses for the Spirit, 4790 Caughlin Parkway # 421, Reno, Nevada 89519 Material Donations Grass Hay Tractor or Quad to drag arena F250 Diesel Truck or similar Photo Paper Gas Cards for Volunteers Hauling Horses to and from programs Laptop Computer Weed control services Landscaping Services Round Pen
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November E-Newsletter
| November 23, 2010
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Happy Thanksgiving Friends,
We enjoyed a very special Saturday graduation with our kids from Kids Kottage. Due to the cold temperatures we moved our party to Kids Kottage and were thrilled to be invited into the facility that these kids call home.
Even though the teens were unable to say their official goodbyes to the horses, we presented them with portraits of their horses and sweatshirts as reminders of their time with us. The goodbyes with this group were bittersweet. We are keenly aware that the family situations for this group are precarious or non-existent and we saw that our time with them was as important to them as being able to experience the world through the eyes of their horses.
Please see below for a beautiful poem written by one of the young women from this program about how this program impacted her.
We'll be taking a much-needed break during the month of December and will start planning for 2011 programs in January. 2011 programs should start back up around the end of March when the weather has a tendency to be a bit more cooperative.
Sincerely,
Deb Conrad
Executive Director
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The Best Part of Saturday
by S.W.
Watching anxiously from the peak of the hill
Drawing in closer to fully take on your beauty
Observing actions and emotions to try to utterly understand
Galloping with haste as fright come near
Reminders of one's self
Afraid and unsure
Awaiting to stroke the beautiful mane and engage in various activities
The Barbie doll I never had
The action figure I always wanted
Shining and brightening the morning
Not admitting you're the best part of my Saturday
It was you
Both of you
Teaching me so much
No only about you but about myself
Now knowing my emotions, thoughts, and actions affect others
I've grown
Thanks to you
The Sun of my Saturday and the Cowgirl I wish I could be
I love you Paula and Sunny
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 | | Landess and Bruce Witmer of PetFolio Magazine pose for a pciture at Wine & Spirits 2010. |
Wine & Spirits 2010 Wrap Up
We held our 2nd Annual Wine & Spirits fundraiser on Thursday, November 4th at the Hidden Valley Country Club. It was a great success!
The Whitney Myer Band played a fabulous semi-acoustic set, friends new and old visited while enjoying wine provided by Whispering Vine Wine Co. and delicious appetizers prepared by Hidden Valley Country Club.
We raffled off 57 raffle prizes! Thank you to all of the businesses and individuals who donated raffle prizes to our event. Your  | | Co-founder and Program Director Robbie Maus and Program Graduate and Volunteer Morgan Meisnner having fun pulling the winning raffle tickets |
donations helped us raise $1350 in raffle ticket sales - wow! Please see the sidebar for those who supported us and please support them in turn on our behalf!
We want to thank everyone who helped make this event a success.The net proceeds from the event will help fund programs for 2011. Most of our clients are either unable to pay at all or able to pay only a portion of the true cost of conducting a program, so this fundraiser and your support are crucial to our ability to serve the kids in our community who need our help to make positive changes in their lives as they continue on their journey, despite the rocky paths they may be traveling at any given time.
Click here for more pictures from our event. Thank you again Cynthia Smallley for taking the photos!
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The Year in Review
Horses for the Spirit just completed the fourth and final program of the year. This year we served youth in foster care through Social Services, the McGee Center, No Child Left Behind and Kids Kottage.
In the spring, with the foster care program, we had room to include two of the foster parents in the program. The parents agreed with us that this was a unique opportunity to bond with their foster children as well as learn more about themselves in the process. We received really great feedback about this aspect of the program and plan to continue to offer it whenever space allows.
The No Child Left Behind program varied from the norm for us. We served 15 kids utilizing five horses and due to the varying ages of this group as well as the emotional/mental development level of this group, we did not teach natural horsemanship, but instead offered games with the horses to stimulate teamwork and relationship building along with problem-solving... not to mention lots of fun and laughs. In January we will be meeting with Candia Tolbert, Executive Director for No Child Left Behind to discuss partnering with them again in 2011.
The McGee Center and Kids Kottage programs were both challenging and successful. The kids in the programs demand authenticity from the human volunteers and unconditional acceptance from the horse volunteers. Through focusing on learning the natural horsemanship skills combined with homework and processing designed to ask them to take those skills a step further to their every day lives, the youth in these programs leave with a better understanding of themselves and how their behavior effects others, with more confidence to overcome the challenges they face in their lives and much, much more.
We received significant funding from the Reno Rodeo Foundation and a local private foundation that prefers to remain anonymous. Both organizations have supported us for the past two years and without their contributions, Horses for the Spirit would not be able to serve our clients, most of whom cannot pay for the full cost of conducting a program in part or at all. Thank you for the continued support -- we know the kids are grateful for the experience you allow them to have in our programs!
The recent Wine & Spirits fundraiser grossed $3300 and brought in over $7,000 in in-kind donations, not including all the donated hours of work to pull the event off. Our attendance was more than double last year's attendance. The net proceeds from this event will support programs in 2011.
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 | Suzy Anderson and her mare Amy pose on the pedestal.
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RED ROCK TRAIL & COCKTAIL SOCIETY TRAIL TRIAL FUNDRAISER
The Red rock Trail & Cocktail Society is a group of horsewomen who get together to ride and play with their horses together in the North Red Rock Valley.
They hosted their 1st Annual Trail Trial and chose to donate the proceeds to Horses for the Spirit! They charged a mere $5 a head and were able to donate $202 to Horses for the Spirit!
We want to say a huge THANK YOU to Deb Casaubon and Suzy Anderson, their husbands and everyone who volunteered before, after and during the event... it was a ton of work and they did it all with smiles on their faces.
Several volunteers were able to attend and had a blast with the obstacles which ranged from a pedestal to the dreaded "car wash" to walk-trot transitions and a teeter-totter.
If any of you horse folks are interested in custom-built obstacles of your own, please contact Bob Casaubon of Just Horsing Around Trail Trial Obstacles & Courses. Design and BUILD at your property. Call Bob at 775-345-5464 or 775-969-3189. Pictures available of many already built!
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 | Horses for the Spirit volunteers gather for a photo at Wine & Spirits
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THANK YOU VOLUNTEERS!
Horses for the Spirit thanks all the volunteers who made this year possible.
It was a year of challenges and hard work and the volunteers really pulled through! We know there is also a great level of satisfaction for the volunteers in being able to share the horses and our program with kids in the community who really need us.
Their dedication has been amazing and we look forward to 2011 and all the challenges and successes it will bring us!
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About Us
Horses for the Spirit offers Equine Assisted Learning programs to youth ages 12-19 in Washoe County. Our EAL programs utilize horses as part of the teaching team and offer experiential and problem-based learning opportunities emphasizing positive life and social skills. Our client list includes Social Services, McGee Center, Kids Kottage and No Child Left Behind.
We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter and encourage you to send it to friends, family and colleagues who might be interested in Horses for the Spirit. Please send us an email if you have any trouble viewing this newsletter or if you have questions or comments.
Sincerely,
Robbie Maus, Board President, Program Director, Equine Manager
Erin De Los Santos, Board Secretary
Pam Olivieri, Board Treasurer
Deb Conrad, Board Member, Executive Director
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