Triple H Equitherapy-- Horses for Heroes Program

A few of you know of my volunteer work at the Triple H Equitherapy program as a horse handler, side walker, tack cleaner, and grunt for the yearly Triple H Scavenger Hunt. I am pleased to say that The Hooves to Heroes Program has recently gotten major funding, and at LAST is getting some attention from the military to aid our wounded veterans. I have not participated in working with the veterans as of yet. As you can well imagine, EVERYONE wants to volunteer for those classes, and we have only had three or four riders participate so far. There will be more, and perhaps then I will be placed in a class, but I am not worried about it. I am just happy that the program is finally happening; some of you may know that my son's father is currently in Iraq for one year, and I myself was in the military at one time, so it is wonderful seeing the program getting the funding and attention it deserves!

I just bloom where I am planted out there, and especially love working with the Developmentally Disabled folks as that is where I have 12 years of experience.  Having my son full-time has put a bit of a damper on volunteering, especially during the school year.

I currently fill in occasionally, clean tack when I can, and went out last week to help clear trails on horseback for our annual Mounted Scavenger Hunt. I miss my classes! During the summer I was involved in one two hour class for an at risk youth who had been abused, and a two hour class for an autistic child (age 8) and his brother (age 10). Sometimes we forget that the sibling needs a little horsey therapy too! I enjoyed these classes as we taught horse care from the ground up. How to act around a horse, how to groom, tack up, and then the culmination--Riding!  My son's brother (age five) has been diagnosed with autism, and I would love to see him out there riding too.

In the future I plan on working on my instructor certification. Sadly, not being able to volunteer as often has put a HUGE hold on that plan for right now. However, I will not give up on those plans, and in the New Year will work to make my volunteering committment more frequent. With summer creeping up, there will be more classes, and I won't have to worry about being there when the kiddo gets home from school to do homework, dinner, and ensure a proper bedtime. I can bring him along and have him clean stalls!! :)

Below is a news article regarding the Horses for Heroes Program, and a quick video featuring football player Mario Williams who made a generous donation.

If you want to see more about the facility and it's programs, go here .

November 2009

Wounded warriors who are part of the Warrior Transition Battalion at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio are benefiting from equine assisted therapy at Triple H Equitherapy Center thanks to a $15,000 donation secured by a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Jeff Harris of Kerrville, Texas, contacted William Hutton, Los Angeles, who is a friend and Purple Heart member about the therapeutic riding opportunity at Triple H. Hutton sought financial help from longtime friend, Robert Irmas, who represents the Audrey & Sydney Irmas Charitable Foundation, also located in Los Angeles.

Irmas said the foundation is honored to be part of Triple H’s Horses for Heroes program. “Providing support for our wounded service members is a high priority for us and we take this obligation very seriously,” he added.

A few troops who were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have participated in therapeutic riding at Triple H over the past 18 months including Staff Sgt. Chris Edwards, Sgt. Omar Avila and Cpl. Javier Rivera. All three suffered extensive burns and other injuries when Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) detonated under their military vehicles. They continue to receive treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

But like the true heroes they are, these soldiers are more concerned about how their injuries have affected their families than the impact the disabilities have on their own lives. They are upbeat as they work to recover a sense of normalcy and they are proud to have served their country.

Avila, who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, says that the therapeutic riding he’s done has enabled him to walk longer distances. “It’s another way of doing therapy that doesn’t feel like therapy,” he says with a smile.

Rivera says that equine assisted therapy is a great way to take his mind off of what has happened. He has fond memories of horseback riding growing up in Puerto Rico and says “I really look forward to coming out to ride.”

Edwards said he could feel the stretch in my scar bands immediately. He said he was excited about getting more disabled veterans interested in therapeutic riding.

Located about 20 miles northwest of San Antonio near Pipe Creek, the riding center provides therapy for children and youth with special needs, adults recovering from injuries, and most recently wounded warriors. Triple H Equitherapy Center is the only nonprofit center in the San Antonio area to be fully accredited by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). It is one of only about 200 NARHA designated premier therapeutic riding centers in the country.

Please contact Executive Director Richard Dosher at 830-510-9515 or email hhhdream@aol.com to learn more about making a donation to the Triple H Equitherapy Center or to inquire about their Horses for Heroes program.

Texans Defensive End Mario Williams presented a $10,000 donation to the Center for Citizen Leadership's "The Mission Continues" program at an event in Houston in March 2009 hosted by Esquire Magazine and Armani. Our Veteran Outreach Coordinator, Mathew Trotter, who is a volunteer for our organization was on hand to help accept the gift.



"The Mission Continues" featuring Triple H Equitherapy Center's Mathew Trotter

THIS is a Wonderful Life....

Anne, Lorri and me...Can you believe that Lorri and I both have Anglo Arabs? They are SO different!

Linda on Red (Missouri Fox Trotter), Anne on Allie (Arabian) and Lorri on Ozzie (AngloArab)

On Wednesday we had wonderful 68 degree weather and it was the perfect day for us to hit the trails! I haven't been riding too much in the past month with sickness and weather getting the upper hand. Oh. And work. And the kiddo. There were actually five of us who rode out, but we took these pics without our friend Kathy (later pictured in pink) because she was being a slow butt... :) J.K., Kathy!
We took along tools to clear some trail, officially beginning our work on the annual Triple H Equitherapy Scavenger Hunt. We have changed the date from June to early May because we think the cooler weather in May will attract more riders. Adding new trails and obstacles are imperative to keeping the interest and freshness of the ride alive. Three of us cleared branches and forged trail on foot, while two held the five horses; I'd say we spent 45 minutes clearing and the rest was a relaxing, invigorating ride. Even though we waded streams, and traveled at a pretty fast pace for five riders, it felt as if we were all very much in sync and we all had a ball. If you have ever ridden with this size group, you probably know that this does NOT always happen! :)
As we rode, I reflected on the past year a bit, and how far I have really come with Jackson. When we trot now it feels like another extension of me; we have both gotten so much better at this gate, I am no longer thrown up into the heavens gulping at the stars. We can canter. Collection, check. (OK. Much more collection than ever before, how's that? :) On the bit? Most of the time. Doing things with such comfort and ease that they are automatic? OH YEAH! :) Lost 54 pounds? Done that too. That in and of itself has helped my riding immensely. There are people out there who are overweight and ride superbly. I am not one of them. I was a thin person in a fat body. Seriously. At my thinnest I weighed 127 lbs. at a height of 5'10. Of course, this was at the age of 22, and I was VERY thin. Realistically, I will be happy to lose another 10 lbs. for a happy 135-140. My horse loves the weight loss too. Did I lose the weight for my horse and to be a better rider? Absolutely. My dressage lessons have also been a wonderful thing we have started this past year. With Allison my instructor(who is 79 and was a Grand Prix XC rider in her time), it has really been an eye opening experience, and benefited my riding more than I can say. Although I don't know if I will ever be what you call a dressage rider, I DO take lessons to help our partnership, further our learning, and to aid in mine and Jackson's jumping abilities down the road. I firmly believe if you can perform classical dressage (at least the basics) you are ready for anything! In the next year it will be time to add the next piece of our challenge. JUMPING! We will also be working on obstacles and add a few competetive trail rides and our usual trail riding to the mix for variety and to keep it fun! They don't call him a sport horse for nothing and we both love changing it up!

Back to our ride. We did lots of different and advanced terrain: small spaces, up and DOWN steep hills, deep streams, switchbacks, etc. All the horses took it in stride. We even did a couple little jumps over a log and one drop off. Kathy was riding a seasoned Warmblood XC jumper, and Lorri did them at a wild hand gallop (gotta love those mares!), but Jackson is nothing if not practical, and is so attuned to me. He is one smart guy, and knows just what I am ready for these days! We popped the jumps at a trot...Don't get me wrong. This horse is SO MORE THAN capable of a wild, fun hand gallop in a heartbeat, and could run all day, but he knows that we have that on the list for next years post! :) What a good boy!
As it neared 5pm a really cool mist hung like a light cotton batting with the sunlight over the water. It looked so cool. I am in the light blue in the pics below...wish they were better, I had my camera, but Linda actually remembered to grab hers and take a few! Sometimes it is not a picture taking day, I felt the need to commune with the day, my horse, and my friends...

All I could help thinking was, THIS IS THE LIFE!

Happy Holidays and a very Merry Christmas to you all!
May your rides be many, fun, and fill you up in 2010!

Wild West FUN Fest

HOWDY FOLKS! Yesterday was another fun-filled day, and another fundraiser for Triple H Equitherapy where I volunteer. We held the annual 'Wild West Fun Fest' at Enchanted Springs Ranch in Boerne, Texas. Enchanted Springs is an 86 acre working ranch with its rugged, natural beauty,extensive collection of exotic animals, and authentic time warp--a Western town right out of the 1800's. Originally designed for Western movies, the Old West town consists of over 40 facades and buildings which have been used in several TV films and commercials. Apparently,it is Oprah's #4 pick for BEST family attraction in the USA! Anywhooo....my son Miles and I set out yesterday to participate in the festivities and FUN! I also sold raffle tickets and my loud mouth served me well, I must confess, I sold $150 worth of tickets in one hour. (OKAAAAY...I'm not really that good. One guy came up and bought $100 worth of tickets, so since my goal was met, I was free to play, YAAAYYY!!!). I'll take you on a tour of our day; I have NO pictures of Miles because he took off to explore and was in an anti-picture mood. SIGH. 13 is not fun so far.... I had fun setting up a warrant for Linda's arrest....for $5 they would come find anyone in your party, cart them of to jail and give 'em a trial. I had Linda arrested for 'talkin trash', (ha!) and boy was she surprised! It was especially funny because she had just been heckling the last girl who was in the "jail"!

Wordless Whisperer....

This is Joe Mike. He is the senior instructor and ranch hand at Triple H Equitherapy where I volunteer. I just happened to have my camera in my back pocket and was able to catch this very cool moment....Mike is wonderful with horses and has a ton of great knowledge. Thankfully, he is kind about sharing what he knows!! Obviously, you can tell he rates quite high with the horses....

Dressage in My Dreams.....

Second dressage lesson. It went well, but was executed one hour + in 100 degree heat. I think my learning curve dropped rapidly after the first half hour. Blasted sun. Shorten my reins!! I am now hearing Allison's words in my sleep. My reins are almost always too long, and I tend to freeze my hands and elbows instead of letting them go wiggly and move with my horse. We worked on turning on the forehand and halfpass which are so basic but Jackson has never done any of that in his life. My previous dressage lessons have consisted of riding very learned school horses so how much have I retained? More (and sometimes less) than I thought, but it is much different when you are also teaching your green horse as well as relearning the stuff yourself. Jackson learns it faster than I do though; he is AMAZING! I haven't had lessons in A LONG TIME....

Anyway, I was talking to Allison and asking her questions about herself and was amazed at what I learned. She is very modest about herself, but I did glean that she has performed in front of very renowned European judges here in Texas at the Grand Prix level and her favorite thing to do was--NO FOLKS, NOT DRESSAGE!!!! She was an EVENTER!!!! (For those of you who don't know, dressage is only a piece of what I want to do on Jackson,--an important one--but my ultimate dream is to event). She is 79 years old and from England. Her husband, Alex, was a professional polo player and trainer. She told me that he has that little extra something with the horse when he rides that one doesn't often see. I thought I knew what she meant, I've seen it in certain riders. But then she said something that rendered me COMPLETELY speechless. She said, "You have it too, I see it." OK, folks. I trust her and I think if she says something she really means it. But me? Hard to believe. I can't dance. I'm clumsy. I work really hard to ride well. I'm not sure it exactly comes naturally. Sometimes it feels like we are one, but not often...Of course, I have only just begun with this horse....but still! Anyway, I'll take the compliment and hope it has credence. It would be nice to have an extra little something at something in life! Especially my favorite thing in the world..... AND SHE USED TO BE AN EVENTER!!! Yep, sorry, I know. I already said that. ;) She knows EXACTLY where I want to go, phewwww. So she can also be useful with the fences a little down the road I hope!!!! *I am SO smiling.*

I was talking to Peggy who is the financial officer at Triple H Equitherapy and she told me a story involving Allison and Ray Hunt. For those of you who aren't familiar, Ray Hunt (now deceased) was one of the original horse whisperers and an amazing trainer. I idolize him. Check out his books if you have a chance. Anyway, apparently Allison was giving a dressage lesson right next to a ring where Ray was also teaching a group of students. Allison was giving her instruction so loudly that Ray's students couldn't hear what he was saying. Ray turned to his students and said, "Just listen to the lady next door, she knows what she's talking about." LOL!

I have so much to learn, but I think I have hit on a gem in Allison. She is a tough teacher, but I am LEARNING from her.

Good as!

Mounted Scavenger Hunt!

As some of you may know, I volunteer at an Equitherapy Facility as a sidewalker and a horse handler. Lately we have been working hard to set up the annual fundraiser, a mounted scavenger hunt! I kind of fell into this position last year when my BO Linda asked me if I wanted to go help set up trails for the scavenger hunt! Of course, this year after enjoying it SO much last year, we spent most of our days off from work on horseback blazing trails, hanging up the trail markers, clearing out branches, and then a few days before the hunt setting up the "events" which you will see a few of on my picture tour below. The three trails consisted of easy, intermediate, and expert; all of them with 10 events each. To obtain your prize at the end you had to follow the map, find your "10 treasures" and bring back the required items from all 10 events. The orange trail, which was the hardest, proved to be quite a challenge for many of the riders. Of course, we made the "events" much harder to find, and the trail was even more challenging. Lots of rocky terrain, switchbacks, challenging water, and difficult cliff-like hills with rock. I will show you some of the events, not necessarily in any trail order; from setting up the day before on an ATV, (thank God for that ATV or we NEVER would have got it done!!) to the day of the event, to a little bit of the dismantling of the trails which we started on Monday, the event being last Saturday. Hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed the experience...

Matt

Linda, Kate and Matt on the ATV


The back of that cart got really bumpy at times, I have major bruises as proof!

Pinto Pony--bring back one pinto bean.

Hobo Hollow. This one was my creation. Bring back one hobo stick.

Hanging in the tree at horse height on the easy pink trail.

I made 80 of these! AGH! And if you don't think it looks like a hobo bag, I don't wanna hear about it!!! :)

This is where Lorri's horse Kite spooked at a rustling bag, turned, started bucking, and....


she crashed into this tree at speed, breaking her nose and lying backwards (with her body and head to Kite's tail) to this....

HILL. Matt (pictured) was there and says she narrowly missed these rocks when she finally fell off.

The hill from the bottom. Quite steep, pics never do that justice! She was unconscious when Matt got to her. EMS was called and you can see the pic in my previous post. She broke three spinous processess and broke her nose among other things. She is doing better so thank you for all of your prayers!!!

The Old Kiln. Bring back one match from the basket. Everything on the pink trail you need to be able to get from your horse as it is the easiest one. We did run into some riders on the day of the hunt out on the yellow intermediate/difficult trail, (four of them riding English) who could not get off of their horses and remount on the trail. They dropped something and my newbie rider son jumped off and got it for them. I'm sorry, if you can't get off of your horse and remount, you shouldn't be out on a difficult trail!!! It made me ashamed to be an English rider, we get enough knocks being in the land of Western riders, so we need to look competent....but of course, they were dressed to the nines and had the best tack and horses. Figures.

The BBQ tree. Bring back one briquet.

Fruit Stand. Bring back one grape. This is the little grove where I fell flat on my butt kicking a HUGE branch down from a tree so it wouldn't fall on a rider. I was kicking it because it had a scorpion on it the day before. So kicking was good. Branch came down, so did I. Darn tree roots! Thankfully, well out of the way of said HUGE branch. But not of the way of the chiggers! UGH! We were all covered with bites and are still itchy fully a week later. CHIGGERS ARE THE WORST!!!!!

Paint by Letters. Bring back one paint brush.

She sells. Bring back one seashell from the hanging bag. The big colored ones are decoration.

The whole effect of She Sells.



Teed Off. Bring back one golf tee. We put a little bit of green astroturf on that log pile the day of the hunt. This one was fun to set up!

Kate gunning the ATV up a steep hill. That thing is SO fun to drive!

Caurosel horse. Bring back one bell out of the black umbrella. Jackson didn't bat an eye at this one, although apparantly lots of people have trouble with it. When we rode through while the hunt was going on we had to reload the umbrella by picking up most of the bells from the ground!


Rust in Pieces. Bring back one tombstone. (Popsicle stick painted rust colored with RIP on it).

Rusting abandoned farm equipment. Resting in, well, pieces!

RIP. Trevor Tiller. Gone TILL he learns how to close the gate.

RIP. Sam Shredder. He was all torn up over life.

RIP. Debbie Disc. Plowed under too soon.

School Spirit. Bring back one letter from the bucket.

Fractured Fred. Bring back one pack of....


Citrical--Calcium!!!! This was my son Miles' favorite event. He donated the use of Fred to the cause and was SO excited to go out on the trail the day of the hunt so he could see it personally. Fred is now hanging in my son's room with the Fractured Fred sign, holding a pack of Citrical in his hand. Have I mentioned my son's obsession with Halloween? GRIN....

Toad Wall. Bring back one toad.


Mountains of Ararat. Bring back one animal. The mountains didn't get put out til the day of the hunt.


Tiger's Lair. Bring back one tiger's eye from the hanging basket. (Not pictured). We had a lot of fun getting the tiger to stay in the tree. We tied his tail to something from the back side.

And YES, we did get stuck. But just once. This pic is before he was well and truly stuck...We three tough ladies cowgirled up and moved the trailer (all 800lbs. of it!) into the water and we took the wet route for a bit! Matt offered to get out if one of us wanted to steer the ATV out of its mess, but we opted out of that one!

Alien space discs...


Matt throwing the "UFO's" (garbage can lids!) string over a tree branch.




Kate gets one too....

Bring back one strange looking green alien to show that you've been here.

The sign speaks for itself!




Linda pointing out the red-headed fairy, I don't think we red heads look all that good in yellow! HA!

Lover's Leap. Bring back one gold ring. Make sure you look over the edge first.....

Crime scene view from the edge of Lover's Leap. YES, I must confess, this was my idea, but Linda ran with it and made it happen. Ahhh. Praise be to warped senses of humor!!

Miles at School Pride event on the day of the Scavenger Hunt.

Miles at Fractured Fred, checking it out in person. He was thrilled to see "Fred" whom he claims has, "been in the family" since we lived in D.C. (7 years ago), being so useful!

Most of the Triple H Equitherapy horses got baths and fancy braids in order to present a "Parade of Horses" in which we present the different breeds and where they originated, characteristics, etc. that are in active use at Triple H. From Belgians to Oldenburgs to QH, TB, and even a little POA, there is quite the variety and size!

Classy!


Parade of Horses. Me in the blue with the TB. His name is Laz and he is a high strung pain! Makes me so glad Jackson is an AngloArab; he is SO calm in comparison! Wish I had a close up of Laz's ribbons tho', they were super cool!

Helping a client mount. She got an award in front of the whole crowd in celebration of being at Triple H for 10 years as a rider!!!

Monday morning trail clean-up. Jackson's mane was the perfect place to store the trail markers that needed to come down! Do you like this new fad we're starting? He was unimpressed.




Back from taking down part of one trail.



He is really getting much better at his riding! It's so nice to be able to take him out on the trail!