๐ด Just a little boop to brighten your day! Who booped the best?
Join us for Horse Care Fridays! ๐ด
Calling all horse leaders! We need your help on Fridays from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM to spend some quality time with our amazing horses. Whether you can volunteer for just one hour or the full two, your contribution will make a huge difference! Youโll get to groom, exercise, and stretch our horses, helping them stay healthy and happy, while also enjoying some peaceful hands on time with these incredible animals. Spaces are limited to horse leaders only so donโt miss his opportunity to bond with our horses and be part of something special! Sign-up are available on VicNet.
Join Us for Horse Care Fridays! ๐ด Calling all horse leaders! We need your help on Fridays from 11:30am - 1:30pm to spend some quality time with our amazing horses. Whether you can volunteer for just one hour or the full two, your contribution will make a huge difference! Youโll get to groom, exercise, and stretch our horses, helping them stay, healthy and happy while also enjoying some peaceful, hands on time with these incredible animals. Spaces are limited to horse leaders only, so donโt miss this opportunity to bond with our horses and be a part of something special! Sign ups are available on VicNet.
Say hello to our Summer Interns! Our Equine-Assisted Services and Equine and Barn Management Interns are already making an awesome impact on our programs. Interested in reading about current and past interns' experiences? Check out their blog at https://intern525.wixsite.com/rideforjoy.
Internship applications for Fall are currently open until August 15! Check out our website for more information. ๐ด
Ruck Up and Rebuild is going fantastic! Thank you all for coming and spending the day with us ๐
Have you bought tickets to the Barn Party yet? Amberley Snyder is excited to come to Ride for Joy and meet yaโll!
Purchase your tickets for this inspirational event today!
https://rideforjoy.afrogs.org/#/tickets/event
#walkriderodeo #amberleysnyder #adaptiveriding #rodeo
Today begins International Week of the Deaf! We wanted to bring awareness to the deaf community and to this important, global week through one of our students; Eowyn!
Eowyn has always loved animals, and especially equines. She began riding with Ride for Joy when she was 4 years old (she is now 9 and in her 6th year of riding!). She is Deaf/Hard of Hearing, who uses both American Sign Language and English to communicate. Sheโs always had a rather quiet voice, and working with the horses has helped her become more assertive in communicating her needs with others. We are also grateful to RFJ for meeting her communication needs with ASL interpreters, giving her full access to the therapy. Children with hearing loss engage in a lot of communication without words, just like horses. They are very visually attuned, and naturally notice when a horse is moving its ears this way and that, or if it tenses up, or anything else, making it a perfect therapy for her. Eowyn spends hours every week playing โhorseโ where she is the horse. She is an excellent horse actress and mimic!
Riding at RFJ is a wonderful opportunity for her to ride and interact with horses safely. Especially since she is at higher risk for COVID complications were she to contract it, we are especially thankful for this activity that feels very safe in this regard. It is one of the only outside activities she has continued with since March of 2020.
It has been fun to watch her evolve as a rider over the years, she has become more skilled at it than we ever imagined. She also has cerebral palsy, and whenever she gets evaluated by PT, they always comment on her amazing core strength, no doubt helped out by riding at RFJ! These days, itโs one of the only therapies sheโs getting, and we are forever grateful!
Being a very visual person, Eowyn loves costumes and Halloween is her favorite holiday. When I asked her today about her time at RFJ, itโs clear she loves everything about it, but her favorit
Meet Hanna! She's one of our new summer interns. Join me in welcoming her to the family!
Team Penning time-lapse from the last week of winter lessons!
