GRIT Therapeutic Horsemanship

02/02/2025

One of my favorite professional things is when barns and professionals collaborate to improve education, equine welfare, and physical and emtional resources for clients and other professionals. HUGE thank you to our sweet counter part H.E.L.P. Center of Austin for sending GRIT a little care package! Not only did we receive this, but we've been collaborating with a professional in Austin to add some new equine to our team, a professional in Greenville to possibly participate in some online horseshows, and another local Tyler professional about daily tasks and tribulations - and that's not all of them! Even though we're all at different facilities and programs, we all believe in the power of team work and collaboration🖤

02/01/2025

GRIT went to it's first Dressage show of the year, put on by Dallas Dressage Club. It was Apollo's first and his rider's first and they came away with *amazing* scores that have qualified them for WDAA World's in 2025 their first time out! I could not be more proud of this pair.

01/26/2025

We had a fun week of lessons this week and our clients tried their best! It's a rainy Sunday today but that just gives all of us, you included, a chance to slow down and relax on what is supposed to be a day of rest after a long week.

01/20/2025

Today would have been Hendricks' 8th Gotcha Day. A friend of mine asked if she could paint this photographe (taken by Kara Mae Photography & Graphics TX in 2019 I believe) back over the summer, neither of us knowing what was in store. She's a fanastic artist so if any of my clients are looking for any custom art work of their clients, I can't reccomend her enough. She does ornaments and full works of horses, dogs, and other animals.

Mane Design my down time painting is finished ..I know weird way to relax ,but it was enjoyable painting for myself ...a memorial portrait for a friend.Acrylic .Now accepting commissions ,paintings,painted boards,color pencil and ornaments... PayPal accepted.

01/19/2025

This sweet client has been having some anxiety related to falling off at the canter - guess what? That's totally normal. As equestrians, we all sometimes develop mental blocks and concerns. All athletes do. We've been working on her trusting her horse and herself and one of the exercises we did the other day was trot crossrails with her eyes shut. They did a great job and I am *so* proud of her for starting to work through her fears.

01/16/2025

Teaching the art of horsemanship young! Here at GRIT, we encourage our clients to learn how to catch, lead, groom, tack, and ride independently, or as independently as their abilities allow. Autonomy is our goal! Proud of this young lady who insisted on picking her horse's hooves all by herself at the age of 6.

01/11/2025

GRIT has been registered with Fleet of Angels since we opened in 2020. They have always done such amazing work for horses experiencing natural disasters - please consider donating to Fleet of Angels or the Pasadena Humane Society, in light of the fires in L.A. 10 human deaths, innumerable animal deaths, and 30,000+ acres burned.

It's been eight years since Fleet of Angels was responsible for feeding 600 horses. Many of you will remember the '907 Hallelujah Horses' mission we took on to save, feed, rehab, and place 907 starving, neglected, wild horses. Thanks to donations from the public and horse-centric organizations, that was a major nationwide event and a major nationwide success, with every survivor going to a safe new home with its best equine buddy or family.
Now we are needed for a completely different kind of emergency. We need to help the hundreds of horses that have been evacuated from the Los Angeles area fires. Fleet of Angels is the main provider of feed and other critical needs for these horses. Last night we had to rush 90 bales to one location in order for the 200 horses there to have an evening meal.
We have to make sure all these horses - over 600 so far, have feed while in the care of these centers - and maybe afterwards for some time, as well.
Please help us help them. We can only do this if we have the support of horse lovers all over America. I know we can do it- with your help.

Please contribute what you can at www.FleetOfAngels.org. They depend upon us and we depend upon you. Teamwork works!
(It's not possible to share this from this page, so please share it from our Fb news page at https://www.facebook.com/FleetOfAngelsNews.)

01/07/2025

Thank you to all of our clients on your flexibility with scheduling this week. We've got almost everyone moved off of Thurs and Fri! Y'all stay warm! Enjoy this throwback to 2021 with Baby Bisky

12/31/2024

It's the last day of 2024! Here are some highlights from our year! What are some of your 2024 favorite memories, at GRIT or in your personal life?

💫 GRIT served over 65 clients in 2024 and volunteers donated over 1,000 hours
💫 Received three large in-kind donations from individuals that included tack, items for the barn, items for the arena, etc.
💫 Welcomed Harold and Kumar to the farm
💫 Added Electrical to the crossties and Paddock #1
💫 Hired our 2023 Volunteer of the Year as our new Boshear's Assistant
💫 Plumbed water to the Red Barn
💫 Fundraiser partnerships with Kendra Scott and Dutch Bros
💫 Hunter/Jumper Show Team performed amazingly well, and several students earned blue ribbons, Reserve Champions, and Grand Champions at the schooling level shows
💫 Apollo, Misty, and Rockit were half leased to their loving students
💫 Nora is expecting her first foal in March, 2025
💫 Kat gave a well received talk at the PATH Region 8 Conference
💫 Stormy rode in her first lessons with students
💫 GRIT hosted a field trip for Christian Heritage Academy to learn about horses

We also experienced some heartbreak and loss, including the sudden passing of Hendricks. ❤️‍🩹 But the definition of GRIT is to have courage, resolve, and fortitude and we will continue to encourage GRIT into 2025. Can't wait to see what the New Year brings! 🎆🎇

12/28/2024

A beautiful sunset and a small rainbow after another day of storms! Hope y'all are enjoying your Winter Break!

12/27/2024

Huge Congratulations to our Working Student Ava, who received a half lease on her favorite horse, Rockit, for Christmas!

12/25/2024

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!

12/24/2024

Merry Christmas Eve! Today, the herd is so grateful to the Pigg Family for their generous Christmas contribution! We hope everyone is enjoying their holiday and remember, you've got a few more hours to make it over to the Nice list 🎅

12/24/2024

What a busy and super fun day of lessons before we take Christmas break! These two had a semiprivate today and Misty was hesitant to go over the gate. We played Follow the Leader to help Misty with her confidence and it worked - what great team work!

12/21/2024

UPDATE: Virgil the Golden has been reunited with his owners as of this afternoon! Thanks to everyone who shared and helped him find his family for Christmas! 🎄

Kat found a golden retriever on our road (County Road 1100 in Flint) this evening. Unfortunately, he's not chipped but he sure seems like someone's pet. PLEASE SHARE and help us get him home for Christmas! For tonight, he's safe in our horse trailer with fluffy shavings, an old horse blanket, a toy, food, and water.

12/20/2024

Merry Christmas to all of our wonderful Boshears students, teachers, and staff! We will see y'all in 2025!

12/20/2024

Big Congratulations to our client Julie on the purchase of her first horse! Biscuit is an almost 4 year old OTTB and we are so excited to help them in their riding journey!

12/18/2024

🎄Holiday Schedule:

Last Day of sessions at Boshears: 12/19
Last Day of sessions at GRIT: 12/23

GRIT will reopen for lessons 1/6/25 (it's a little later this year because I'm helping a friend move on 1/3) - we may open a little sooner if one of our subs wants to teach the week of the New Year! All clients leasing and volunteers are welcome to the barn during the times we are closed for lessons! Contact Kat with any questions ⛄️