Special Equestrians, Inc

11/16/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc. enjoyed a beautiful day with our SE community! Therapeutic riding classes were followed by interviews with our friends, Donna and Jeff Clap, of Visitivity Inc., as they gathered footage featuring our 2026 Ambassador, Brian Cristea. Every year, when the final product hits our inbox with its touching way of capturing the essence of what we do at SE, we can't wait to share it! 🙌 However, we will wait until we showcase the video at Taste of Love on March 22. ❤️ Visit specialequestrians.net on our EVENTS page for all the details.

This afternoon, we also hosted Giving and Gratitude, a Reading Rodeo event. 🐴📚🙏🏼Special thank you to Joe Conroy for signing books for our Miracle Boutique and setting up near Tony Pony for some coloring and low-stakes reading. There is such therapeutic value in sharing time with our SE community beneath the shade of oaks, in the horse barn, and in the yards under the sun. Making Miracles Happen one November Saturday at a time! 🍁🐴✨

11/12/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc. is calling on our community to Make Miracles Happen! We have Volunteer Orientation and Sidewalker and Horse Leader trainings scheduled...We need YOU! Complete an application online, and we'll be in touch. Please share with anyone who may connect with our mission, enjoys a little adventure, and finds the beauty in the simple things in life! https://specialequestrians.net/volunteer/

11/11/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc. still has spots available for Giving and Gratitude, A Reading Rodeo event! Sign up https://forms.gle/zmRY7G7mpc31mDEVA and come join the fun this Saturday from 12:30-2:00. Support therapeutic horsemanship, literacy, community, and fill your heart with gratitude! 📚🐴🫶https://readingrodeo.givesmart.com

Special Equestrians, Inc. invites you to Giving and Gratitude, a Reading Rodeo event! Please RSVP no later than Wednesday, November 12th so we can plan accordingly. https://forms.gle/VRZMLtbNoGXUktFV6 We look forward to reading with you!

11/11/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc. is proud to serve our veterans. Watching veterans develop relationships with their horses opens our hearts and serves as a reminder of how horses can bring joy and happiness to the lives of those who work with them. Mondays may be our horses’ favorite day of the week because of Horses & Heroes. It’s remarkable to observe! Happy Veterans Day! Thank you for your service and sacrifice. 🐴✨🙏🏼

11/10/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc. hosted its annual meeting this past Saturday. Lead instructor Amy Oxendine facilitated the horse parade with the invaluable support of our dedicated Horse Leaders. The parade, which included stats about each horse, culminated in the announcement of the Horse Ambassador of the Year. Congratulations to Chrissy, Horse Ambassador of the Year! Chrissy truly embodies the spirit of a therapeutic riding horse with her kindness, consistency, and work ethic. Chrissy is also beautiful, with her dark spots, and eager to receive a scratch or a soft touch. The Board of Directors' president, Freda Jones, welcomed and acknowledged the board and guests, while Jan Fifer facilitated the Election of Officers. Chad Jones prepared a wonderful picnic style lunch before Executive Director Dana Hollenzer offered stakeholders a Year in Review. During that time, last year's ambassador, Sarah Gould, passed the torch to our current SE Ambassador, Brian Christea, with a ceremonious handshake. Next, we celebrated our participants' and volunteers' achievements at an awards ceremony. Congratulations to Riders of the Year: Ty Micheal, Ethan Bello, Turner Raborn, and Zak Kerner, and grooming participant of the year, Bella Bozeat. Driving Student if the Year was awarded to Sharon Davis! Also, congratulations to the Volunteers of the Year, Mark Wilson, Chris Bean, Denise Paul, Dani Mitchell (youth award), and Special Equestrians' Friend of the Year, Libby Fekette and Courtney Cleary. We rounded out the event with staff appreciation, celebrating Administrative Assistant Lisa Coy, Volunteer Coordinator Melissa Velez, Caretaker Meredith Tacy, Office Assistant Natalie Scalora, Stall Relief Kate Scippo, and Abby Alexander, and CRTI Mentee Alison LaPorta and of course our unstoppable Therapeutic Riding and Driving instructors: Mike Freeman, Dee Hollander, Amy Oxendine, Suzanne Renwick, and Diane Shaw. It was a lovely day for the SE community as we celebrated the accomplishments of this past year and welcomed a new year of Making Miracles Happen! ✨🐴👏🏼

11/07/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc. has an exciting holiday outreach opportunity planned! Southwest Florida Dressage Association has invited us to host the charity lunch on November 22nd at the horse show at Hidden Haven Ranch on Deal Rd in North Fort Myers. This outreach is an opportunity to raise critical funds, but more importantly, to share our mission, inform our community about the fantastic work we do, speak with potential volunteers, and be a healing presence. We are currently securing funding sources for the second publication of Guinness the Rescue Pony! The total cost of this project is about $3,500. During our last fiscal year, our Pony Pals Outreach team served 308 participants and gifted 130 books through the outreach literacy program. Two very special volunteers have agreed to dress as Santa and Mrs. Claus and take pictures with the horse show competitors, horses, and visitors. We plan to pair a holiday-themed pie and a dessert spread with the holiday-inspired sandwiches and wraps we are ordering from Publix. Our team will allocate all proceeds we raise from this event to printing these books. If you would like to donate to help our Pony Pals bring joy and healing to our community, click the link https://ponypals.givesmart.com or visit specialequestrians.net and click the donate button! Add “Pony Pals” in the memo. Making Miracles Happen through outreach! 🐴✨❤️

10/31/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc.’s riders are living the dream! 🐴✨SE Dream Riders prepare for their first show! Support these showstoppers as they DREAM BIG! 💫 Click to donate http://e.givesmart.com/events/KWS

10/31/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc. hopes you have a spooktacular day! 🎃🐴✨🍎

10/31/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc. is impressed with this, “Whoa.” 🙌🐴✨Specialequestrians.net

10/29/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc., a United Way partner agency, joined local business leaders, donors, pacesetters, and supporters to celebrate the annual campaign kickoff today at Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall at FSW, where we stood united with the common goal of improving the lives of all people in our community. United Way of Lee, Hendry, and Glades helps fund our instructor salaries and rider scholarships here at Special Equestrians and offers our organization a high level of support. We are proud partners of this local, accountable, efficient & effective entity that provides critical services to our community through their network of human service agencies. Learn more https://www.unitedwaylee.org/. United is the way! 🙌⚔️✨

10/28/2025

Special Equestrians, Inc. invites you to Giving and Gratitude, a Reading Rodeo event! Please RSVP no later than Wednesday, November 12th so we can plan accordingly. https://forms.gle/VRZMLtbNoGXUktFV6 We look forward to reading with you!