Spring Newsletter
A Note from our Executive Director
I continue to be amazed by the strength and determination of our riders and participants, the dedication of our incredibly active volunteer team, and the public support Three Gaits receives. Thank you to each and every person that has supported and shared in our mission of enhancing the lives of individuals of all ages living with a disability through equine-assisted activities and therapies. Our programs change lives, and we simply cannot do this without your gifts of time, treasure and financial support!
I am pleased to share the updates below as well as the exciting news that we are officially embarking on a journey to construct a new, specialized, temperature-controlled indoor arena for our programs to provide year-round services! This plan will allow us to build a larger riding arena away from the traffic and noise of State Rd 138 and will ensure the long-term sustainability of our programs. Over the course of the next few months, we will be sharing details of the project as well as information about our capital campaign. Stay tuned!
Our annual Walk Trot Toast Fundraiser will take place this year on Saturday September 20th. Please save the date and join us as we celebrate what will certainly be a wonderful year!
PROGRAM UPDATE
We welcomed close to 100 riders to Three Gaits’ most recent therapeutic riding and therapy program term. In addition to therapeutic riding lessons, equine assisted learning lessons, occupational therapy and Riding in the Moment™, we have expanded our hippotherapy program re-introducing physical therapy to our program offering! This will strengthen our ability to help each rider achieve their individual goals and was made possible through a gift honoring the memory of Mary Gooze.
The sibling riding program has been a big success! Parents have expressed enjoyment in seeing their children active together and noted how much the siblings bonded through the shared experience. Three Gaits’ riders often had the opportunity to be a leader demonstrating skills for their siblings, and siblings expressed interest in continuing riding lessons in traditional programs!
Thank you to The Meredith Bradley Memorial Grant for affording us this opportunity!
We also had the opportunity to participate in a recent Badger Talks Podcast where we joined our academic partners from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to share some of our experiences with Riding in the Moment™ - a program designed to enhance the quality of life of individuals living with dementia as well as their caregivers through experiences with horses. To listen to the podcast, click here!
Thanks to a gift from the Jack DeLoss Taylor Foundation, our instructors were able to attend both the Region 6 and Region 7 PATH Int’l conferences. We not only shared information about Riding in the Moment™ with other therapeutic riding centers but participated in many continuing education clinics and seminars to further our knowledge and ensure we are providing superior service to our client base!
Everyday at Three Gaits, individuals with disabilities grow, gain confidence, and experience joy. Our small but mighty staff cannot do this alone, however. To make a gift to continue your support of Three Gaits, click here, or download the donation form below.
Thank you to the estates of Muriel Weirick, Jean Asleson, and Tom Reid for sharing your loved ones’ belief in our mission and including Three Gaits as a charity of choice in their memorials. Their memories will live on at Three Gaits within the smiles of our riders!
PROGRAM HORSE CORRAL
Winston Churchill once said, “There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” We could not agree more although we would include children and women too! Our program horses provide a consistent base of support (and friendship) allowing riders to focus on problem solving and following directions all while either consciously or unconsciously moving, stretching, balancing, and exercising.
Today, we have 12 carefully selected and trained horses within our herd, including two new additions! Meet Apollo and Johnny Cash! Apollo’s taller and narrower stature will allow us to better serve many of our older riders as well as those that have physical limitations with their hip flexibility. Johnny is a small pony and will be a great asset in our equine-assisted learning program as well as a riding partner for many of our youngest participants. One of our riders who is smaller than his peers happily proclaimed while leading him “He is small just like me!”
Both Apollo and Johnny Cash are in the hunt for a sponsor. Sponsorship helps us bridge the gap between the cost for caring for our horses and the program fees we receive allowing us to provide top notch veterinary care, proactive training, quality hay and feed, exercise rides, and maintenance support to keep our horses fit and healthy. To learn more about how you or your business can sponsor a Three Gaits program horse, please email our Executive Director at jolie@three-gaits.org!
Thank you to the Wisconsin Horse Council for your continued sponsorship of Maverick. He continues to be a wonderful part of our herd, especially for our independent riders!
AROUND THE FARM
Upkeep on a 20-acre farm is not for the faint of heart! Our amazing barn crew, Facility Manager, and volunteer mowers, fence line trimmers, gardeners, and project crews continue to work hard to provide an enjoyable space for our riders and horses. Through the generosity of donors, we also were able to replace the footing in our indoor riding arena providing a safer exercise environment for our program horses and reducing dust for the health of horses and humans alike. We also added three new grooming and tack up stalls in our barn, creating a safer, more enjoyable experience for volunteers, staff, vets, and farriers and to create more opportunities for participants to interact with the activities in the barn.
…we also have plans in place to remove the old, unused home on our property improving the appearance of our farm and making space for future opportunities! Stay tuned!
VOLUNTEER CORNER
Over the past many months, we have welcomed back both familiar and new faces into our volunteer team. Volunteers are not required to have horse experience to volunteer in lessons and it is truly a joy to watch how naturally and instinctively long-time volunteers mentor those with less experience. Cindy Frank, the winner of our May Volunteer Appreciation Drawing, is a shining example of this. Her thoughts on what volunteering means to her…
“I guess you could say I’m hooked on volunteering at Three Gaits, as I am going on my 28th year this fall. What keeps me coming back are the horses and people involved in the program. I love to see participants learn a new skill or have an ah-ha moment. You get a horse fix and it’s great exercise.
Over the years I’ve dabbled in most areas of the operation. I continue to be a lesson volunteer, side walking and leading in both therapeutic riding and hippotherapy. I have served on the board of directors, been involved with various fundraisers and events, helped out with office administration and barn chores. And last year experienced the Riding in the Moment program which was equally as rewarding.
It’s hard to pick out a favorite horse as they all have unique personalities and skills, however, Knox is definitely at the top of the list. This picture is one of my favorites as it shows there are no limitations to who can experience the magic that Three Gaits offers.”
- Cindy
We simply could not offer our programs without the dedication and generosity of our volunteer community and as an organization we are committed to ensuring we provide a positive environment that recognizes and appreciates this team’s efforts. Thank you to the over 100 active volunteers that have donated thousands of hours of their time to sidewalk and lead in lessons, share their expertise and talent on committees, and to roll up their sleeves to plant, mow, and tackle projects of the farm.
Interested in learning more about volunteering at Three Gaits? Click here!
We hope you will keep in touch and join us as we build an even brighter future for those living with a disability in our community!