Blog

Guests for Our August Free Monthly Telecall: The Sundance Center

Em Koenig — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:22:46 -0400

The Sundance Center in West Michigan has practiced Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) since 2001. They have developed, “Discovering Your Herd,” a program geared for professional workshops, employee orientation and as a hiring supplement. Learn about the shifts in technique and presentation that helped them bridge the world between EAP and Equine Assisted Learning (EAL.)

Check out www.SundanceCenter.net and don't forget to Register for this month's FREE CALL:

August 24th, 7:00 - 8:00 PM EST

Meet Ulla & Fred!

Ulla Frederiksen, MA, LLP
EAGALA Advanced Certified

Ulla is a Limited Licensed Psychologist in the state of Michigan a license she has held for 15 years. She has owned and operated her private practice, The Sundance Center for 8 years. Her humanistic, client-centered approach has been a perfect fit, yet broadened greatly by her seven years in EAP. Ulla’s Mental Health Professional’s perspective is dynamic in EAP while also effective at identifying the balance between stretching as a therapist and maintaining good clinical boundaries in the professional workshop setting.

Fred Bueltmann
EAGALA Certified
Fred’s role at the Sundance Center is often behind the scenes. He recently created the program, Discovering Your Herd as a method to apply the natural insight of the horses to the professional arena. Fred is part owner and Vice President of a microbrewery in Michigan and past-president of the Michigan Brewers Guild. In his 18 years in the industry he has developed his own brand of communication and awareness techniques that are well-suited to partner with our equine friends. Fred acts as either an Equine Specialist or Business Liaison in Team Discovery workshops.

The Horse is Always Right: Masada and End of Life Decisions

Josie — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:11:23 -0400

One of the core Horse Sense guiding principles has been that the horse is always right. For us it's both a philosophical and a practical principle.

In a philosophical sense, making the assumption that the horse is always right helps shift us from the propensity to “blame” the horse: for doing or not doing something we want, for not understanding our message or request, for virtually anything. Blaming the horse is an easy and soft mental approach to what is likely a failure on our part to set the horse up for success.

When we shift from blame to seeking understanding, it affects our demeanor, energy & attitude. Think the horse can feel the difference? Of course he can!! That's why horses are so good at what we ask of them in this field!

This shift of mindset is not unlike what's required when we ask guests at our Horse Behavior & Psychology Internships & Workshops to “play” with their horses rather than “work with” their horses. Other shifts we focus on are “cause & allow” vs. “make & let.” Soak on the difference those words mean to your horses, your clients, & your partners & friends!

What this means in a very practical sense is that we need to trust the horse. Richard and I are getting a lesson in this right now from our 30+ yr old Arabian gelding, Masada.

Masada's Path:

Masada is a wonderful horse (obviously...goes without saying!) who has been presenting lately as if he's had abscesses on his front right hoof. We've been treating it as such for a while, but decided to go ahead and call in the vet for an x-ray. What that revealed was a rotated coffin bone on the verge of breaking through the sole of the hoof (a hideous x-ray, really). Just one look at that x-ray and a grave prognosis from the vet made us think immediately of euthanasia.

But Masada continues to have other ideas. He is animated in his stall, perky, present, & eagerly greeting visitors (especially those bringing food). In short, aside from this “nuisance” in his front right, he seems to be for all the world just our happy old “Zen pony.”

And so, because the horse is always right, we're leaving this up to him. We're aggressively treating what we can, and will take our lead from him about the road ahead.

Happy Trails!

Shannon & the herd at Horse Sense

Spotlight on Lynn Thomas and EAGALA

Josie — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:19:04 -0400

Hey Everyone!

We're thrilled to have Lynn Thomas joining us again this month for our free monthly telecall. I want to take this opportunity to provide you with some background information on Lynn and on EAGALA. Enjoy the reading and I do hope you'll join us next week on the call!!

Josie

About Lynn Thomas

Lynn received her Master's of Social Work degree from the University of Utah. She has 14 years experience working with adolescents, families, individuals and groups. This has included work in youth corrections, wilderness programs, ranch programs, private practice, and various Mental Health agencies. She helped develop the Aspen Ranch program, a residential boarding school for troubled adolescents, and served as Executive Director for Aspen Ranch and Aspen Achievement Academy, a wilderness therapy program. She co-founded EAGALA in July 1999 and with a great team of people in the organization, has developed the training and certification program and written the training manual. Along with leading EAGALA, she has 3 children, twins age 13 and one age 11. Contact her at LThomas@eagala.org

About EAGALA

Founded in July 1999, the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization developed to address the need for resources, education, and professionalism in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Equine Assisted Learning.

Creating a more professional field and promoting it to the general public is a large task. EAGALA strives to educate the public that EAP/L is more than horsemanship and riding classes.

EAGALA aims to get professionals in the clinical and human development fields to accept EAP/L as a valid and effective approach, and to actively use it with their clientele. This benefits those in the equine fields by opening up greater possibilities for doing what they love, namely working with horses. This benefits those in the clinical and human development fields by providing a powerful, effective, interesting, and fun therapeutic and educational alternative. Most of all, this benefits the clients and participants, because, as those of us working in the field see all the time, it works! The growth and learning of all involved is intense and rewarding. Find out more at www.eagala.org

Vision, Mission, Values, Objectives

Vision Statement

EAGALA is committed to setting the standard of professional excellence in how horses and humans work together to improve the quality of life and mental health of individuals, families and groups worldwide.

Mission Statement

EAGALA provides education, standards, innovation, and support to professionals providing services in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Learning around the world.

Values

Focus on making a positive impact in the lives of people
Maintain the highest ethical standards and professionalism
Support innovation while remaining committed to quality assurance
Ensure the integrity of the EAGALA model through outcomes and efficacy
Promote a culture of collaboration through sharing information, experience, and ideas

Objectives

Establish standards of practice, ethics, and safety for EAP/EAL
Provide trainings for certification in the EAGALA Model of EAP/EAL
Conduct annual conferences to promote education and networking
Promote EAGALA as an effective model of therapy and treatment for at-risk populations
Provide educational, training, and support resources, such as books, videos, tapes, and web sites
Publish a bi-annual magazine
Encourage universities and colleges to develop and include the EAGALA Model in their curriculum
Support the establishment of EAGALA Model organizations around the world
Conduct and disseminate research on the effectiveness of EAP/EAL

Dr. Oz Supports Equine Assisted Therapy

Josie — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:37:46 -0400

Shannon and I wanted to share a clip from the Dr. Oz show in which he highlights 2 top alternative treatments - one of which is equine-assisted therapy!

Although the horse is only on stage for a matter of seconds, it's great to see our field receiving recognition on such a wide scale.

Here's the clip - check it out if you haven't already:

I hope equine-assisted practice continues to get exposure like this in the future. Let's keep up the good work and strive to get even more information out there to answer the questions: Why Horses?

Talk to you soon!
Josie

Who's Training You?

Shannon Knapp — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 07:00:00 -0400

A Commentary on the Dizzying Array of Train the Trainers

It seems I can't go a week without hearing about another new Train the Trainer program. Whether it's an apprenticeship, mentorship, or certification, there's a training to suit your needs (or one coming shortly!). In the midst of what seems to be an overwhelming number of such programs cropping up, I've begun to wonder: How much actual field experience does the person offering the training have?

By field experience I mean direct client contact, time spent in the barn with horses & “real” clients. My experience has been that it is much easier to just train other people to do what we do, rather than actually serving clients.

I'm a perennial student. I love to hear about different theoretical approaches & variations to how we can follow our passion, which is why we host events likethe Horses & At-Risk Youth Symposium at the farm. But I've let go of attending all the trainings out there, preferring instead to focus on serving clients in our little section of Western North Carolina, doing all the daily work of helping individuals, families & groups, session after session, one day after another.

I also found that while the theory at these many Train-the-Trainers was interesting, there was very little in the way of practical application that had been “tried & true” in what I was observing. I love theory, but I also really love practice as well, the practice of helping real clients.

So, as you consider the latest “flavor” of training, I encourage you to ask the question: How much actual field experience does your trainer actually have?

Educate • Challenge • Inspire

Josie — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:10:15 -0400

The New Horse Sense Business Sense
Here We Grow!

Ever since the publication in 2007 of Horse Sense Business Sense Vol 1, the growing appetite for information on creating an EAP/EAL business has made me consider “spinning off” Horse Sense Business Sense into a separate LLC, separate & apart from Horse Sense of the Carolinas. Well, we recently took the plunge and I’m really excited about this new direction. This big step has been possible because of the trust you have placed in me to help you grow your own business!

What has made me take this step?

I want to help others make a difference while also making a living.

While for years I have been dedicating a part of my time to helping others in the field, I had been doing so in addition to my full-time job as an Equine Specialist and a business owner (chief cook & bottlewasher!). While I continue to serve clients through Horse Sense in those ways, I now also carve out a regular, sustained space in my days to focus on creating success for other professionals in the world of EAP/EAL.

In short, the Horse Sense Business Sense mission is to “educate, challenge & inspire.” Here’s what those words mean to me, and what I commit to doing for you:

Educate: through conferences on specific topics (like at-risk youth & business building basics), through workshops to improve your horsemanship & facilitation skills and through educational materials including curriculums, activity guides, books and audio/video, we want to help others learn from ours and others’ experience in the field, to save you time, money and effort, so you can spend more time with your clients & horses! No more reinventing the wheel!

Challenge: being open to challenge & accepting a path of constant self-improvement is a requirement for being a professional in this field. I am committed to helping you stretch beyond your comfort zone and to moving beyond the limitations you face today (both external and internal!). Through consulting, personal and professional development (both virtual & face to face) I want to help you live the statement: "In any given business, the growth of the business will rise or fall to the level of the business owner's personal development"

Inspire: When I am knee-deep in paperwork, I keep a file full of client letters, pictures and success stories that help me remember why I'm doing this work. I call this collection my "Undespair” file and, like it does for me, I want to inspire you to even greater efforts, and to remind you of the greatness in you for making a difference for horses & people.

Creating Horse Sense Business Sense has lifted my gaze and provided me a great opportunity to view this field from a wider lens. Rather than looking down at my horse’s ears, my eyes are up, looking forward to the horizon and focusing on where we are going, so long as we continue to work hard and work together.

Thank you for the opportunity to be of service, and for your faith in me as we move together along this new trail!

EAP and EAL Trainings & Workshops - FREE!

Josie Mosser — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:11:46 -0400

With the Summer fast approaching, Shannon and I want to make sure you know about our 2010 Summer Scholarship opportunity. The Horse Sense farm will be home to so many exciting programs this year, we've decided to offer one lucky person a FREE RIDE for 2 workshops or conferences!

You must apply to be considered for this, and I encourage you to do so. What do you have to lose? And if you win you'll get to join us twice this year for invaluable education opportunities!

The lucky winner can choose two of the four following events to attend for FREE:

• Dynamics of Horse Psychology & Body Language

A 5 week teleclass culminating in a 3-day weekend of onsite experiential learning - Beginning June 22nd - $645 Value

• Horses & At Risk Youth Symposium

The first annual summit for horses and at-risk youth professionals!! June 25-16th - $325 Value

• Horse Assessment, Development & Utilization for EAP/EAL

A 5 week teleclass culminating in a 3-day weekend of onsite experiential learning - Beginning Aug 3rd - $645 Value

• 3rd Annual Business Building Intensive

The third annual gathering for business building and all thing EAP/EAL! September 23-25th - $450 Value

Click here to download the application

The deadline for application is 5pm, Saturday May 1st

Money, Marketing and Soul™ with Schelli Whitehouse

Josie Mosser — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 10:36:37 -0400

For our April Free Monthly Telecall, Schelli Whitehouse will be joining Shannon to talk about her work as a certified Money, Marketing and Soul™ coach. In this blog, I've taken some wonderful information from Schelli's website, so you can learn more about her dedication to helping entrepreneurs grow and develop alongside their business.

We hope you enjoy the snippet below. You can click here to visit her site directly. And you can click here to learn more about the Money Mirror, which is what we'll be talking more about on the telecall on April 20th.

Schelli Whitehouse, The Next Highest Version of You

What the heck does “The Next Highest Version of YOU” mean?

Answer: In order to grow your business you must first “grow” yourself.

The act of stepping into the grandest version of the highest vision you have ever held for yourself creates The Next Highest Version of You!

I first came across this concept many years ago from the book, Conversations with God, written by Neale Donald Walsch. What has stuck with me throughout the years is a new curiosity in human evolution. We are constantly re-creating ourselves, even when we are not aware of it. We are literally designed to expand, to continually evolve mentally, physically and spiritually. Our basic, essential purpose for existence is to continually re-experience ourselves through an ever expanding awareness and integration of mind, body and soul.

Social anthropologist Jean Huston writes, Beyond the surface and literal there seems to lie the self’s larger vision and comprehension of itself. This larger vision makes itself know as an entelechy, a higher version of the self, a dynamic purposiveness and full capacity of a person that is contained almost as an autonomous self within self.

In everyday language, what Ms. Huston has described is the next highest version of self calling you forward, asking you to trust that the steps you need take will bring you and YOU together!

Welcome Home!

When we recognize and trust that grander version of ourselves we are instilled with courage and inspiration to move into action. Even though we may not know how exactly we are going to become that new and improved version of ourselves, we have the impetuous to step forward. Like a child learning to walk, some of our steps will be shaky, sometimes we will need something, (or someone) to hold on to, some of the steps will come very quickly, sometimes we will fall down (maybe even cry), but we get back up and totter on into the open loving arms of our Highest Self! You will know when you have arrived because of the incredible feeling of coming home, of coming into your-self.

You can never go back to your old way of thinking and behaving at this point. You can try, but it will only frustrate you. You have now stepped into a higher vibration of who you really are! This conscious awareness of your own personal evolution creates a new vibrational state (physical, mental and spiritual) that causes a new entelechy a new higher version of yourself that once again asks you to continue the expansion of your enormous potential, calls you forward into yet a broader awareness of the next grandest version of the highest vision you have for yourself, right now, today!

Share the Unique Expression of Who You Really Are!

Love where you are today and congratulate yourself on the recognition of the desire for greater self expression. You have unique gifts and talents to share with the world. You will never stop expanding in your level of mental awareness, spiritual connectedness or physical intelligence. Once you embrace this understanding your personal evolution through multiple levels of consciousness becomes accelerated to the point of seeming magical. For it really is the conscious blending and acknowledgement of mind, body and soul.

To deny the evolution of any aspect of self creates energy roadblocks which manifest as physical disease, mental frustration, anger, depression and eventually apathy of the soul as a result of banging against the locked bars of self denial.

Celebrate!

In the words of Marianne Williamson,

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Welcome to the Next Highest Version of YOU!

Prescott College Rolls out Equine-Assisted Learning Certificate & Master's Program

Josie — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 09:30:38 -0400

Prescott College has announced a new Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL) Master of Arts and Post-Master of Arts Certificate and is enrolling students for the Fall session. Students of the Equine-Assisted Learning Program will gain in-the-field, practical experience with diverse clientele in preparation for work with a variety of populations.

Prescott College offers the only Masters in Education with a Concentration in EAL. This approach supports a theoretical investigation of human learning combined with relational horsemanship, fostering an understanding across the field of Equine-Assisted Learning, according to core faculty member Dr. Tracy Weber.

“We offer a breadth of approaches, and encourage our students to explore the many different programs and approaches currently being offered,” explained Weber. “We foster understanding of the scope of the field, and the ways in which different practices reflect continuums of safety and therapeutic processes.”

Both the master of arts and post-graduate certificate programs blend real-life application with hands-on experience under the guidance of internationally-renowned practitioners. Graduate Advisors include Shannon Knapp of HorseSense of the Carolinas, Tanya Welch of the Natural Connection (formerly MN Linc) and Stan Maliszewski of the University of Arizona.

The Prescott College approach to Equine-Assisted Learning invites participants to explore non-mental health areas including: experiential education; organizational development; coaching; effective facilitation; and relational horsemanship.

The coursework in both the master’s and post-graduate certificate tracks explore the theoretical understanding, ethical issues, facilitation skills, and relational equine skills crucial for mastery. The program supports the customization of the course work in order for participants to graduate with the skills and knowledge to provide professional development and personal growth opportunities in schools, residential facilities, community-based private practices, etc. and to clientele including students, corporate and business groups, both for profit and non-profit organizations, and individuals.

Master's and Post-Master's candidates complete four EAL residential intensive workshops, which serves as "anchor courses" that are delivered by partnering with horses and other equines. These workshops are conducted in a western residential setting and are based on a learner-centered program designed to build a strong sense of community for participants. The EAL program supports the learning needs of each individual and seeks to connect participants to both Prescott College and the larger equine-assisted world.

Prescott College's low-residency Master of Arts Program allows students to live and work in their home communities while studying with mentors and experts in their fields. The residencies bring students together with graduate faculty to present their research and explore issues and trends within a variety of interdisciplinary fields. Students are also strongly encouraged to present at professional conferences or participate in professional seminars throughout their program of study.

Fall 2010 application deadline April 15 to be considered for scholarships and May 15 is the final application deadline. For more information they can contact Kerstin Alicki at: admissions@prescott.edu.

Karyn Greenstreet and her Passion for Business

Josie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:29:22 -0500

Karyn Greenstreet is an excellent resource for small businesses and entrepreneurs - especially when it comes to creating effective and savvy websites.

We are excited to have Karyn joining us this month as our special guest for the March Free Telecall. She and Shannon will be hosting the call, "Creating a Small Business Website that Grabs Attention"!

Please read more about Karyn and her company below and you can click here to visit her website. Also, if you'd like to register for the call, you can do so on our calendar page by clicking here and registering in the lower left corner of the screen.

• * • * • * •

Karyn Greenstreet is an internet marketing expert and small business coach, and owner of Passion For Business. She works exclusively with self-employed people to help them grow their business and learn all the necessary business and marketing skills to make them successful.

Karyn has significant experience in starting and running self-employed businesses, having successfully owned five businesses herself, and has 28 years experience in the computer, marketing and internet industries.

Karyn holds a degree in Business Administration and Management. She has postgraduate work in Business Administration and Computer Systems. She is a graduate of CoachU, and attended The School of Small Business Coaching, and The Graduate School of Coaching.

You can visit her website to learn about her coaching services and educational classes:

www.passionforbusiness.com

What Causes Change? The Theoretical into the Practical

Josie — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 09:15:55 -0500

What causes us to change? Is it positive encouragement? More or better self-esteem? Or is it something like being "sick and tired of being sick and tired"?

Like many of us, when I first found out about Equine Assisted Therapies & Learning modalities, I spent a lot of my time trying to figure out the differences among the "big three" as I called them: EAGALA, EFMHA & EGEA. I looked to things like how many facilitators were in the arena, what kind of credentials they had, whether riding was a part of or not a part of the experience. While this kind of questioning gave me some broad brush strokes to look at the field and see where I was philisophically & programmatically a "fit", it didn't give me the deeper philosophical answers I was seeking. But I decided to "get in there" and begin practice, so I could see what I felt worked best for clients.

A few years after starting Horse Sense, a mentor of mine asked me the question: "What do you believe causes change?" It was and still is a great question. We can all agree that most of our clients come to us because something in their lives isn't as they would wish it to be, and therefore they are seeking change. Because if change is what they are after, then the question becomes how best to elicit change.

Now a great new resource is available on the topic of change & how to cause and support it: a book called Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, by Chip Heath & Dan Heath, the authors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive & Others Die (an excellent book as well!). I had a chance to read the opening chapter of an advanced copy a few weeks ago at Prescott College, and can't wait to read the rest. (Switch is actually being released tomorrow, February 16th).

The book is broken down into three sections: "Motivate the Elephant," "Direct the Rider," and "Shape the Path". Keen readers have already realized how much the language of these sections resembles the language of good horse training, dog training & people training! Seems like they had horses and horse people in mind when they were writing this (aside from the elephant reference!). Here are a few of the key points from the opening chapter:

Motivate the Elephant: What looks like laziness is often exhaustion (or, Self-control is an exhaustible resource)

Direct the Rider: What looks like resistance is often lack of clarity (how many times have we seen people read a horse as resistant when the horse just plain doesn't understand?)

Shape the Path: What looks like a people problem is often a situation problem (is that horse or client just "being difficult," or is he/she in pain?)

Now is a great time for you to answer the question for yourself about what you think best causes and supports change, both in your life and business, and in the lives of your clients and horses. I would love to hear from you about this topic: email me your thoughts at Shannon@HorseSenseOtc.com!

Shannon

Free Monthly Telecall - with Bob Wall!

Josie — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:05:00 -0500

Howdy!

I wanted to let everyone know about the February FREE Monthly Telecall with Shannon and special guest Bob Wall. Join us Tuesday, Feb.16th at 7:00pm EST and learn all about how Emotional Intelligence can help your EAP/EAL practice be more successful.

Read more about Bob below and click here to register for the free call!

• • • •

Bob Wall has been a specialist in leadership and team development for more than 30 years. He has ample experience working with both mental health professionals and health care providers and completed all but his dissertation for a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. As a graduate student, he started leading workshops focusing on interpersonal skills development in all forms of health care and human service settings in the Midwest. He also served for three years as a unit psychologist and another three years as the Director of Staff Development and Training for a residential mental health center in the Midwest before moving on to start his consulting career in 1980.

Bob has also been a certified interpreter of The Simmons EQ Profile for more than 20 years and author of four books. Check out two of them below:

Coaching For Emotional Intelligence:
The secret to developing the star potential in your employees

Working Relationships: Using emotional intelligence to enhance your effectiveness with others

Horse Sense is also excited to be working with Bob this year on a workshop entitled: Horse Sense and Emotional Intelligence: How to Offer Honest Feedback Without Alienating Colleagues and Clients.

Join us for the telecall and learn more about this one day event!!

Click here to register!

Acknowledge, Release, Celebrate, Focus

Shannon Knapp — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:58:15 -0500

Howdy!

In prep for January's Free Monthly Telecall about Goals & Goalsetting, here's some tips from Elizabeth Barbour's Blog. Talk to you tonight!

--Shannon

Here are four simple steps to help you ring in the new year with purpose, intention and joy! This exercise could take you 30 minutes or a few hours - it's up to you!

1. Acknowledge your accomplishments. Make a list of all the things you feel you've accomplished in the past year. Consider your business, your relationships, your health, your spirituality, your personal development... any area of life you'd like to give yourself a pat on the back!

2. Release anything you want to leave behind in '09. You may realize that there are old beliefs, negative thoughts, physical clutter or even stale relationships that no longer serve you. Resolve to release them with love. They served you for a while but they may not anymore.

3. Celebrate all of the blessings in your life. This is my favorite part! Take inventory of ALL the things you have to be grateful for in your life. Expressing gratitude and joy for all the good that is around you is a great way to get into a high vibrating space.

4. Focus your attention on what you want to manifest in '10. Call it goals, resolutions or intentions... whatever you do, list your desires in the affirmative and be as detailed as possible. You don't order from L.L. Bean or Nordstrum and ask the customer service people to send you anything that they think you'd like, do you? You call and order a specific size, color, design, etc. Do the same with your goals and dreams for 2010, focus your attention on them regularly and watch them manifest.

I hope you find these exercises as helpful as I have found them to be. Every year just gets better and better! I wish for you lots of joy, love, laughter in 2010 and always, always, always - INSPIRATION - to guide you on your journey!

Shannon's (unplanned) 2010 Retreat

Josie — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:24:56 -0500

It seemed a simple enough plan. On Friday, December 18, our last workday before the holiday, we were to have had a graduation ceremony for two youth from our Running with Mustangs curricula, and I was going to hop in the car after to go visit my husband, Richard, who is attending an Externship program at the Parelli Ranch in Florida. He’s been gone since mid-November, so I was very excited!

As many of you also no doubt experienced, a snowstorm hit our area that morning, culminating in over 15 inches of snow, quite unusual for us. Graduation and the trip to Florida were both quickly cancelled due to road conditions. Both myself and Chrissy, the Horse Sense intern living on site, lost power and our ability to use our “gator” to feed by Friday night, and did not regain power until Christmas Day (7 days!!!). Our phones were out for a good portion of the time as well. It was quite a challenging time to be responsible for 15 horses on 90 acres!

Carrying grain & hay to the pastures each day, feeding on foot from pasture to pasture, made for very simple, clear days: the two main activities for us was feeding the horses and stoking the fire. What usually takes 35-40 minutes each day for one person now took 2 people several hours.

It occurred to me at one point that many folks (myself included) have paid to have retreats like this, with no phones, no TV’s, just a fire in the fireplace and a good book or two for days on end!

What remained crystal-clear, both before the storm, during & now after, was that if we managed to get all the horses fed and accounted for, it was a good day. We had a great opportunity to count blessings and be grateful for all we had: healthy horses, plenty of firewood, a pantry of canned food & gravity-fed water.

We are slowly working our way back to normal here at Horse Sense. We have had to cancel clients for this first week due to icy roads on the farm, and are still experiencing some internet challenges, but for the most part all is well. Most importantly, the horses are all happy & healthy, as are we.

Hoping you had a warm, happy and gratitude-filled holiday, and wishing you a wonderful 2010!

Make Your Mark! Introducing, Mark Goldstein

Josie — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:40:49 -0500

Howdy everyone!

Josie here, happy to be providing you with more information about the highly accomplished and sought after, Mark Goldstein. I've included a little bit about him below, and you can click here to visit the Communication Mark website to learn even more about what he and his company are all about.

And be sure to join us for the next telecall - it will be chock full of information!!

Dec 3rd, 2009 7-8pm EST
Make your Mark!
Funding, Fundraising and Grantwriting for 2010
With expert guest, Mark Goldstein

Thursday Dec. 3rd, 7:00 - 8:00 PM EST
Join Us! It's FREE!

Mark Goldstein, CFRE

Mark Goldstein, CFRE, is President and CEO of Communication Mark consulting in Arden, NC. Mr. Goldstein is most sought after as an expert proposal writer and project strategist. He is the creator of the Open Communication Fundraising Model, a system that enables all nonprofit agency stakeholders to effectively work together toward organizational and fundraising goals. Mr. Goldstein has consistently served nonprofits as a staff member, board member or consultant since 1991. He has raised millions for his clients and employers by obtaining grants for organizations of all types, sizes and locales. As a volunteer, he recently played a key role in launching the first public access television station in western NC. He is a 2009-2010 board member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Western North Carolina Chapter and recently taught a course on case statements for the Duke University Continuing Studies Nonprofit Management program.