Our Riders
Larie and Charlie
Marcia's first ride on Cassie
Horse Activities
In our first year of operation, we worked with several riders on a regular basis. We try, weather permitting, to work with riders as often as possible, up to once a week. We encourage all of our riders to assist with grooming and tacking horses, caring for them before and after riding, to provide extra time for them to bond with the animals and form stronger relationships with them. This also teaches them more about what is involved in riding, not just sitting in the saddle. Some riders start with only brushing and then progress slowly to more advanced activities as they start feeling more comfortable around the animals. Others who may have prior experience with horses move more rapidly into actual lessons. Our second year brought a big increase in activity, with several more riders visiting and significant progress!
Highlights of 2014
~ one rider with balance issues was able to gain the confidence to mount and sit on the horse using our new platform
~ another rider moved from only mounting and sitting on the horse to riding with side walkers
~ four riders had their first ride on a horse at Serenity Acres
~ one of our riders has moved into a more formal lesson format
Highlights of 2015
~ we introduced several new riders to our horses this year, doubling our number of client interactions for 2015
~ two of our riders visited once a week for the entire summer with very few exceptions, and made great progress
~ our oldest rider from last year was surpassed in age by an experienced 76 year old lady who is a life-long horsewoman and is recovering from a stroke (she was a faithful weekly client during our 2015 season)
~ we also want to extend our appreciation to our volunteers who are always so helpful and caring, and willing to offer a friendly smile and go the extra mile!
Highlights of 2016
~ we continued working with our now 77 year old client recovering from her stroke, with more improvements in coordination and balance, and great benefit to her emotionally and spiritually
~ we had a few new visitors and continued working with some of our regular clients on their goals and riding skills
Highlights of 2017
~ we began working with a few new clients, one of whom has great difficulty walking and uses a wheelchair most of the time, but thoroughly enjoys his time on the horse and benefits greatly by strengthening his core muscles
~ we had our first clients visit from the Forest City School with their teacher and staff members, and they enjoyed meeting the horses and our dogs and farm cats also!
Highlights of 2018
~we continued working with current clients on their skills and had a few new visits also
~we held our first big fundraiser with KaBoomers Fireworks, and raised over $5400 in 10 days to support our therapeutic riding and horsemanship programs!
~Thank you to all of our great volunteers, whether it is through helping with a riding session or fundraiser, we greatly appreciate your participation and care for our clients!
Highlights of 2019
~ we had our first "Day Camp" activity with 7 students, and several teachers and staff members from the Forest City School at Serenity Acres this spring. The group did a service project for us, helping us remove weeds from our front fence line, which was greatly appreciated! Then we had a picnic with hot dogs, veggies, chips, and cookies, and rides for the students in the arena with Whitie, who enjoyed being the center of attention! Thank you Forest City staff and students for coming to visit us!
In our first year of operation, we worked with several riders on a regular basis. We try, weather permitting, to work with riders as often as possible, up to once a week. We encourage all of our riders to assist with grooming and tacking horses, caring for them before and after riding, to provide extra time for them to bond with the animals and form stronger relationships with them. This also teaches them more about what is involved in riding, not just sitting in the saddle. Some riders start with only brushing and then progress slowly to more advanced activities as they start feeling more comfortable around the animals. Others who may have prior experience with horses move more rapidly into actual lessons. Our second year brought a big increase in activity, with several more riders visiting and significant progress!
Highlights of 2014
~ one rider with balance issues was able to gain the confidence to mount and sit on the horse using our new platform
~ another rider moved from only mounting and sitting on the horse to riding with side walkers
~ four riders had their first ride on a horse at Serenity Acres
~ one of our riders has moved into a more formal lesson format
Highlights of 2015
~ we introduced several new riders to our horses this year, doubling our number of client interactions for 2015
~ two of our riders visited once a week for the entire summer with very few exceptions, and made great progress
~ our oldest rider from last year was surpassed in age by an experienced 76 year old lady who is a life-long horsewoman and is recovering from a stroke (she was a faithful weekly client during our 2015 season)
~ we also want to extend our appreciation to our volunteers who are always so helpful and caring, and willing to offer a friendly smile and go the extra mile!
Highlights of 2016
~ we continued working with our now 77 year old client recovering from her stroke, with more improvements in coordination and balance, and great benefit to her emotionally and spiritually
~ we had a few new visitors and continued working with some of our regular clients on their goals and riding skills
Highlights of 2017
~ we began working with a few new clients, one of whom has great difficulty walking and uses a wheelchair most of the time, but thoroughly enjoys his time on the horse and benefits greatly by strengthening his core muscles
~ we had our first clients visit from the Forest City School with their teacher and staff members, and they enjoyed meeting the horses and our dogs and farm cats also!
Highlights of 2018
~we continued working with current clients on their skills and had a few new visits also
~we held our first big fundraiser with KaBoomers Fireworks, and raised over $5400 in 10 days to support our therapeutic riding and horsemanship programs!
~Thank you to all of our great volunteers, whether it is through helping with a riding session or fundraiser, we greatly appreciate your participation and care for our clients!
Highlights of 2019
~ we had our first "Day Camp" activity with 7 students, and several teachers and staff members from the Forest City School at Serenity Acres this spring. The group did a service project for us, helping us remove weeds from our front fence line, which was greatly appreciated! Then we had a picnic with hot dogs, veggies, chips, and cookies, and rides for the students in the arena with Whitie, who enjoyed being the center of attention! Thank you Forest City staff and students for coming to visit us!
What has Serenity Acres meant to our riders?
I love horses and grew up around them. I also have wanted to get better at riding them for a while. The first time I went to Serenity Acres, everyone was nice there and encouraged me to get on the horse. After several visits with the horses, I soon started riding by myself with instructions from Cindy, the trainer. She is teaching me more about how to control the horse and a safe way to ride in a western saddle. I have lots of fun and enjoy being around the horses. AW