Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries’s Equine Program has been a huge success this fall.
We have had 32 children participate from Coyote Hill Foster Care Ministries families throughout Missouri. It has been such a joy to witness children build trust with their horse, learn new routines, and have fun while learning horsemanship principles.
We survey parents after their children complete their equine session, and 100% of respondents said that their child gained confidence.
One parent shared, “My kids’ eyes lit up each week to see their favorite volunteers and horses.”
Another shared, “This was so great for them to be able to interact. As the parent, I also learned a lot about horses and helped my comfort level around them. It also allowed me time to do a fun activity with my kids.”
However, the most impactful feedback for us came from one of the children who participated in the program. She wrote about her experience with her horse, Willamena, for a class assignment.
“As I was headed to Overton Arena after school, my heart was filled with excitement!” she wrote. “Janelle brings me to [my horse’s] cabin, and by surprise, her name was Willamena. Come to find out she was the most stubborn horse out there!”
After describing her routine, she continued, “We moved on to obstacles; this is one of my favorite things to do during the day. As we finished up, things got crazy. My horse did not want to stop because her best friends were out there with us. But we finally got her to stop. How, you ask? I pulled on the reigns and I yelled, ‘Woah!’”
We are so impressed by all of our equine participants, and we love seeing how this young girl’s confidence in her horsemanship has developed and how her story conveyed her growing tenacity and skill!
Learn more about our equine program.
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