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PLEASE NOTE: Donations are 100% tax deductible... HOORAY!


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It hasn't snowed here for 17 years, but it did this year. Can you believe it? This photo is just SO wrong for south Alabama...

Please visit our blog, Equine Epiphanies, to see what we're up to from week to week.

I decided to try my hand at making a short (and hopefully entertaining) video clip for you to watch. The bobble near the end was sponsored by Taya, who decided to come up and give my arm (the one holding the camera) a nice big happy slurp. Hope you like it!

The Morning Warmup from Jen on Vimeo.

P.S. You might want to let the video hiccup all the way through one time before watching (otherwise it's more annoying than entertaining :o)
P.P.S. In case you are a worrier like me, Max and Cinnamon are playing a game (they're not fighting - honest! :o)

Lady's sarcoid [tumor] has stubbornly remained; it falls of and comes back so we are continuing with her treatments. We deeply appreciate any and all contributions toward the cost of her care!

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About this Site...
If you think horses are beautiful animals, but a horse is a horse and let's not get carried away here (they're livestock*, for crying out loud) then this is probably not the place for you (except for the HandydandyHints page perhaps).

If you think that maybe (just maybe) there might be something you are missing or you are a curious sort that loves to think and work outside the box and you're willing to learn or try something new then: COME ON IN...

  * You might want to peek in a bible at Revelations 19:11 (certainly supports the theory that horses are something extra special, doesn't it???)

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Look who we've teamed up with!
Funny how things work out. I was racking my brain trying to figure out a way to incorporate reading into our programs, when I stumbled across The Black Stallion Literacy Foundation (Woo!) Their reading programs slide so seamlessly into what we were already planning, it's obviously a match made in heaven :o) Awesome!



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Soooo, what's in the works?

*These are the things that we are working on for now and in the future*

Horses 101 ~ Teaching the basics about horses and the different horse breeds.  This program will be offered both on and off site for schools and small groups.
Horses 102 ~ More in-depth teaching about horses, with a greater focus on body language and personality traits.
Tailored Programs ~ Will be designed to work with specific needs and/or interests for area organizations like the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, handicapped schools, the Local Chapter of the Blind, etc.
Work to Ride ~ Regular barn chores and other helpful tasks would be performed in exchange for some time in the saddle (thereby fostering responsibility and self worth). This would also give participants a better understanding of what is involved in owning a horse.
Mentoring ~ For older children and high school students interested in pursuing careers in either the equine science industry or veterinary medicine specializing in equines.
Summer Camp ~ This is "the biggie" and will probably be the last program implemented. A one week [half day] camp with horses, crafts, American Sign Language and more!


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Please visit the Animal Rescue Site, they  

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equine block body link hover img header wrapper line letter spacing font normal trebuchet main fix long text breaking sidebar float non content sidebarleft post strong footer comment blog pager widget profile right did last hour horses rain photo one really girls grass posted jen labels arabians herd behavior horse sarabear chronicles part rina decided sara herd bit know lady way taya pretty resident bella language head shadow next installment abusive past things first two welfare competitions show great reading training

IF you get stuck on a word, just type it in the box to see what it means.  My parents made me look everything up. (I didn't like it at the time, but now I sure am glad they did!)



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Do you shop Jeffers?
By visiting them through us, you can help tremendously - a portion of the proceeds is donated back to us every time you shop through this link (isn't that great?)  Want to be really helpful?  Bookmark us to always shop through this link - or you can right click the link to create your own desktop shortcut with it (is that cool or what?)   Visit each horse's page for some of their products we use and love (in progress).  Thank you!



P.S. Don't forget to tell everybody you ever met to shop through us, 'cause we need all the help we can get :o)

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Whose training methods do we use?


When it comes to the food you eat, I'm a straight Meat-N-Potatoes kind of gal; hold the gravy.  When it comes to food for thought and working with the horses, however, I am all about the smorgasbord (buffet).


~There is no one size fits all training method~
...any more than one horse is just the same as another! 
 
         ~~ Click here to visit the Thinkin' Blog ~~

With so much information available, you can be a great gourmet; using a little of this, and a little of that. Add a dash of the other and you've got yourself a homemade recipe cooked up to fit you and the horse; that includes factoring in what both of you are capable of.  I guess we'll call my approach a slice of Hodgepodge Humble Pie (and that's probably enough of the food analogies).
I freely admit to messing up on a regular basis, but happen to be of the opinion that if you're not messing up at least periodically, you're probably not doing anything :o) Our Horse Heroes page features some of the people we love to look to for help (I'll be perpetually working on that page) and the Equine Epiphanies link goes to our thinking/training blog and details some interesting things I've discovered along the training trail :o)

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What the heck is Etsy? Etsy is an online marketplace where you can buy and sell wonderful handmade items, as well as vintage goods and crafting supplies.  They do ask you to sign up to shop, but it is extremely easy to do. Here's a sneak peek for you...

So how did we get here?
I often refer to our horses as my little "Psalm 37s" running around out there in the pasture.  Why? Because horses are indeed "my heart's desire" and I feel so very very blessed to be able to have them.  I have learned more from our horses in the past few years than I ever learned in all the books I read, movies I watched, and lessons I took growing up. That is why I am doing this; I desperately want to share some of the amazing things I've learned and yes, some of things I've had to unlearn as well (there have been plenty of those along the way).

While our original plan was to buy and sell horses, I learned very quickly that if a horse came to this house and I spent more than 5 minutes with it, it stayed.  Friends and family would roll their eyes and tell me to at least sell some of them.  Obviously, it didn't take long before we were horse poor (but happily so :o)  In addition to the horses we bought on purpose, we picked up some rescues along the way by accident. We did manage to actually sell one of our accidental rescues to a family we knew, but when she no longer suited their horse needs, (they got involved in showing) she came right back. I taught riding lessons once or twice, which in addition to a full time job, helped to pay the bills but that wasn't the answer either.  Somewhere along the line we began casually inviting friends and people we knew to come see the horses.  Those casual visits evolved into an unofficial educational venture and it wasn't long before I realized that there is no greater joy than can be found in sharing something that's near and dear to your heart with others. Hooray! I had finally figured out what I was going to do with all those horses!

Why a non-profit?
Okay, I figured out my passion in life is to share our horses with the world, now what? How do I do that exactly?  The more I looked in to what I wanted to accomplish, the further in over my head I realized I was (hmmmmm).  I wanted to be able to share all this cool stuff with anyone that was interested ~ especially those that have never been around horses and not just people with the ability to pay. It's great in theory to simply fling open the proverbial barn doors and invite everyone to come learn, but in reality (which is the quickest way to ruin all your fun :o) that doesn't work at all.  I was going to have to figure out a way to go from being the unofficial Leader of the Duct Tape and Band aid Brigade to Bonnie Businesswoman if we were to even stand a chance... 

Some hiccups along the way
Once I had a rough idea which direction we wanted to pursue, I threw myself into research mode. My husband dragged me off to a seminar to learn how to write grants (aha! now there's an idea :o) I developed a business plan, began compiling demographics, and contacted local groups to determine the level of interest (essentially, everyone I talked to was ready to jump in the car and come visit now). We set up a 4H group, and started having meetings at a local community center. Things were tooling along very nicely, and then I went for my first mammogram at age 40:  Stage 1c breast cancer threw the biggest monkey wrench I'd never expected into my entire life. Everything came to screeching halt. 

So where are we now?
Well I may not be running as fast as I was when I started this project, but I am moving forward.  A rare muscle disease put another hitch in my giddyup (hate the hitch, but I love the phrase :o) but I'm not stopping! We have been granted our 501c3 as an official Non-Profit Organization, so now the real work has begun.  We are working hard on the nitty gritty details for our programs and raising the funds necessary to realize our dream, or at least its beginning.  We are also trying to find some sponsors that will allow us to (hopefully) have visitors on a limited scale pretty soon ~ the horses just love having company!
If you would like to keep tabs on our progress, please visit this lens on Squidoo: Epic Farms Accountability

www.flickr.com Wysiwigs' EpicFarms photoset