What an amazing Open Day, Auction, and Graduation we had on October 30. Ode was painted as a skeleton horse, we had Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Bear make an appearance, the ribbon cutting of our beautiful new stables building, and two beautiful folkorico dance demonstrations from the very talented Adriela Lopez. The day was very kindly sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Of course, the highlight of the day was the graduation of Wilderwood’s first cohort. These remarkable graduates achieved the goals they set at the start of the program and are well set on their post-Wilderwood path.
The horses were their usual friendly, curious selves, but it was Ode who stole the day. He was in his element, walking around the attendees accompanied by Wradiance. A big thank you to Giggles the Clown who painted Ode for the day. Thank you as well to local artists Eddie and Yolanda Ramirez, who not only donated items for the raffle, but presented a beautiful hand-made Wilderwood sign that now hangs very proudly in Wilderwood’s classroom.
And, a very special thank you to everyone who attended, volunteered, donated, and were part of this wonderful day.
We raised enough funds to well-support our scholarship fund. This fund is so important for those who want to attend, but who do not have the finances to pay for the program, whether in full or in part.
We are also proud to announce the Craig Gonzales Memorial Scholarship in honor of our graduate Alexis Gonzales in memory of her father who was tragically lost in 2021.
Finally, a HUGE thank you to EquiSeq in Albuquerque and the Haw Creek Animal Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina for their incredibly generous support of Wilderwood. As many of you know, three of Wilderwood’s horses — Lady Faith, Desperado, and Vivaldi — all have (or have tested positive for) the equine genetic degenerative muscular disease PSSM2 (polysaccharide storage myopathy). The donations, combined totalling $10,000, made by EquiSeq and Haw Creek Animal Hospital will help enormously in providing proper care for Faith, Des, and Viv as well as supporting the program in which these horses are such an integral part.
Take a look at some of the photos from the event below, most of them taken by our very talented Volunteer Coordinator Lindsey Lopez.
Thank you and love to everybody!
