PLAYING VIVALDI STYLE
“Now THIS is how to play, Desmond.”
Vivaldi, instructing his big brother on the finer art of playing in the Round Yard. These two boys are absolutely delightful!
Tag: equine therapy
BEYOND BLESSED
BEYOND BLESSED
We are so incredibly grateful for the generosity of others: this week, receipt of another scholarship grant (!) as well as a donation of beautiful saddles, saddle racks, and assorted tack and equipment from the lovely Jan and Allan Herrbach. Amazing donors who believe in this mission and its goals. We are beyond blessed.
Our Volunteer Training is on target to be delivered from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on February 20, and we are already receiving applications for our program that will begin in March.
Wilderwood Feature Article!
Wilderwood Feature article!
We are thrilled that the Valencia County News Bulletin has featured Wilderwood in an article. Anna Padilla has written a wonderful piece.
Step by Step
step by step
It’s a case of step by step, little by little for Wilderwood. Though we have been somewhat sidelined with the (necessary) restrictions wrought by the Coronavirus — resulting in our Pilot and Volunteers program being shifted to a later date — we’ve nonetheless been hard at work, continuing the projects that need doing.
Recently completed, or well-on-the-way to being completed, are the new arena, the walkway to the roundyard, the viewing bench, and very much-needed sound/barrier fencing.
Raised Gardens Volunteer Day!
Raised Gardens Volunteer Day!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! — to our WONDERFUL volunteers at Wilderwood’s recent Volunteer Day to Build the Raised Gardens! By name, we’d especially like to thank Jayme, Joe, and Lee Anne.
Thank you also to RockIt Stonescapes in Peralta for much appreciated discount and help with the gravel and your expert delivery! Thanks for your continued support of Wilderwood and belief in our mission.
Thank you, too, for those who signed up as interested, but were unable to come on the day. We didn’t quite get finished what we’d planned, so may be having another day soon to finish off. We’re getting so close now to opening for the pilot it’s very exciting! … but there are still some things to be done.
The Raised Gardens are an important part of Wilderwood’s curriculum, particularly the Preceptorship. We’re so excited to see another vision and dream become a reality!
For now, here’s to another successful Volunteer Day and our heartfelt thanks to our amazing volunteers. Here are some pictures to show the “Before” and “After” of the Raised Gardens.
Getting Ready …
Getting Ready …
We’ve been busy at Wilderwood getting ready! Our next Volunteer Day is Saturday, November 2 on a “drop-in” basis. We’ll be working from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on building the Raised Gardens! We’ll also ask our amazing volunteers to help us with the last remnants of clean up (moving branches to the bonfire, hauling building materials to the truck).
Below are pictures of things we’ve been doing in the last month. The solar lights on the Wilderwood sign look amazing at night! The utility area (now chained/cordoned off) is a safe place to put needed tools and equipment to maintain the Wilderwood grounds. And, take a look at the video showing the horses checking out the new Round Yard. Desmond, of course, steals the show!
In other exciting news, we’ve been preparing our sign-up and informational materials for the upcoming Wilderwood Therapy Curriculum Pilot Program! This program is to help us test the curriculum as a “trial run” before we open officially in September 2020. There will be no fees involved for participants and the information and feedback we receive will be crucial to help make sure the curriculum is sound and ready to go!
Interested in the Pilot Program? Check out our Application Form on the homepage. Once we’ve received the form, we will contact you to discuss the program, your goals, and the ways in which Wilderwood may be able to help you.
Arena, Round Yard, Meditation Garden
Arena, Round Yard, Meditation Garden
Check out the video below from our second Volunteer Day held August 31, 2019. Thank you to Gene, Paul, Ethan, David, Karen, William, Waid, Patsy, Waid Jr. and Peter for all your hard work!
Second Volunteer Day!
Second Volunteer Day!
Getting ready for our Second Volunteer Day! Please help! Wilderwood needs YOU on Saturday, August 31, 2019, 9:00 a.m. to noon.
Activities include:
* Marking the arena with gabions
* Painting the planter underneath the Wilderwood sign
* Laying weedcloth and rocks in the Meditation Garden
* Lining the roundyard with latilla panels
and, of course … hanging out with the horses and dogs!
We really need you! Please show your support and sign up today at the Wilderwood Equine Therapy facebook page.
Visit
Visit to Colorado State and Temple Grandin Equine Center
This month, we were very fortunate to receive a lovely invitation from the Temple Grandin Equine Center (TGEC) at Colorado State University. As an autistic person, this was a special place for Bec to visit as well as an opportunity to meet the splendid people and amazing equines there who are working with innovation, drive, and passion to make the TGEC happen.
TGEC/CSU is a very special place, too, for Bec and Mark because, believing in and supporting the mission and goals of TGEC, they have chosen it to be the recipient of their entire Estate. This generous gift will assist TGEC/CSU develop its future programs and facilities to ensure continuation of innovative equine activities and therapies.
We look forward to future visits along with collaboration and sharing opportunities!
Hautism: the Parallel World of Horses and Autism
Hautism: the Parallel World of Horses and Autism
“Horses were basically my salvation. If I hadn’t been able to go down to the horse barn and take care of the horses and clean the stalls … I would have just been miserable.”~ Temple Grandin ~
My name is Bec Evanko. I write this as an autistic horsewoman, a Ph.D, a small and fragile soul, someone who, through a combination of luck and tenacity, somehow made it despite incredible odds against it, and someone who is forever grateful to the magnificent horses who were with me on this journey.
Horses are a lot like autistic people.
We are prey animals. In many ways we are gullible, naïve, open to literal interpretation, liable to be wary and learn our lessons well when we are hurt or frightened. We can be flighty and afraid of things for reasons that neurotypical people find hard to fathom.
But when we trust and learn to love, we are fiercely loyal, devoted, and dependable, willing and wanting to please, and also happy to be left to our own devices without the constant need for human company.
We recognize and respond to kindness.
We fear and flee from that which we do not understand. We learn our lessons through repetition and reward. We seek reassurance and comfort. We find solace in our own kind (autistics with autistics; horses with horses) and find incomprehensible much of the neurotypical human world.
Whether (horse) grazing on grass in pasture or (human) working diligently at a computer on a given task, we can focus for hours and do not wish to be interrupted in our pursuit.
We need familiarity before accepting the new.
We do movements for our own understanding and comfort that you do not understand and sometimes strive to curtail.
We need to build trust before permitting you into our world.
