Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Volunteering with Style


Hello there, fellow Vinceremos lovers!

Vinceremos is a wonderful place to learn new things and get volunteer hours. J I’ve been volunteering there to get community service hours for my college. One beautiful afternoon, I was volunteering with my friend, and we had some exciting adventures at Vinceremos. We helped out with the horses and the riders as usual, but there was some down-time for chores. First, that afternoon, we went around and checked the waters in the different paddocks. My jaw dropped though when I saw two lambs with their mother in one of the paddocks! They were real and soft and ba-a-ed, and I got to hold one! Vinceremos is so educational because I had seen sheep and lambs in movies, but I had never been so close to one. Its nose was pink and soft. Joy electrified all my senses when I knelt on green grass and held that lamb in the warm sunshine.

However, that was not our only adventure. Later, it was dinner time for the horses, and my friend and I were feeding the ones in the temporary stalls underneath the covered arena. Each horse has its own bucket so we decided the line the buckets up in front of the stall doors (not a good idea). That way, we thought, we could just feed the horses all at once. So…my friend and I are going to each stall and feeding each horse. She was at one end of the row of stalls, and I was walking back to the other end when I saw something that made me frown. I thought, “Why can I see a horse’s head and shoulders?” I called back to my friend, “Uh…I think we have a problem.” Trouble (of course that would be the horse’s name) had knocked the stall door open (somehow) to get to the feed bucket standing outside! I didn’t want to spook him so I walked calmly over and picked up the feed bucket. He followed me right into the stall. I was like, “Yes!” It was so funny. I yelled back to my friend, “All right. We’re good.” She hadn’t even realized what was going on. Then I was walking back towards her to finish feeding the other horses when I saw that Tilly had gotten a little excited too. Somehow, that horse had managed to wrap sticky fly tape all up in her mane. She must have been trying to get to her feed bucket too and the fly tape was probably hanging on the stall wall. My jaw was hanging open again. I was like, “What? You too?” I went into the stall and tried to get the tape off of her head (me, who knows next to nothing about horses). It was stuck…really stuck. I had to get another volunteer to help me, but my word, once she got it off, that horse’s hair looked so funny. According to one volunteer (who shall not be named), Tilly’s hair already looks funny, but with all that sticky residue in it, it looked like an ‘80s afro’. 

So that was our eventful afternoon. Life can be funny sometimes, and I really enjoy having some of those laughs at Vinceremos. It’s my favorite place to volunteer, and I plan on getting a lot more hours there. Thank you, Vinceremos!

Heather R. Lawrence

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Misty May

        Oh Misty May…………………..How we love this girl so much,  Adison’s first pony.  If Ms. Heidi can get Adison to stop hugging Misty May long enough they can start their lesson for the day.  The smallest of the Crew at the barn: but such a Big Love in our hearts.   


Feeding Misty May Apples!


Sweet Misty May.

Saying Hi to Misty May.

Look Mommy!
   

thousand words thursday...volunteer










Monday, April 30, 2012

thank you bruce


One of the many challenges that we face at Vinceremos is how to take care of the wonderful horses who have shared their lives with Vinceremos when getting up in the morning isn't quite as easy anymore.  Those majestic creatures who have unconditionally given the riders here so much happiness...
Vinceremos is celebrating its 30th year of operation, and some of our horses have been with us almost that long.  On a recent visit to the farm by Bruce Duchossois and Michael Bombar, we were sharing the retirement dilemma in hopes of some advice.  We talked about how difficult it was to retire these special horses and feel confident that we could assure that they are well cared for.  Bruce said, "I think I can help you with that!"  We are so happy to let you know that two of our longtime stars, Millie and Jamie, have gone to retire to Aiken, South Carolina on Bruce's farm.  Words cannot begin to express our gratitude to Bruce for his most kind and generous offer in helping us with such an important challenge.  If any of you have had to retire one of your own, you know how you feel when you know the time has come to let our most loyal and trusted compatriot enjoy the green grass.  How important it is to know that they will be cared for in the way that we would if we were able.  We couldn't have dreamed of a better place for these two nobles to go and be together.
Thank you Bruce, you show Vinceremos again why you are a Superhero!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Forever Grateful

In this day in age everyone is just so busy.  With the economy the way it is, for someone to simply volunteer to help others, makes my heart melt.  I feel so blessed and humbled that Mr. John and Ms. Kerri take time and find it their hearts to help Adison.  They are there every day we have therapy at Vinceremos.    Adison is the first rider in the morning and before we even get there the volunteers have fed Misty May Breakfast and saddled her up with the special saddle needed for riders.
Mr. John……..he’s not a man of too many words but his smile warms your heart and Ms. Kerri ……..she’s kind of the volunteer Mom makes you feel like one of her own.  They are always there at the barn ready to go with a smile on their face.  They teach us about Misty May and as Mr. John leads and Ms. Kerri walks along side helping Ms. Heidi (OT, we will talk about her later) work with Adison.   
I don’t know exactly how many volunteers there are at Vinceremos.  But we are so thankful for every single one of them.  Without their generosity we wouldn’t have such a wonderful place to come to each week.
In the beginning we were perfect strangers to them.  I don’t know if they know the true impact of what they actually do for us.  They will always have a special place in our hearts.  To know, that they just volunteer out of the true goodness of their hearts, makes us forever grateful to them.   

Friday, April 20, 2012

Just Breathe

I ask myself all the time, What is it about the smell of the barn? 

And it’s not what you thinkJ.

I can stand among the open space, look out towards the green grass and the covered arena, close my eyes and take a deep breath.  For the first time, in a really long time I was able to just breathe. 
Life is busy.  And when you step foot on to the ground at the barn it takes you to another world.
There is a sense of calming, a sense of peace and serenity that just comes over you.   You have not a care in the world. 
I don’t know how else to explain it.