Saddles for Heartland Girls' Ranch!
Tax deductible
Heartland Girls' Ranch Website
Our mission: "Healing Youth, Building Lives through Success" signifies our commitment to providing a safe place for girls to experience success. Heartland Girls Ranch is a working ranch that utilizes horses as one of the innovative strategies to bring about healing in girls' lives.
Heartland Girls Ranch has a long history of success in working with girls with diverse individual issues including; low self-esteem, sexual identity, promiscuity, chemical dependency, truancy, risk of running away, family discord, out of control parents, loss and grief, pregnancy and teen parenting, self-harm, suicidal attempts, attachments disorder and other mental health diagnosis, and sexual exploitation/trafficking.
HGR is in desperate need of new saddles for some of our therapy horses. Many of our current saddles are old, cracked, and cause pain to our horses making it dificult for girls in our programs to ride and care for them. Would you consider joining with us to reach our goal?
HGR is in desperate need of new saddles for some of our therapy horses. Many of our current saddles are old, cracked, and cause pain to our horses making it dificult for girls in our programs to ride and care for them. Would you consider joining with us to reach our goal?
Staff and Girls at the Ranch explain the importance of new saddles below.
From Heartland Girls' Ranch Residents:
"My horse Blondie has helped me a lot. When I first came to HGR I had never been around a horse, let alone ridden one. I was scared and upset about being here. I really like to ride, and I enjoy riding [Blondie]. It helps me express my emotions and every time I ride she makes me feel better." -C
"My horse has helped me to learn to open up to new things. My horse has been there for me and worked with me on trusting more and going at a faster pace. My horse has helped me overcome my fear of things that are bigger than me and has helped me change my mood when I'm feeling down or when I need to have an attitude check. She has also helped me learn to be more of a leader and to be more assertive." - K
"What these horses have done to make an influence on me is they act like a herd, like a family, like they belong together. They showed me that fights will happen but they will always still be together." -J
From Heartland Girls' Ranch Horse Program Director...
The Horse Program here is so important. Just this week I had one of the girls express to me that at the barn she feels lighter, like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. This is a girl that is really struggling with self-harm isues right now. She came to the barn on Monday and for two hours there were no self-harm behaviors, no talk of any self-harm, not a single issue with her peers. There is something magical that happens down here!
We did a saddle clinic with an equine professional early in April and the girls and I learned about saddles and what bad fit does to the horse physically. Horses need more regular vet and chiropractor care to fix issues caused by ill fitting saddles and the risk of accidents is higher too. If the horses are in pain there is greater potential for them to express themselves in a way that could hurt a rider. Some of our girls are now looking at our saddles and knowing that they are hurting their horses. So the girls are being forced into a position of putting a piece of equipment on their horse that they know hurts them!"
We desperately need new saddles and hope that some of our supporters will help make this possible- Horse Program Director, Bridget Kinnell
Located in Benson, MN HGR serves an average of 40-50 girls ages 12-21 each year providing comprehensive supportive services including; housing, life/job skills education, mental/physical health support, equine/EAGALA and other trauma-informed therapies, and a dedicated school for the girls in our program.
Will you please consider making a donation today? Thank you!
From Heartland Girls' Ranch Residents:
"My horse Blondie has helped me a lot. When I first came to HGR I had never been around a horse, let alone ridden one. I was scared and upset about being here. I really like to ride, and I enjoy riding [Blondie]. It helps me express my emotions and every time I ride she makes me feel better." -C
"My horse has helped me to learn to open up to new things. My horse has been there for me and worked with me on trusting more and going at a faster pace. My horse has helped me overcome my fear of things that are bigger than me and has helped me change my mood when I'm feeling down or when I need to have an attitude check. She has also helped me learn to be more of a leader and to be more assertive." - K
"What these horses have done to make an influence on me is they act like a herd, like a family, like they belong together. They showed me that fights will happen but they will always still be together." -J
From Heartland Girls' Ranch Horse Program Director...
The Horse Program here is so important. Just this week I had one of the girls express to me that at the barn she feels lighter, like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders. This is a girl that is really struggling with self-harm isues right now. She came to the barn on Monday and for two hours there were no self-harm behaviors, no talk of any self-harm, not a single issue with her peers. There is something magical that happens down here!
We did a saddle clinic with an equine professional early in April and the girls and I learned about saddles and what bad fit does to the horse physically. Horses need more regular vet and chiropractor care to fix issues caused by ill fitting saddles and the risk of accidents is higher too. If the horses are in pain there is greater potential for them to express themselves in a way that could hurt a rider. Some of our girls are now looking at our saddles and knowing that they are hurting their horses. So the girls are being forced into a position of putting a piece of equipment on their horse that they know hurts them!"
We desperately need new saddles and hope that some of our supporters will help make this possible- Horse Program Director, Bridget Kinnell
Located in Benson, MN HGR serves an average of 40-50 girls ages 12-21 each year providing comprehensive supportive services including; housing, life/job skills education, mental/physical health support, equine/EAGALA and other trauma-informed therapies, and a dedicated school for the girls in our program.
Will you please consider making a donation today? Thank you!
Organizer
Heather Caillier
Organizer
City of Benson, MN
HEARTLAND RANCH INC
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
