Horses Helping Kids - Help Us Raise Funds!

Hello,

My name is Laurel Griffin, owner of Spirit Winds Ranch, and I run a horse driven learning program, near Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, where we partner with retired horses to help at-risk youth and other marginalized groups through a program called equine-assisted learning (EAL). This program partners participants with retired horses as teachers to encourage individual and team growth. The exercises in this program are developed to promote self-confidence and life skills.

We are raising funds to help pay for 2 more horses to properly run our EAL program. Ideally our programming requires 6 to 10 horses to properly accommodate participants, and the ranch currently only has 3. The horses we would like to buy are retiring from trail riding/riding school. Each horse will end up costing around $1100, which includes vet and travel fees.

Please consider donating to our cause and for more information please read below and watch our “about us” video. If you’re not in a position to donate you can still help by sharing this on your social media to help spread the word.

A bit more about me and Spirit Winds Ranch:

I am the contracted service provider to work with at risk youth for the MD of Rocky View West and I work with thirteen schools in Cochrane. I’ve had the privilege of working with the school’s most vulnerable students for several years now. Our program is also available to other historically marginalized groups. I started this program 8 years ago and previously instructed riding and horsemanship for over 30 years. I am also a graduate of the Cartier Farms/Dreamwinds EAL program, certified in FEEL, and am a Silver licensed coach with Equestrian Canada. Our programs are completely dependent on volunteers, donations, and sponsors. The combination of horses and Equine Assisted Learning has greatly improved the lives of our participants.

What is EAL:

Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) is the foundation of our programs here at Sprit Winds Ranch to help at-risk youth and other marginalized groups. EAL is an experiential learning program that partners with horses as teachers and is an effective approach to human development that encourages individual and team growth. Participants learn effective communication and collaboration skills by means of interacting with their human partners and equine teachers to solve a series of enjoyable and often challenging problems. The exercises are designed for participants to learn life skills together and build self-confidence through hands-on activities.

How do participants benefit?

There’s a lot of pressure on kids and adults these days, and the tools to give them coping skills are often limited. We have found the participants who thrive in our program generally struggle with communication (verbal and non-verbal skills), lack of confidence, being bullied, depression, anxiety, and mood control, to name a few.

After attending our programs we’ve found participants thrive in the following ways:

- Increased confidence

- Stronger communication skills (verbal and non-verbal)

- Willingness to participate in activities

- Improved listening

- Shift in attitude

- Smiles – We see lots of smiles!

- Schools have also noted improved attendance and participation at school as a result of our program.

About our horses:

We are fortunate to work with amazing older and experienced horses who are calm, kind, and patient. All our horses receive at least 6 months of training before working with kids. The horses live in a herd environment in large pastures on the ranch. They are well cared for, receiving proper nutrition, acupuncture, dental, and hoof care. Our current horses, pictured below, include Doc, Clarence (about to retire), Hoss (about to retire), Rose (in training), and Luna (in training).

News articles about us:

Please note: We’ve bought one horse so far and haven’t bought the 2nd yet, we haven’t raised our goal at this time, but we will still use the money from this GoFundMe to pay off their purchase.

If we go over our funding goal the extra money would be put towards school programming and arena improvements (the arena is where the school programs are held).