Articles by author: DeeDee Conrad

Hearts Therapeutic Equestrian Center touches the lives of adults and children with varying physical and cognitive abilities. Just over a year ago, a young boy named Benjamin came to Hearts to begin riding lessons. Before starting lessons, Benjamin was only able to walk with the aid of a walker, and often got around his own home by walking on his knees. After just 4 months of riding lessons, a true miracle occurred.

During this Holiday Season, I reflect on what all I am grateful for this year. Since joining the team here at Hearts in May, I’ve been so grateful for all the support from volunteers, donors, the board, families, and students. When the barn burnt to the ground on day 3 of my employment, it was truly amazing to see the community efforts in helping us out – from donations of feed to donations towards rebuilding.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’d like to extend my sentiments of gratitude to our instructors, horses and participants. Together, we served a total of 92 individuals last month- 70 therapeutic riding students and 22 unmounted EFL students. These numbers have become the new benchmark at Hearts as our Equine Facilitated Learning program evolves and the therapeutic riding program remains full. Collectively, Hearts has served over 300 individuals from year to date, already exceeding this year’s goal.

The list of gratitude goes on and on thanks to the help of our amazing instructors, horses, and participants.

Hearts celebrated our riders and our programs on Thursday, September 28th, at a fundraising luncheon at the Coral Casino with a crowd of 270 guests. Kevin Raimer, one of our wonderful veterans, shared his story and what Hearts has done for him, and John Reardon shared his daughter, Amy's, story with some compelling video to really bring it to life. In addition, we featured a video with stories and information about Hearts. Please click here to see it! We are so grateful to everyone who came and to those who supported the luncheon. It was hugely successful!

I love September! It somehow feels like a second chance for refocusing my goals and energy. Perhaps it’s the reminder of the excitement I used to feel when I got to go school supply shopping (I’m still a fiend for office supplies!), or just the slight shift in the season. In any case, it’s an opportunity to review where we are and where we need to go in the remaining four months of the year. Perhaps it’s the reminder of the excitement I used to feel when I got to go school supply shopping (I’m still a fiend for office supplies!), or just the slight shift in the season. In any case, it’s an opportunity to review where we are and where we need to go in the remaining four months of the year.

Someone asked me recently what I liked most about working at Hearts. While it’s hard to choose just one thing, I think the one that stands out to me is that every day I get to see the mission in action. Taking a break from my desk, and walking out to see a class, visit the campers, or talk to volunteers as they tack up horses – it’s always a clear focus on our mission and seeing riders and participants expand their horizons, explore their limits, and find healing relief in the magic of the horses.

With the many donations we’ve received in the last month, we were able to rebuild the barn and have it completed by late June. We are so grateful to everyone who contributed! In addition to the financial donations we received, we were also thrilled to receive in-kind donations along with discounted costs from our contractors and suppliers.

On the morning of May 18th, a fire occurred in the Hearts hay-barn. The result was a complete loss of the contents of the barn, including a month's worth of hay, grain, supplements and equine medications. The heat also affected one of our Tack Shack storage containers, destroying half our inventory. Despite the loss of material goods, the horses, personnel and nearby stalls and storage sheds are all safe thanks to our neighbors at the Department of Public Works, County Sheriff's Department, and Fire Fighters.

Devon Sachey, Hearts’ Program Director, and I looked at each other in wonder the other day because of the activity embracing Hearts right now. Not only do we have new horses coming in, we’re welcoming new riders and EFL participants, counting RSVP’s for our Barn Dance, preparing our riders for CALNET (a horseshow for athletes with disabilities at the LA Equestrian Center), getting ready for our own Horseshow, and prepping for five weeks of Summer Camp. If you’re impressed, so are we! Hearts has really come a long way and the hustle and bustle are both invigorating and satisfying.

Most days I pull into the parking lot at Hearts deep in thought. I often have a to-do list in my head, and am running through all the things that need to be accomplished that week/day/hour. From checking in with staff, to following up with donors, to reviewing the status of invitations and events, to mundane operational things, bills, budgets, insurance and the like, let's just say I'm physically present, but my mind is often other places!