Articles by author: DeeDee Conrad

2017 is showing us a different kind of year–we’ve launched with a bang! Record breaking numbers of students, rainy days inspiring fun lessons in the round-pen, two afternoons a week with Girls, Inc. equine facilitated learning (EFL) participants, and that just touches the surface! I’m often hidden away in my office or out on meetings, so it always gives me great joy to have those quiet moments where I can watch a lesson or listen to our volunteers banter in the cross-ties.

I hope you had a joyous holiday with friends and family. It was quiet at Hearts, with the horses and staff taking two weeks of much needed vacation. Looking back at 2016, it seems that, as a society, we went through a great deal of tumult. Whether it was passion for a particular political figure, sorrow over the loss of an icon, fear of political or economic change the quiet two weeks that closed out the year felt like a salve. Sometimes we need a little peace to appreciate the important things.