GRACE and GRIT: Health and Healing Thru Horse Human Partnerships

While there can be downsides to social media, depending on how we use it, it can be a good thing too.

A trainer from WI responded to an ad for tack that GRACE and GRIT: Health and Healing Thru Horse Human Partnerships has on FB Marketplace. When she told me what she needed the tack for, I realized that she might be the coach for the Chippewa Falls HS equestrian team that our Kermit (2010 ApHC gelding 'Another Moment') has been competing with for the last three years with his partner and bestie, Jana.

The trainer snapped this photo of Jana and the Kermster t the barn yesterday after our marketplace interaction, (which had nothing to do with either Jana or Kermit).

For those of you who know Kermie, you know how lucky Jana is to have him in her life. As it turns out, based on the
annual updates we receive every Christmas with a beautifully detailed hand-written letter and lots of photos of their adventures together for the past year, we know that Kermit is equally lucky.

AND we love that Jana and her supportive family have partnered with a competent trainer to insure the continued growth, development, and thrivival of this promising duo!

What could be better?

Good Luck at your show this weekend Kermit and Jana!

Freya and Dolly and their dopamine ritual.

The kind of habit we love to see

DID YOU KNOW that a horse's heart is very similar to a human’s? Like us, they have four chambers.

HORSES HEARTS weigh about 8 to 10 pounds.
HUMAN HEARTS weigh about 8 to 10 ounces.

HORSES RESTING HEART RATE is between 30 to 40 beats per minute.
HUMAN RESTING HEART RATE is a fluttery 60 to 100 beats per minute!

HORSES HEART RATE can reach 240 beats per minute when galloping!
RACE HORSES tend to have bigger hearts as they can pump more blood and increase their athletic performance.

SECRETARIAT had a heart twice the average size, weighing 22 pounds!

🐎💓It's no wonder such lovable creatures would have such big hearts! ❤️🐎

I love this meme that I borrowed from a page, but I have to point out that:

1. S/he absolutely does have an ego. Without ego, they would not survive. The horse's ego is different from ours in that it is focused on us-ness, rather than self-ness. (Herdness rather than me-ness. ) The influence of objects is reduced so other qualities like empathy, compassion, and understanding, which improve relationships and overall well-being, for themselves and their herds, are developed.

2. S/he absolutely does NOT keep secrets. They are the biggest tattletales ever. They don't even let us lie to ourselves. "Show me your horse and I'll tell you who you are."; "Horses are the mirror of our soul." When we learn to understand and speak the language of the horse, body language, we learn that these two old cliches are. the. truth.

At GRACE and GRIT: Health and Healing Thru Horse Human Partnerships, the language of the horse is the first thing we learn. It's very exciting and fun.

After that, it's easy. And even more exciting and fun.

Just checking it all out and making sure no one's breaking any rules. Our Trouble

Quite the opposite! By sharing your moments with us and allowing us to work through them with you, you give us a chance to grow too!

As the horses say, "We're in this together, Partner!"

Thanks to .f.tank Jasmin F. Tank for sharing this!

Then THIS happened.

Apparently I'm not speaking clearly in my prayers.

We are now offering instruction in Horizontal Pooping.

And through it all....the smudge maintains.

This dopamine moment brought to you by Dolly, Freya, and and GRIT: Health and Healing Thru Horse Human Partnerships

YAY! It's now an officially christened member of the GRACE and GRIT: Health and Healing Thru Horse Human Partnerships and Glacial Ridge Equine Opportunity/Obstacle Course. 🐎🤠

Thanks to everyone who is making our new, improved, expanded course happen!
Wild Rice Electric Cooperative Westees LLC, Deb Pearson and all those board/committee member/customer helping hands!

We've received the funding for our Essentia Health CHIP grant! This grant is specifically targeted to improve physical activity and mental wellness enhancing opportunities for youth in the Essentia Health service region. I've attached a map so you can see the specific areas Grace and Grit: Health and Healing Thru Horse-Human Partnerships will be serving over the next year.

Thanks to all of you who have helped us with this particular project. From supporting the growth of this impactful program with time, money, creativity, grants, and volunteerism, YOU are the backbone that is providing this life, family, and community enriching opportunity to more and more people, especially those who do not typically have access to this type of experience.

If you know of any youth and/or youth groups who are in the service region, please let us know about them!

If you have any other thoughts or ideas that you would like to share with us regarding the ongoing development of this initiative, we want to hear from you.

As always, thanks for everything you do!

Essentia Health

George was dumped here as a skinny, scared beautiful kitten 10 years ago. He started life with us as a Barn Cat Supreme who relished his job, would eat ANYTHING he was offered, and loved all the attention he got from everyone. He loved teaching people how to wait for him to approach, rather than try to chase and force him.

Over time, George has evolved into a "Gentleman" Barn Cat. He relishes savoring the country life as he stretches out on this round bale on this mild day. He's still an avid hunter, but his catches are all gifts, no longer part of his diet. He also won't eat anything other than a specific brand of dry food, and he insists on having cool, fresh water---no more puddles for this guy. He still loves teaching the approach-retreat technique to the cat chasing humans. And he can cuddle with the best of them.

These days at night and during less than perfect weather, he prefers his personal bed or special chair in the house. His entertainment on those days are his indoor cat toys, along with his tunnel and kitty cube.

And he's a terrible bed hog and he snores.

We love him.

Thanks to EVERYONE who came to the party---um, I mean MONTHLY MEETING this week. You all made it feel like a party, and we got SO. MUCH. DONE.
💯

Only one of the exciting moments was when our new teeter-totter bridge arrived! We are so grateful to have so many willing and strong hands available to move this heavy monster into place. Thanks also to Gary at Westees, LLC, Deb Pearson, and special thanks to Wild Rice Electric Cooperative for providing the funding to make all the recent improvements and expansions to our Opportunity Obstacle course possible!

It was definitely a multisensory experience!!!

Without exception, EVERYONE at Grace and Grit loves our unique new mounting block, cleverly designed and built by the talented and generous Kent Wolkenhauer.

It has turned out to be useful for many things, not the least of which is a cat perch.

From Mariam Price, but really could've been any of us here at GRACE and GRIT: Health and Healing Thru Horse Human Partnerships, dontchathink?

"With so much focus on becoming better riders, winning ribbons, and climbing the ranks, it’s easy to forget what really matters—our connection with our horses. Horses aren’t just sporting equipment to be discarded if they’re “broken.” They’re our partners.

When a horse has a bad day, gets injured, or goes lame, it’s not because they’re trying to hold us back. They’re communicating the only way they know how. Often, we don’t notice until it’s serious because horses are masters at masking pain.
As parents, trainers, and mentors, we need to teach the next generation to see things from the horse’s perspective. Yes, an injury can ruin show plans or year-end awards, but our connection with them is far more valuable.

Let’s guide young riders to understand empathy. Horsemanship isn’t about speed, height, or ribbons—it’s about trust, respect, and listening to our horses just as much as they listen to us.

Let’s raise a generation that sees horses as the beautiful beings they are—partners on this journey, not stepping stones to the next level. 💜🐴

Shout out to my neighbor Judy Erickson and her supreme gardening skills. This is a small sampling of what she has---besides the multi-colored cauliflower and broccoli, she has kale, 3+ varieties of peppers, onions, scallions, kohlrabi, tomatoes, and lots more! If you're feeding a crew, she has cauliflowers that are twice this size, and the onions are huge and delish. All organic.

She also has maple syrup made from the trees right behind Glacial Ridge Equine. We time our spring trail rides so we can see the still in action and get a sample of the sap as it comes out of the trees.

If you can't make it to the Mentor Farmers Market where she has a booth on Saturday mornings, you can visit her at her home to shop. She'll even harvest to order so it's really right from the garden to the table!

She also catches and sells bait for all you avid fisher-people, so be sure to give her a call to make sure she'll be there when you want to shop.

I've heard rumors that she'll be doing oil changes and hip replacements soon too.

Living in Hooterville has it's perks....

Although I'm not sure about the validity or credentials of the "Heart-Math Institute" mentioned in this copy and paste, I AM positive that all the descriptives of how horses facilitate human feel-good are 100% accurate! We see it in action at Grace and Grit every. single. day.

"Recent studies conducted by the Institute of Heart-Math provide a clue to explain the two-way ′′healing′′ that occurs when we're close to horses.

According to researchers, the heart has an electromagnetic field larger than the brain: a magnetometer can measure the energy field of the heart that radiates from 2.4 meters to 3 meters around the human body.

While this is certainly significant, perhaps more impressive than the electromagnetic field projected by the heart of a horse is five times larger than that of a human being (imagine an electromagnetic sphere around the horse) and it can influence straight into our own heart rate.

Horses are also likely to have what science has identified as a "coherent′′ heart rate (heart rate pattern) that explains why we can feel better when we're close to them. Studies have found a coherent heart pattern or HRV to be a solid measure of well-being and consistent with emotional states of calm and joy-that is, we exhibit such patterns when we feel positive emotions.

A coherent heart pattern is indicative of a system that can recover and adapt to stressful situations very efficiently. Many times, we just need to be in the presence of horses to feel a sense of well-being and peace.

In fact, research shows that people experience many physiological benefits by interacting with horses, including lower blood pressure and heart rate, higher beta-endorphins (neurotransmitters acting as pain suppressors), decreased stress levels, decreased feelings of anger, hostility, tension and anxiety, better social working; and greater feelings of empowerment, confidence, patience and self-efficacy."

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At GRACE and GRIT: Health and Healing Thru Horse Human Partnerships, we are committed to helping all you awesome people who love horses find ways to allow them to enrich your lives while you learn how to enhance their quality of life too.

Horse ownership is not always the best way to do this. Fortunately there are MANY other paths to take that are beneficial to all participants. Sometimes, even though horse ownership is possible and beneficial for all involved, actual horse-keeping is NOT the best or most feasible way. In those cases, boarding your horse (24 hour day care, as it were) may be a great route to go. Here are some important things to consider as you choose your horse's care provider!

(Slides borrowed from The Willing Equine)

Keeping a gratitude journal has pointed out how many blessings there are every day.

Keeping a "Best Thing That Happened Today" list has caused me to look for all the good things in every day. I love it that now I'm at the point that I am struggling which of the amazing moments, miracles sometimes, to pick as the "BEST".

The petty unimportant annoyances fade into the muted background. Thankfully.

Not the least of our blessings is a farrier who truly loves horses, knows how to make a connection, and is willing to do what it takes to make pedicures a wonderful experience, whether he is with a brand-new youngster, a horse who has had bad farrier moments, or a seasoned farrier-lover equid.

Lucky Georgie got his Kinsley time!

WooHoo!!! This persistent little got a hole in oe....opps wrong sport...here, let me start again...

Freya GOT A BASKET in her pre-ride warm up today. After running around the ring to warm up her muscles, practicing on the obstacle course with her imaginary pony to warm up her mind, she wanted to throw a few basketballs to "Practice doing something different." After mindfully using three very different techniques to get very different results, throw #4 swooped right into the basket.

Freya followed all of this up with a gritty lesson that she didn't want to end! Exactly as it should be. 🤠🐎🥰

Here's an interesting article about a recently (June 2024) captured, sequestered, and sold "wild" (actually feral) stallion in the Badlands, South Dakota.

It may be significant that the trail riders were awed, not annoyed, by his presence, yet park management labeled Alluvium (means sand, silt, sediment) a 'nuisance'.

Wondering who the nuisance REALLY is?

Read the article before coming to your own conclusion please.

https://www.inforum.com/news/north-dakota/bachelor-stallion-at-theodore-roosevelt-adopted-by-unknown-new-owner #:~:text=Park%20officials%20have%20removed%20Alluvium%2C%20the%20bachelor%20stallion,barn%2C%20corral%2C%20pasture%2C%20and%20fresh%20food%20and%20water.

A perfect day to be a barn cat.

Or a barn person.

Probably a barn anything.

Or just a perfect day.

GRACE and GRIT: Health and Healing Thru Horse Human Partnerships

Glacial Ridge Equine

So important to know how to evaluate those early warning signs! There's plenty and we can usually head off the trip to the clinic and even a vet call!

Colic treatment delays can be deadly

Great way to start the day with this uplifting card, and the wonderful note that was included.

Thanks to encouragement from her parents, Freya has grown to really like keeping a journal. Lately, she's chosen to draw her thoughts. The first photo is her riding her horse last week.

The second one is a Freya and her trainer. (note the "F" and the "C"). The heart on the side is because "we love each other." (quote by Freya).

Yes, of course I got goosebumps.

Note the proportions, the shape of the faces, the hair from the two people (Freya and Cheryl) in the picture.

Our littles notice EVERYTHING. Be mindful of what they are seeing, hearing, feeling. Don't be afraid to jump in with some conversation if there's something you think they might need help processing. For littles of all ages, from 3 to 73!

THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!