We just received a $5000 challenge grant!
Can you help us avoid leaving unmatched dollars on the table?
Project Horse provides
MUTUAL HEALING & BENEFIT
for clients and horses
It wasn't all fun and games for Gracie before she arrived at Project Horse.
September 2, 2016. It is a hot, humid summer day in western Loudoun County, Virginia. As I take my first hoof steps off the trailer, my heart is beating fast, and my eyes are searching for familiar sights in this strange new place. I take a long look around at yet another new home, and since this move is my third in a year, I wonder if I'll be staying here long.
My caretaker got sick last year and had to surrender me to a rescue organization. She told me it was temporary until she got better. She never did get better and I was moved again.... and again. Several good people helped to care for me and keep me safe, but no one could give me a forever home.
 
I began to feel anxious and lonely. I missed having a stable home. I am usually a pretty healthy horse, but after being bitten by a tick at one of the rescue farms, I became sick and felt terrible for several weeks. I managed to make friends with another horse at one of the farms I was staying at, but then when I moved again, I lost him too... It was a rough year.
 
But today, September 2, 2016, is a new start for me. I am looking out at the lush, green pasture of my new home at Project Horse. I like my spacious new stall that is between my new herdmates, Killian and Uncanny. I am beginning to feel safe again! I have a new caretaker who is a true partner and is committed to taking care of me. Although I sense that she is new to my world, and the way of the horse, she seems very eager to learn and I can trust in that. And she does what she says she's going to do which provides me great comfort.
 
Project Horse has provided me with much more than a safe home, it has given me a new purpose to fulfill as a therapy horse. In my first days here I began to work with humans called clients who have life experiences like my own. Some have felt anxious, and others lonely, because of circumstances in their lives beyond their control. I get how unsettling that can be.
 
The human clients might feel unsafe, or unsure of where they belong, or wonder where their true home is. They need support.

I have something to offer because I've been there too. My job is to be present for them and to teach them what I know about how to survive and, even better, how to thrive. My sensitivity to emotions helps me to tune in to the needs of the clients I work with.
 
Clients feel seen by me, and I can provide support for them just as others have done for me. I am grateful every day that Project Horse has given me a safe home and a new start in life.
Now I pay it forward to others in my work as a therapy horse.
Gracie found that many of our clients have had to overcome similar challenges. Clients that feel unsafe, or wonder where they really belong, find understanding and belonging with Gracie's help.

Our end-of-year fundraising target is $15,000 and we hope to raise
$10,000 during #GivingTuesday. We've raised over $1200 so far, plus a pledge for a $5000 challenge grant. The Knippenberg Foundation will match every donation now, dollar for dollar, up to $5000!

If you can, please help us achieve this goal and help us not leave matching dollars on the table!

And in addition to donating, please consider helping Project Horse in any of the following ways:
    • Follow us on social media
    • Tell others about Project Horse
    • Encourage others to donate
    • Share our posts and email stories

 
Shop for a Cause

Add Project Horse to your list when you go shopping this holiday season!

Shop online at AmazonSmile and Amazon donates to Project Horse:

Our year-end fundraising campaign highlights GRATITUDE
with a #GivingTuesday focus on  MUTUAL HEALING & BENEFIT.

There's a unique dynamic that occurs at Project Horse! On a daily basis, clients and horses have opportunities to experience mutual healing and benefit. We are so grateful for these opportunities to improve the lives of the two and four-legged beings with whom we work, helping make the world a kinder, gentler place for all.

Today, #GivingTuesday, I have 2 simple requests...

Please share our stories of mutual healing and benefit with others!
This story is our last one for #GivingTuesday, but more social media posts are on their way. Please continue to share or re-post our stories - whether on social media sites or via email. It's through spreading the word that more people will learn about - and more people will ultimately benefit from - the healing power of horses. And in case you missed any of our earlier emailed stories, please click on the links to read  The Invisible Girl   story emailed Sunday night,  Last Ditch Effort  emailed yesterday afternoon or The Big Gift emailed this morning.

Your tax-deductible gift helps more clients and horses experience the mutual healing and benefit of this important and unique work! Your gift also expresses gratitude to our tireless volunteers who are passionately dedicated to making a difference in the community, every day of the year.  And right now, thanks to the very generous challenge grant put forth today by the Knippenberg Foundation, your dollars will be doubled, up to $5000!  
Please help us not leave unmatched dollars on the table.


With much gratitude for a great kick-off to our year-end fundraising campaign,
  Darcy
Founder & Executive Director


CFC #19416           United Way #9851
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#Gratitude     #GivingTuesday     #MutualHealing