Happy Spring! 

Although the first day of spring was just a few days ago, our horses have had a "spring in their step" for a few weeks now!  Miz Skarlett, our new beautiful Arabian Mare, loves to get everyone excited, motivating lots of movement in the paddocks. With spring the horses have been shedding their winter coats. Just ask our volunteer grooming crew how much horse hair they find on their clothes, in their own hair and
any place else you can think of!
 
The horses are also excited because they know that soon the pastures will be open with luscious new grass. You know how your stomach feels when you've eaten too much rich food? Our horses can relate. When first put out on pasture in the spring after winter confinement, their metabolism isn't accustomed to the lush forage, and their digestive systems can get all out of whack. It is quite the management process for our staff acclimating the horses to spring pasture, slowly introducing the horses over a couple of weeks to that tempting luscious new grass before they can spend the entire day out.
 
With the support of our Adopt-A-Horse donors, we have 15 healthy and sound horses; you can get to know each of the horses HERE. For the first time, all of our horses are adopted! We are incredibly thankful because these Adopt-A-Horse donors help underwrite the costs of care for this amazing herd. Those costs include: veterinarian, farrier, chiropractor, training, food, medicine, supplements and more.
 
A healthy horse herd translates into fun and safe lessons for our participants. We just successfully completed the Early Bird session and are preparing for the Spring/Summer session that begins April 9th. All of us at the barn are like race horses excitedly waiting in the gate for the bell to ring! From this day on, TRI is in a full-on sprint of activity until the very end of the year. We are very excited to see all of our participants, donors and volunteers next week-and most importantly the horses of TRI are ready to go!


Save the Date for Boots, Brews, & BBQ 
 
Save the date, y'all--come!    Don't miss out, the 2018 Boots, Brews & BBQ will be held  September 21, 2018!
Do ya think these folks are having fun?!




Here We Go!

The class of 2018! Some of the new volunteers who joined us for a Saturday orientation.

Our busiest Spring/Summer riding session starts on Monday April 9, and we are looking forward to all the hustle and bustle around the barn! A few weeks ago, we held a group orientation and welcomed 22 new volunteers to our ranks--so I'd like to extend an enthusiastic "Welcome!" to all the new volunteers who have joined us in 2018. We're looking forward to having you on our volunteer team!
 
I'd also like to thank all of our volunteers who helped out with our Early Bird Session, and braved the cold to make sure all of TRI's participants had a great time as they learned new riding skills. You collectively gave 800 volunteer hours to staff our Early Bird Session, which is simply amazing!
 
While we can never thank everyone enough--we are going to try! Volunteer Appreciation Week, this year will run from April 15-21. Our volunteers will be treated to some delicious food (that is how we express our love around the barn...), and some other goodies.
 
Our online volunteer management system--Volunteer Impact--is up and running, and everyone (including me) is getting used to using it. Active volunteers can check out their schedules online, and sign up for special events, sub spots, or volunteer training sessions. This valuable tool helps me target communications more effectively, and better keep track of all the hours our volunteers give to TRI!
 
As always, I'm available to answer any questions you may have. I'm also open to any feedback you have regarding the volunteer experience at TRI. You can get in touch with me via e-mail: volunteer@therapeuticridinginc.org.
 
Jennifer Beyer
Volunteer Manager


Welcome, Miz Skarlett!
  
Miz Skarlett is a beautiful Arabian mare with amazing breeding, brains, and personality. TRI thanks Paul and Kathy Kroll-Smoke for their generous, kind donation of this wonderful horse and to The Buhr Foundation for adopting Miz Skarlett!
Kathy shared, "MoKee Arabians is a small family owned farm breeding and racing performance bloodline Arabian horses. Our mares and foals carry bloodlines known internationally in the sport of Arabian horse racing. Our horses have gone from successful racing careers into the world of endurance, dressage and other performance disciplines such as barrel racing."  Skarlett is good minded, has great conformation, and is very personable. She is a wonderful addition to our equine staff.
 
                 
We are incredibly honored to have Skarlett in our barn. We know that she will come to love her riders and will serve them well for many years to come.



 
NEW TRI LOGOWEAR IS AVAILABLE! 
We are thrilled to be partnering with Ann Arbor T-Shirt Company! They have created an online store that is easy to access and use. You may go online and order TRI logowear directly at any time--the store will always be open.   Click here and start shopping!

HELP TRI WHILE YOU SHOP
If you shop at Amazon, you can help TRI while you're at it! Amazon Smile is a program that lets you donate a percentage of every purchase to TRI.  Click here to register.
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