Reach 4A Star monthly news & updates | |
Reminder: We will be conducting 3 hour Leadership Camps for Girl Scouts the next two weeks from Monday thru Thursday, August 1,2,3,4 from 9am-12 pm & August 8,9,10,11 from 1-4 pm so will not hold regular adaptive riding during MORNING ONLY of 8/1-4 and from 1-4 pm ONLY 8/8-11. Please check with your instructor if you have questions & check with OT Therapists about OT appointments during Girl Scouts Camp weeks. Thank you!
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Photo: R4AS Executive Director, Melissa Anderson, & Vero | |
From Our Executive Director
I am incredibly humbled and honored to join Reach 4 A Star as the new Executive Director. As I step into this role, I am acutely aware of the opportunities and challenges facing nonprofits and the community we serve. Across Wyoming, nonprofit organizations have seen a significant increase in vital services while facing various challenges. I am beyond excited to have the honor of developing outcome-based strategies while inspiring board members, staff, and volunteers as we develop innovative approaches to these challenges. Reach 4 A Star has accepted the challenges facing our community and has chosen to create a culture of empowerment, which truly excites me about this opportunity. From its inception, Reach 4 A Star opted to work diligently to drive real change in our community while serving as champions for the great work accomplished. We know it’s time to forge forward and, as a team, work collaboratively, offering new and expanded services, strengthening our programs, creating peer networks, developing new funding partnerships, and exploring opportunities to serve our community better. I am deeply grateful to the Reach 4 A Star team for their support and assistance in helping me transition into this position. Also, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Karol Santistevan for her guiding spirit, unwavering dedication, and generosity in leading this amazing organization and the work accomplished over the past decades. As Reach 4 A Star looks to adapt and respond to the challenges facing our community, I hope we can count on you to join us as thought partners and co-creators driving innovation and strengthening our organization as we serve others.
Melissa Anderson
Executive Director
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Photo: Tonto & R4AS Board President, Jennifer Hepp | |
R4AS Seeking Board Members
In Dec 2017, I joined the Board of Directors for Reach 4A Star and have enjoyed this opportunity. Being able to watch, firsthand, the power and influence that horses have to shift gears in a person's life is a rewarding experience. Over the years, Reach 4A Star has been able to expand the programs offered and touch the lives of so many different people and organizations in our community. We offer unique services that can help so many. We have plans to expand our programs and people we serve even more. It is rewarding to see the successes that we have had in serving our community and exciting to plan for our future growth. We are looking for a few additional Board members. Please consider joining the Board and being part of shaping the future of the arena.
Jennifer Hepp
Board President
Reach 4 A Star Riding Academy
Please email office@reach4astar.org or give us a call at 307-472-7827 if you are interested in more information about joining our Board of Directors. Thank you!
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Photo: Bri Kent, Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) Student & Vero | |
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My name is Briana Kent, but I like to go by Bri. I am a third-year occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) student at the University of North Dakota (UND) attending the satellite campus at Casper College. I am originally from south Louisiana, and moved to Casper, WY for school in Fall of 2020. Since beginning school in August 2020, Ropes & Roses has been an inspirational example for my OT class that is constantly praised by my professors within the UND OTD program. Throughout my time in the program, mental health in occupational therapy has been emphasized, as it is a new opportunity that is available to OT practitioners but that is commonly overlooked in the OT role. Ropes & Roses has been used by the UND OTD program to explain how mental health can be used by occupational therapists.
When learning about the opportunity to be placed at Ropes & Roses at the Reach 4 A Star Riding Academy for my Summer semester of Level II Fieldwork, I jumped at the chance. I had never seen the mental health side of occupational therapy before. I also grew up loving horses and believing that they are healing creatures on their own. Now, I see that when horses are combined with occupational therapy, they open the door to a whole other world of healing powers. The therapeutic horses at Ropes & Roses are used to improve development of skills including self-regulation, sensory tolerance, social interaction, and participation in daily activities. I am so grateful to be learning at this facility that makes miracles happen every day and am excited to introduce what I learn here to other occupational therapists, so that I may open their eyes to endless realm of possibilities of occupational therapy in mental health.
Briana M. Kent, OTDS
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Thank you to Casper Star-Tribune reporter, Abigail Landwehr, & photographer, Madeline Carter, for spending an afternoon with us and sharing an aspect of the work we do with our healing horses & how it helps our community. You can read the full article here. | |
Above: Campers hug Karol Santistevan, co-founder of the Reach 4A Star Riding Camp, Wednesday during day three of the Central Wyoming Hospice Grief Camp at the Reach 4A Star Riding Academy. Photo: Madeline Carter, Star-Tribune | Reach4Astar.org conducts Grief Camp annually in partnership with Central Wyoming Hospice & Transitions annually. Contact us about specialized camps or programs with our healing herd focused on mental health & wellness for your organization. | | | |
Tonto
News about our precious Tonto: The veterinarian found that our 31 year old quarter horse gelding, Tonto, has a significant heart murmur which has developed this year. Tonto has struggled in the past with the heat so this recent hot weather has been really tough for him. Earlier this month he had a very difficult morning and we thought we might lose him. Fortunately, he rallied after that but he has been placed on horse hospice which means we are keeping him as comfortable as possible and with us as long as possible providing he is free of pain and enjoying life. We are closely monitoring him and doing everything we can to keep him happy & as healthy as possible including keeping his heart rate down. "Overall, the summer doesn’t seem to be bothering Tonto as much as we feared and he continues to eat and drink very well. He is losing a bit of weight but we are keeping a close eye on him and have been given advice on what to keep looking for. As stated before, it is important we keep his heart rate down. Tonto's left eye is not seeing very well, so when approaching him from the left we let Tonto know we are there so he doesn’t startle. He is getting lots of love and belly scratches, which he enjoys immensely." Every day we have him with us is a gift.
Tonto was donated to our program in 2017 by Dick & Val Wimbish. For several years he was our go to guy for new riders when we were assessing them, as he is such a steady and easy going guy. We know Tonto has touched so many lives in such a positive way. If you have any Tonto stories or photos, we would love it if you'd share them with us.
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Photo: Dr. Connolly exams Tonto | |
Why do volunteers need to arrive early to prepare the horse? | |
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We ask our clients to inform their class instructor or therapist with as much notice as possible if they are going to miss a class. Given the cost of gas, the travel time and the effort of preparing the horses, it can be very demotivating for a volunteer when we have no-shows.
When clients arrive at Reach 4A Star and their horses are ready in the arena, a volunteer has spent at least ½ hour working with the horse to prepare them. Some of our volunteers travel 45 minutes to an hour just to get to the arena. With travel time, volunteers can average about three hours of their time to support one participant for a single class!
It is very important for the health of our horses to spend time loosening and warming them up before class.
In turn out, the natural state of being, is for our horses to spend a lot of time standing. This can cause muscles to tighten up and joints to stiffen. A good warm up consists of
1-Loosening up
This is important to lubricate the joints and get the fluids and
electrolytes flowing between the soft tissues.
2- Warming up
This is important to increase oxygen delivery and blood
circulation to the horse's skeletal muscles to prevent early
accumulation of waste products.
Since our horses are predominantly older and do spend a lot of time napping between classes, both of these activities are very important!
A good warm up will also work to increase the horse's mental alertness and connection to you as a volunteer. R4AS provides n-depth training for our horse handling volunteers with specific exercises that have been found to benefit the horses.
Please take a moment, when you have the opportunity, to thank our amazing volunteers for donating their time and talent. We cannot thank them enough for being a valuable, integral part of the R4AS team, and helping us to provide the unique services that benefit our community. We could not do what we do without them!
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Our Next Horse Handler/Side Walker Volunteer Training will be Weds. & Thurs. September 7th & 8th from 10 am-2 pm each day. Previous horse experience is not required as we will train. Attendance both days by new volunteers is required to be able to work with the horses. We encourage existing volunteers to attend from 11-2 both days as a refresher.
New volunteers, please email programs@reach4Astar.org to RSVP. More information and applications available at Reach4astar.org/get-involved.
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Photo: R4AS Volunteer, Robert Burke | |
Volunteer Spotlight
This month’s volunteer spotlight features one of our newer volunteers, Robert Burke. He joined the R4AS team in December of 2021, with the goal of giving back to his community and helping people overcome their personal challenges. Robert originally signed up to help in several areas and has been an asset to many of our programs.
He discovered the need for a maintenance person and has dived into that roll with both feet. Robert does a fantastic job of keeping all our equipment running smoothly, full of gas and in tip top shape. He can often be found on the tractor removing the large manure pile, mowing the pasture, or grooming the outdoor arena.
Thank you so much Robert for all that you do to help R4AS continue to provide amazing services to those in need from our community.
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2022 TRAIL MIX RUN RAISES $7500
A HUGE THANK YOU to Denise Murphy along with all of the sponsors, volunteers and participants in this year's TRAILK MIX RUN for raising $7500.00 for Reach 4A Star!!!! Denise does a fantastic job every year organizing and running this major fundraiser for Reach 4A Star and we are so grateful to her and everyone involved for their contributions!
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Our healing horse, Vero, is the grandson of Seatle Slew, related to the horse they based the movie, Dreamer, on AND a recent descendant of Secretariat!
Click this link to watch an exciting video of Vero tearing up the racetrack winning one of his last races by several lengths. He is in the lead when the video starts. “Playman“ is his registered name.
Vero was a racehorse, and then a polo horse in Florida before making his way to Wyoming with the hopes of becoming an eventing horse before joining our herd. He was donated by Erika Christensen and is available for program sponsorship through October. Sponsorship is only $125 a month and is a great way to support our programs! If you’re interested in sponsoring a horse, please reach out to us!
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As always, we ask our Therapists, Instructors Volunteers & Clients to follow Health Department guidelines if you may have been exposed to Covid or have any symptoms of ANY contagious illness! Let's work together to keep everyone healthy. Thank you!
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