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From all of us at Project Horses for Forces - we wish
you a very
fulfilling New Year
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We served 27 Veterans & family / loved ones in 2023:
providing 88 horsemanship group sessions,
32 sponsored horseback riding lessons for participating Veterans,
6 monthly horsemanship sessions for a Lyons VA Veterans group,
and 1 Veterans family day.
We hosted many Veterans for our own Memorial Day Ceremony and enjoyed a delicious Veterans Day BBQ together.
We attended several Veterans functions, including speaking at the National Guard of NJ's Family Recognition Ceremony in Hackettstown, a Christmas Celebration at the Lyons VA Housing Village, and sharing our offerings with area Veterans Organizations.
Together with the amazing people of the Branchburg Rotary and the Veterans Network, we held two successful fundraisers.
Our all-volunteer team served 4500 hours!
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"Our new home for Horses for Forces is spectacular. I am beyond blessed to be a part of this family" Jackie (USA) | |
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CHANGE & RENEWAL
After several difficult years with limited growth as result of ripples from the pandemic, restrictions by the VA, and low recruiting due to location instability, our 2023 services were somewhat limited.
But in October we relocated to a new and far more accessible facility in beautiful Oldwick Township, Hunterdon County, with a very spacious 22 stall barn, our own tack room, 6 grooming stations, 1 big indoor & 2 outdoor arenas, a round pen, and access to riding trails at the Christie Hoffman Farm Park. We have all we could hope for.
We are very grateful to Lizz Visakay of EV Performance Horses LLC, for all the horses we are able to continue to work with and for making this great facility available for our programs!
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PARELLI HORSEMANSHIP
During our final 8 weeks of sessions, we focused on a Pat Parelli Natural Horsemanship training series - watching training videos, discussing all things horse and human, and practicing our skills with the horses - a very beneficial time where everyone learnt an incredible amount.
The resulting deepened bonds of trust between participants and their horses contributed to improved overall sense of inner peace and wellbeing, improved confidence, leadership and communication skills, and great satisfaction overall!
Our gratitude to Jan Kuhn, Parelli instructor and program volunteer, who facilitated these training sessions together with our PATH Intl. Riding Instructor, Ruth Nortje.
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Our New Veterans Zone. We are so grateful for the creature comforts of heating, air conditioning & indoor plumbing - a very nice upgrade!
We also have extra room to watch our horsemanship videos, have our discussions and lunches, and there is even a lovely lounge area between the grooming stations in the barn.
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It's a Cinch - Don (USMC)
Can a horse help you to become a better communicator? The short answer is yes, for me anyway. Horses are herd animals, always fearful of the next thing that might make them a midnight snack. For them, predators are to be feared, which makes them predictably unpredictable. So how do people, whom are absolute predators, gain the trust of a herd animal? How do we become a trusted partner and respected leader to a horse? In my equestrian journey, I can sum it up in two parts: attitude and communication. If I can change the way I present myself to a horse and ask them to do things in a clear concise manner, I have a real chance for a successful interaction.
The most important thing I have learned is to check myself if things are not going as planned. For the horse, it’s not personal, they are just doing what horses do. I found that if I can find my inner zero, breathe and relax, my horse will calm down most of the time. Sometimes I just need to give him some space and back off. That is easily said, but it is much more difficult in practice. By changing my attitude, I lower my frustration which prevents me from lashing out in anger. An angry response will not facilitate trust. Additionally, communicating with a horse can also present challenges. I cannot read his mind, and he may not have a clue what I want him to do. I try to be respectful of his personal space until he is comfortable. Likewise, he must respect my space as well. Understanding space can greatly improve the working relationship. By gently applying pressure and releasing that pressure, I can ask him to do things in a controlled, nonthreatening manner. Going through this process has taught me a lot about myself.
As a result of my equestrian training, I have taken a look at my relationships with people. After all, if I can effectively communicate with a horse founded in mutual respect, couldn’t I employ those same principles in my everyday life? I never really understood what it meant to give someone space; however, I learned that one of the greatest gifts you can give a horse is their space. It doesn’t mean that you don’t care, or you are unavailable; moreover, acquiescing to personal space is a sign of understanding the needs of another. As I reflect on my own interpersonal interactions, my relationships have greatly benefitted from the simple lessons that horses have taught me. I’m better with horses than people on most days, but that’s changing. I can honestly say that it hasn’t been difficult employing these skills in all aspects of my life, in fact - t’s a Cinch.
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Our Year-end Celebration
On Monday December 4, we all gathered together and enjoyed a meaningful year-end gathering, filled with joy, love and celebration of another year of growth and healing - what a great gathering at the OMG Burger & Brew Restaurant in Long Valley!
(OMG - while an ironic name - served as a superb reminder to all at Horses for Forces of the fact that God is a nourishing and nursing God, whose love and kindness is toward us all).
See more photos here
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We thank the Rotary of Branchburg for 2 amazing fundraisers,
and The Gerald & Elizabeth Geiger Charitable Foundation
for providing the incredibly generous fundraiser Veterans Services Matching Grant (see our specific match donors above).
Our gratitude also to:
the Junior Essex Troop Alumni, Southridge Community Church, Overwatch Alliance, Atrion Charitable Foundation,
Charles Steen of Sarco Inc, and every additional person and organization who donated!
Thank you, thank you, for making our services possible!
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We are so grateful for our amazing Team of Volunteers,
our Veterans and their families, our friends, supporters and donors, the farm owners, riding school owners, and for
our fabulous horses and many cherished moments at the barn.
Thank you all for being a part of the journey.
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