April is the month 0f the Military Child
To honor this country’s “littlest heroes”, we offer this program FREE of charge to all children of our local service men, servicewomen and veterans. Horse Sense Program ~ Day for Military Children
JOIN US AT VICTORIA ACRES EQUINE FACILITY, INC. FOR AN EXCITING DAY TO LEARN EVERYTHING ABOUT HORSES FROM HOOVES TO EARS AND SPEND A DAY ON THE FARM TUESDAY, 4/15/2014
HORSE SENSE
Learn everything you have ever wanted to know about horses and have a fun filled day. BRING YOUR OWN
LUNCH AND DRINKS
Barn Attire Required
(Boots, Jackets, Gloves,
Long Pants, Extra Socks)
Registration and liability
release forms will need
to be completed for
each participant.
Participants will learn all about horse safety, grooming, stall and barn upkeep, complete arts and crafts, perform ground working exercises with the horses and participate in fun and games with horses. This event is sponsored by Victoria Acres Equine Facility and the American Red Cross of Northeastern New York. Registration is required. Please call 518‐
813‐8805 to register or email us at [email protected]. HOURS: 10:00 AM
TO 4:00 PM
VICTORIA ACRES
EQUINE FACILITY, INC.
3771 Western Turnpike Altamont, NY 12009 (518) 813‐8805 Email: [email protected] Victoria Acres Equine Facility
Spring Break Military Children Program
April 15, 2014
Time Activity Description 10:00‐10:15 Introductions 10:15‐10:45 Take a Tour of the barn and facility and met the horses and donkeys 10:45‐11:00 Work on horse/donkey sheets and add photos of horses to them 11:00‐11:30 Discuss Safety – How to be safe around horses Handling a Horse 11:30‐12:00 Picture Frame Craft 12:00‐12:45 Lunch 12:45‐1:45 Stalls Handout
Notes Introductions of Staff and meet participants
Yes Horse/Donkey Sheets and Photos Yes Basic Horse Safety (handout‐Handling a Horse): where to safely stand around a horse, how to lead a horse, etc. Use Barnaby as an example – because he has no eye on his right side and he can’t see people from that side and how it’s important to be vocal as well when moving around the horses. Take pictures of each individual with a horse during the grooming portion. 1. Typical Stall Design 2. How to Clean / Muck Stall – Participants to clean stalls (explain tools used, what/why is cleaned) 3. Describe difference kinds of bedding materials 4. Set Up Stall for Night (spread saw dust, fill water bucket(s), and put in hay for the next morning) Explain how we put horses out in the paddocks during the day during cooler weather months and evenings during warmer weather months. (Handouts – Typical Stall Design and Tools to clean stalls) Yes Time 1:45 – 2:00 3:00‐4:00 Activity Description What a horse eats and how to feed a horse Handout
Anatomy of a horse/donkey, brushing and grooming Break up into groups and use the various horses & or donkeys so each participant can brush and care for a horse/donkey. Yes Ground Working Exercises and horse games Notes 1. Explain grain – different kinds, amounts that they are fed, etc. and how it’s stored. 2. Explain when they are fed. 3. Talk about hay and the various types of hay and how much they are fed and show them how it’s measured (pads) 4. Explain how they also eat grass while out in the paddocks. 5. Discuss feeding horse treats like carrots, apples and purchased treats, etc. 6. Explain the important of clean/fresh water always. 1. Review various parts of a horse/donkey and allow participants to brush and groom while they are shown the anatomy. 2. Discuss various types of horses/donkeys. 3. Discuss various colors and markings. Show how to measure the height of a horse and explain that their height is measured in hands. Measure each horse/donkey and have participants record on their meet the horses sheets. Yes Let Me Teach You – From the Horse
By Willis Lamm
Victoria Acres Equine Facility, Inc.
When you are tense, let me teach you to relax.
When you are short tempered, let me teach you to be patient.
When you are short sighted, let me teach you to see.
When you are quick to react, let me teach you to be thoughtful.
When you are angry, let me teach you to be serene.
Making a Difference one individual at a time.
Promoting Education, Empowerment, and Encouragement through Equine Assisted Programs
When you feel superior, let me teach you to be respectful.
When you are self absorbed, let me teach you to think of greater things.
When you are arrogant, let me teach you humility.
When you are lonely, let me be your companion.
Victoria Acres Equine Facility, Inc.
When you are tied, let me carry the load.
When you need to learn, let me teach you.
Victoria Acres Equine Facility, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization. Follow us on Facebook at Victoria Acres Equine Facility
After all, I am your horse.
Email: [email protected]
3771 Western Turnpike
Altamont, NY 12009
Tel.: (518) 813‐8805
At Victoria Acres Equine Facility, Inc. we
offer the following programs to individuals;
Our mission
at
Victoria
Acres Equine Facility, Inc. is to
empower children and adults with or
without physical and developmental
challenges through the use of
equine‐assisted activities.
Victoria Acres Equine Facility,
Inc. provides programs that offer a
complex and exciting means of
therapy which produces tangible
physical, psychological, cognitive,
social and educational benefits to
our participants.
Victoria Acres Equine Facility,
Inc. strives to educate, empower and
encourage all of our participants,
their families and our volunteers as
well as being an educational resource
for our community.
• Therapeutic
Riding
Lessons
‐
Conducted by a PATH Intl certified
instructor, teach our participants to ride
a horse while taking into account their
physical, mental and emotional strengths
and limitations. While goals and results
vary, participants see improved physical
strength,
balance,
mobility
and
coordination.
•
Horse Sense Program – offered to
individuals
with
intellectual
and
developmental disabilities, this program
teaches participants general horse care,
safety, respect and responsibility of
working with and around horses, natural
horsemanship, western riding, as well as
barn and stable maintenance.
• The EAGALA Program – An Equine
Specialist, a Mental Health Professional
and horses working together with a
participant in all EAGALA sessions.
Focused on the ground – no horseback
riding is involved. Instead, effective and
deliberate techniques are utilized where
the horses are metaphors in specific
ground‐based experiences.
Victoria Acres Equine Facility Inc. offers a
unique environment of unconditional
support and opportunities for skill building
and personal achievement to individuals
who face an array of daily challenges: a
young adult dealing with mental illness,
children challenged by a physical disability,
a troubled teen who has been moved from
foster home to foster home, a student held
back by cognitive disabilities, and our
military and many veterans who are being
deployed or have returned home and are
on their journey to mental well being.
For a child with disabilities, often
ostracized and frequently bullied, the
environment of unconditional acceptance
provided at Victoria Acres can have a life
altering effect. With our herd of gentle
giants, Victoria Acres delivers a service that
cannot be replicated in an office or hospital
setting.
Our programs are designed to foster
independence and self‐confidence, teach
life skills, and provide challenging
individualized activities to a population
with limited resources. The challenges our
participants face can include autism, down
syndrome, visual, speech and hearing
impairments as well as emotional and
social behavioral disorders including PTSD.
A parent from our most recent program
with the Schenectady ARC wrote:
“The staff and volunteers were both
knowledgeable and helpful…My son was
excited to go each week…He developed a
special bond with the horse, Barnaby…It
gave him such a great feeling of pride and
accomplishment…tears were in both my
husband’s and my eyes.”