January 2022

HwH is the Premier Accredited Center in Northern Arizona

Harnessing the proven benefits of therapeutic horsemanship, Horses with Heart (HwH) helps transform the lives of disabled children and adults—including U.S. military veterans—as they gain confidence, dignity and independence by riding our trained horses under the direction of highly-credentialed staff.

Will You Be My Sponsor?

Have you ever heard or used the expression “Eats like a horse”? I know you have if you have/had or been around teenage boys. They really put the feedbag on, don’t they? Here at Horses with Heart, we currently have 13 horses and ponies. Our largest overhead expense – by far – is taking care of our horses who are the stars of Horses with Heart.

The HwH horses are currently at their winter homes being cared for by their winter fosters. Their foster ‘parent’ provides a home, feed, and daily care. In return, the fosters receive love and kisses from their horse while HwH receives a generous gift of not having the expense of providing these services during the winter months.

Would you be willing to sponsor a horse during our riding season? Horses with Heart is offering 2022 sponsorship opportunities of our horses (at the levels below) which are based on a 4-Session riding season. The horses/ponies are on the HwH property and cared for by HwH staff and volunteers. By sponsoring a horse and/or pony, you are subsidizing the cost of feed, farrier, and vet care. Pick out your favorite horse or pony to sponsor today.

Horse Sponsorship:

• Single Session: $500

• Two Sessions: $1000

• Three Sessions: $1500

• Four Sessions: $2000

Pony Sponsorship:

• Single Session: $250

• Two Sessions: $500

• Three Sessions: $750

• Four Sessions: $1000

Horses with Heart will honor and thank you for your sponsorship with these gifts:

• Single Session:

  • Leather bracelet with your horse’s/pony’s name engraved
    

• Two Sessions:

  • Leather bracelet with your horse’s/pony’s name engraved

  • HwH horse/pony sponsor tote bag
    

• Three Sessions:

  • Leather bracelet with your horse’s/pony’s name engraved

  • HwH horse/pony sponsor tote bag

  • HwH horse/pony sponsor baseball cap
    

• Four Sessions:

  • Leather bracelet with you horse’s/pony’s name engraved

  • HwH horse/pony sponsor tote bag

  • HwH horse/pony sponsor baseball cap

  • Sponsorship Celebration on November 5

*2022 Sponsor Application (click here)

Volunteer and Donor Appreciation Event

Here at HwH, we appreciate our volunteers 365 days a year, and now it is time to say THANK YOU for the support you have so generously given! On Saturday, January 15, 2022, we are going to celebrate with a luncheon at the Chino Valley Senior Center. All food (deli sandwiches, strawberry spinach salad and potato salad with carrot cake for dessert) will be provided. Please RSVP NO LATER THAN JAN. 3, 2022, by calling the office at 928.533.9187 or emailing hwhvocoord@gmail.com. Certificates and pins will be given out at that time, along with the crowning of our Volunteer of the Year recipient for 2021.

We have some volunteer opportunities through the winter months, including projects around HwH and the required Volunteer Orientations. Please remember to log all your volunteer hours on Wranglr – even if you do some HwH volunteering from home.

Please contact Debi Covington (DebiC_hwh@hotmail.com or 909-730-3312) for any” how to” questions or watch the Wranglr video tutorials which are found under “My Account”.

Donn is the Bass Player for the Rusty Pistols.

Volunteer of the Month ~ Donn Pease

Donn is one of our long-time volunteers, and has helped with everything over the years, using his wealth of knowledge about our organization and horses. He is a Horse Leader on Mondays and is a Coach with the Competition Team on Saturdays. He coordinates the farrier visits, helps with saddle repairs, and assists with feeding the horses’ lunches. Donn has a great attitude in all circumstances and is a great reflection of Horses with Heart’s love and desire to assist our communities’ disabled individuals. Donn is a local celebrity – as the standing bass player with the Rusty Pistols!

Q&A

1. How long have you been with Horses with Heart? 13 Years
   

2. Why do you volunteer at Horses with Heart?
   I like to be helpful and serve a worthy cause.I started in 2009 because I wanted something to do that involved horses.(Kyra and I gave up our horses after so many years – too many excuses not to ride any more).It didn’t take long for me to realize that helping people with special needs was the real reason for volunteering.It is as much therapy for me as for the riders.I have a sort of bond with the riders I see every week, and watching their progress is my reward.Oh yeah, I still like to work with horses too.
   

3. What is your favorite memory of moment at Horses with Heart? There so many moments over the 13 years, but I will choose one from 2021 season. I have been involved with the Special Olympics Team (now called the Competition Team) that practices on Saturdays since I started with Horses with HEART. I have had several riders throughout the years, and one rider for the last three years. She has been a therapeutic rider for several years and started with the Competition Team three years ago. At the October 2nd horse show at the Chino Valley Equestrian Park, she placed FIRST in one of her classes for the first time at a horse show. Not only did she place first, but she also won over the other more experienced riders who have been with the CT for several years. WOW, what a moment for her, her family, and me too! (That’s her in the photo riding Jazz).
   

4. If you could share one thing with new volunteers, what would that be? For new volunteers, it may seem like a difficult commitment to come every week. But, come for the riders, they need the consistency of the same team members each session. After six sessions, you will be a team player, bonded with your rider, and other team members no matter which position you are in; Side walker, Coach or Horse leader—all are equally important. Plus, there are lots of other tasks to do around the ranch. You will love every moment!

Volunteer Coordinator’s Corner:

Book Week
The holidays are over, but everyone is still needing something to do with their time during the frosty winter months! HwH has created a wonderful opportunity for you! We are calling January 24th- January 28th “Book Week”! HwH is busting at the seams with books. Throughout this week, please pick up a FREE book or two about horses. These books make for great reading, or can be used for crafts or projects, or can be taken to your church’s Sunday School! Help us make more room in the office, while providing enjoyment for others!!

Feeding and mucking staff needed:

As the new year comes in, we start to plan for the return of our horses. So of course, that means we will need help in caring for them. Like last year, we are looking for 2 to 4 individuals willing to take on the AM and PM feeding and mucking duties, preferably individuals who are willing to commit to the full season, mid-February through mid-November. Additionally, we will need volunteers for lunchtime feeding and fill-ins. If you would like to help with this critical task, please contact Pam Berry 928-899-4759 or hwhoperations@gmail.com.

Safety Tip of the Month

Keeping horses hydrated in the winter is very important. Believe it or not, they can easily get dehydrated at this time of year. Giving electrolytes in their water is also a good idea when it is cold.

19th Annual Bowl-a-thon ~ February 12th

Our fun, fundraiser is not that far off. Please plan on participating – whether it be bowling, raising pledges, volunteering, or cheering everyone on!

We are starting to take registrations for bowling. Please download the forms by clicking here and submit no later than February 2nd to reserve a spot.

We started by sending a testimonial email detailing what HwH does, describing how our boys have benefitted (including their own words), and asking for a donation. We did NOT do a batch email. We addressed each email separately. I called people I didn’t have an email for.
Giving people an option to give online through the HwH website helped a lot, too. We included this information in our email.

Our boys and family asked other family members, friends, my husband’s coworkers, local businesses, and neighbors. Don’t assume someone can’t or won’t donate. You can’t have, if you don’t ask. ALL donations get you closer to your goal.

We didn’t share our $ goal unless people asked, and many did! That seemed to help raise more excitement. Many wanted to help our boys directly and wanted to know how much classes at Horses with Heart cost.

Part of our success was that I followed up with emails and phone calls. I didn’t let them forget we had asked. Some planned to give but forgot. We also wanted to make sure a check wasn’t lost in the mail.

We also thanked each person when we received a donation. This let them know their gift was appreciated and that we received it.

Know that many people won’t follow your directions, and you will need to follow up. They give and don’t let you know, or they don’t put your child’s name on the donation. If you plan for this, and follow up, you can be successful.

*Here is a sample email that we sent. We included photos for our close friends and family but took them out when sending to strangers.

SAMPLE RIDER EMAIL PLEDGE REQUEST:
I, _Rider Name____, have the privilege of participating in a local therapeutic riding program. The program will start again soon. Before the riding season starts in March, we are collecting pledges for the February Bowl-a-thon Fundraiser on February 12th. These pledges go toward the HwH scholarship fund which helps pay for my riding lessons at Horses with Heart in Chino Valley, Arizona.

Horses with Heart is a PATH International Premier Accredited Center and offers equine therapeutic riding and horsemanship to kids and adults from all walks of life. HwH provides riding lessons and specific activities based on each participant’s needs.

I do Horses with Heart because it’s a good place to escape some of my troubles. School is one of my troubles because I have dyslexia, which makes school and learning super difficult. Dyslexia is a spectrum disorder of language, which makes it difficult to hear and process sounds, or to memorize things like sight words or math facts. These make spelling and reading hard. Some people have trouble with backwards letters and words, but that only used to give me trouble for letters that are similar, like “b’s” and “d’s.”

When I am at Horses with Heart, I feel proud! They say I am one of the best riders there even after just my first session of six weeks (once per week). I’ve been afraid of almost anything that walks. I’m a chicken afraid of chickens! But, HwH has helped me learn that every living animal is not out to kill me and some are really nice. I really like my horse there, too. I have mild scoliosis and do physical therapy for back pain. Riding a horse also helps me strengthen my core.

My brother also got the opportunity this year to ride in the program for the first time. He was excited to ride because “it looks fun and the horses are nice.” He also has severe dyslexia and a speech motor planning disorder (apraxia). We are hoping the program will help him to build confidence in communicating with others and give him an area of strength.
This year, we are hoping to ride in all four 6-week sessions and are raising money to do so. Would you please consider giving a donation?

ONLINE DONATIONS: please still shoot us an email so we can record on the pledge form.

Go to the website-https://www.horseswithheartaz.org/ Click on Donate. You can donate using PayPal or use a credit card. Please send an email to hwhexecdir@gmail.com, and let Angelique know it was a Bowl-a-thon pledge for Rider Name and Rider Name. (You can also call HwH and donate by credit card over the phone – 928-533-9178.)

CASH OR CHECK DONATIONS: please make checks out to Horses with Heart and send to:

Horses with Heart
P.O. Box 2427
Chino Valley, AZ 86323

Please include our riders’ names and scholarship fund in the memo area of the check and shoot us an email with the $ amount, your name, and mailing address so we can record the donation. Funds need to be received before February 12th. Receipts of pledges for $25, or more, will be mailed from HwH after the event.

Thank you!
Name of Rider(s)
(Adapted from an HwH Family’s email re. raising pledges for Bowl-a-thon)

Your Tax Donation

It’s that time of year when you need to consider making a charitable tax deduction to Horses with Heart in order to cut your state tax bill. Because Horses with Heart is a qualifying charity in the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit Program, you could cut your state tax bill by up to $800 (married couple filing jointly) or $400 (single filing). {QCO CODE: 20347} To give, contact Angelique LeVell: hwhexecdir@gmail.com, or call 928-533-9178 or mail your check payable to: Horses with Heart, to P.O. Box 2427, Chino Valley, AZ 86323.

2022 Riding Season Schedule

Therapeutic, Veteran & First Responder, Silver Saddle Classes:
Session I

• 6 - week session March 7 – April 15

• Weather make-ups April 18 – April 22

• 1 – week break April 25 – 29

Session II

• 6 – week session May 2 – June 13

• Weather make-ups June 14 – June 27 (Monday class – no make-ups)

Summer Break

• Happy Hearts Rodeo & Frontier Days Parade - June 30 /July 2

• Clinics TBA - July 5 – August 7

Session III

• 6 – week session August 8 – September 16

• Weather make-ups September 19 – September 23

• 1 – week break September 26 – September 30

Session IV

• 6 – week session October 3 – November 11

• Weather make-ups November 14 – 18

HwH Competition Team Practices:

• Spring Session: March 5 – May 28

• Fall Session: September 4 – November 5

If interested in finding out more about, or registering for, our Therapeutic riding classes, our Veterans/Active Military/First Responder classes, our Silver Saddle classes, please contact Assistant Riding Director, Sherry Hoover, sherryhwh@gmail.com or 928-899-5173.

Calendar of Events

• January 15th ~ Volunteer & Donor Appreciation, Chino Valley Senior Center, 11:30 am

• February 12th ~ Annual Bowl-a-thon Fundraiser (Riders can fund lessons through pledges. (See Article on how to Raise Pledges.)

• February 19th ~ Returning Volunteer Orientation and SST Refresher

• February 26th ~ Clinics TBA

• March 5 ~ Competition Team Season begins

• March 7th -11th ~ First week of Session 1 Lessons

• March 9 ~ National Snaffle Bit Association Heroes on Horses Celebration, Westworld, Scottsdale

• March 26, April 23, May 21 ~ CVEP All Breed Horse Shows, Chino Valley Equestrian Park

• June 30 ~ Happy Hearts Rodeo (For riders ages 5-12) Limited space/Register early

• July 3 ~ Frontier Days Parade, Downtown Prescott

• September 24 ~ Have a Heart Barrel Race Fundraiser (Riders participate in Grand Entry)

• November 12 ~ Sequins & Saddles, Embry Riddle University

HELP US MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR OTHERS

From donations to sponsorships to SHOPPING for holidays, birthdays or weddings you can make a difference for others and Horses with Heart.