Volunteer's View: Terrie's Story of Connection

The past six weeks of lessons have been amazing! The children have been doing groundwork with the horses. Most of the children that I work with use Teddy, our little black pony. He is so cute and sweet. Most of the children love to snuggle with him and they say "I love you, Teddy". One of the children puts her face on his neck to smell him, Teddy then turns his head to snuggle her. She whispers "I love you, Teddy". My heart melts with a love for these children and the horse as well!

Last week was especially amazing. One of the young ladies, Angela, who is as tall as me, always works with Vinny. He is a standard size horse, unlike Teddy. Vinny is gentle and sweet. This week Angela worked with Belle. Belle is a beautiful mare but she can be shy and not sure of people she does not know. She has to get to know you before she will trust you...smart horse! Angela is also shy, unsure of new things. Ms. Jackie asks Angela to point to the horse parts. Angela pointed while at a distance from the horse at first but between Ms. Jackie and myself, we helped Angela begin to touch Belle by using our hands. Before the parts naming game was over, Angela touched Belle without anyone's help. Then Angela said Belle was pretty and Belle turned her head to look at Angela. CONNECTION MADE. As Angela led Belle through the course both of them were moving in tune with each other. They were doing that special dance that only two beings can do together. It was truly a God moment and I was able to watch it all!

I really enjoy volunteering with this wonderful group of people and horses. When I first started I thought I was helping them but not true...they were helping me. My husband died just a year after I started volunteering. Two of the horses there had an owner who died about a year ago. When you grieve, you need others around you to help you heal and so do horses. Blue Sky Acres is that place!

~Terrie Ferrell