Articles
Horses Help Annouces New Program Director.
After many years of finding the right individual to lead our Programs, Horses Help annouces Michelle Weed as program director. Michelle has been a wonderful addition to the team this past year and has ended our long search for the right person to lead us into the future. We are very proud of Michelle and her accomplishments and we are confident of the impact she will have within the organization.
Horses Help Retains Premier Status
Horses Help wants to take a minute and thank a very special person, Penelope O'Brien. This year Horses Help was required to go through a NARHA national inspection of the quality standards we have to maintain to obtain a "Premier Status." North American Riding for the Handicapped Association conducts an onsite inspection of our facility and administrative industry standards. We called upon Penelope who spent considerable time and effort to insure our documentation, systems, and processes were in place. Of the hundreds of items which are scored, we missed only one point. We will forever be grateful for Penelope's attention to detail and her organizational standards. She also helped in this process in our first inspection in 1998.
Thank you "PJ" from all of our staff and riders!
George Bohnert Wins NARHA National Award "Adult Rider of the Year" 2006
When the national convention rolled around this past year in Indianapolis, Horses Help had a great contingent of people in attendance. Little did we know we would have a celebrity in our midst. On the final night of the week long event, a beautiful awards dinner is held for the nearly 800 people in attendance. When it came time to announce the "Adult Rider of the Year," George was flashed on the big screen. We were so proud to have George win this title and represent Horses Help in fine fashion.
It came about when we sent in George's story and background for the award as a nomination. The story went something like this:
Give specific examples of how this person demonstrates enthusiasm, ability and interest in equine assisted activities. George is driven by many things, but most importantly is his “A Promise Kept” mentality. George was diagnosed in 1994 with Multiple Sclerosis. He had to cancel a family trip to the Grand Canyon. He had so looked forward to hiking down the canyon with his son. He was determined to figure a way to traverse the canyon and promised his son that one day he would be able to complete the journey. Although his son never told George, he knew his father would never be able to make it down the steep climb because he was in the wheel chair.
George was determined to keep his promise and turned his attention to horseback riding. This is something he had done as a youth and loved riding horses. For two years George practiced at a stable for people with disabilities. Driven and enthusiastic about improving, George and his son completed the two day mule ride into the Grand Canyon on April 2001.
He still comments, “Every promise is worth keeping.” Today, George is a proud member of the Horses Help team and is our grant writer extraordinaire!