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Published by Molly McKenna
7/27/2023
Unbridled Spirit hosted their 3rd Lummi Day Camp this year at Windy Acres Farm. We had 8 youth and 3 faculty members from Lummi Nation School District. Camp took place mid July and lasted for 4 days.
Photo Above: Gracie and Mary taking a Day Camp Participant to the pond their last day
At Day Camp our participants and horses had the opportunity to choose each other, then grew their bond each day. Together with their horses they learned how to halter, groom, lead and ride their horses! Volunteers and Staff had an amazing time watching these relationships grow through out the week.
On the last day, Campers got to ride their horses down on a trail to the pond.
We also got to make puppets! These puppets were beautiful incredible creations built by each student.
They created stories about their puppets and had the opportunity to share their creations with the group at the end of the week.
We had an amazing week, we are so grateful to our volunteers and staff for working so hard to put this program on! Thank you so much to Christian for coming to share your puppet magic with us! Thank you to Lummi Nation School for bringing your amazing staff and students to the farm, we loved getting to know you and hope to see you again.
Photo Below: Youth riding Gracie over obstacles!
Photo Above: Obi connecting with a few students.
Photo Above: Christian, Sonja and Hope posing with students and their amazing puppet creations!
Photo Above: Thank you so much to Local Artist Savannah LeCornu! Her beautiful artwork is on the back of our Day Camp Shirts and we absolutely love it!
Photo Above: Rusty and Nadine taking a youth down to the pond!
Updated: Aug 15
Published by Molly McKenna
This last school year, once a week we had a group of students from Northern Heights come out to our farm for emotional support. These students were hand selected by the school councilor, who also was apart of the program with her students.
These students were 3rd through 5th graders, they created connections with their horses that they picked at the beginning of programming. Every week they built their connections with their mentors and horse, and other animals at the farm, including bunnies, chickens, goats, dog and the llama.
We will miss our friends while they are on summer break, many of these students are invited back to the farm this August for a Horse Day Camp!
Photo to the right :
Rachel and her students are practicing the trust walk. Rachel has a blindfold on while her partner walks her around the farm, making sure that she communicates and keeps Rachel safe. Its a great practice to help youth and children learn about awareness and how to help people close to them. It creates an opportunity to gain trust between the two people participating and brings up more conversation about trust and how we experience and gain trust.
Photo to the left:
Chance and Gracie are enjoying each others company while Gracie is resting.
It is very special when a horse lets you pet them when they are laying down. This was a great practice is understanding trust and how to honor the trust that others give to you. Just as Chance did when she calmly approached Gracie, so that Gracie continued to feel safe.
Updated: Aug 15
This week we celebrate Sundance who was born on this farm 33 years ago on March 14th.
She continues her healing mission. This Winter she worked with a young woman who revealed she has lived in eighteen foster homes. Wise Sundance stepped up to accompany the teen on a journey towards
feeling good about herself despite these rejections. Sundance's specialty seems to be supporting
grieving humans since she lost her mother 3 years ago. A young adult mentor who herself worked
through deep grief with Sundance shares Sundance's impact on her life.
"Sundance was the light at the end of my tunnel. when I first met her, I didn’t know boundaries, I didn’t know how to speak up. Sundance has in many ways taught me all of that. before i started doing sessions with her, I was quit literally broken. didn’t know wrong from right, i always let people walk all over me. I was weak. after just a few sessions with her I was learning a lot. I was speaking up for myself, setting boundaries, etc. I always looked forward to our sessions. it was the only thing I had for awhile to look forward too. I remember one session, I was so frustrated with my life and went onto the farm and just cried. she brought her mom, her brother, and herself and they just sat there with me. All three in a line. to me, it felt like they were saying “we’re here for you.” which was exactly what I needed since I felt so alone everyday. I remember walking out with a big smile on my face after coming in so frustrated & upset. Sundance was the one thing I absolutely needed in my life and ever since I've met her, I've become stronger. Sundance was always there for me in many ways, when I come onto the farm and just need a minute with her, she always sat there with me. when I needed a hug and nobody else knew how I was feeling, (frustrated, sad, etc.) she’d always nudge me with her head and lick me. there was even times she’s fallen asleep on me, with her head on my shoulders. taking deep breaths with me, she’s a HUGE part of my healing journey. She’s the reason I healed from my past. I could go on and on about how Sundance has helped me. Happy Birthday sweet girl."
Silhouetting Sundance
Sundance
A waltz in the sky, whirling through clouds
The kiss of summer
The bane of winter
All things hay and oats
My bites and sores
My love and trust
My fear and respect
The desperate outlaw
The loyal friend
A whisper, a shout
A beautiful challenge
Roaming the prairie of my heart
Sundance
By Amy Pollard
August 4, 2008
"Sundance is a horse of equilibriums. Everything about her, even physically - her topline, her body shape, her blaze - everything is all about balance and symmetry. When you work with her, whatever you
give to her, she will match. That’s the basic law of Sundance. If it’s lack of confidence or investment,
she’ll be just as uninvested in you. If it’s pushy or aggressive, she’ll give it right back to you.
And that can be intimidating.
As a kid, I absolutely avoided Sundance because I was afraid of getting the balance
wrong, of asking in the wrong way and being embarrassed in front of everyone by the way
she responded - or didn’t respond. I felt that she was very concerned with me getting everything correct.
It took me several years to realize that Sundance’s lesson is much bigger than just
policing your assertion levels and giving your bad attitude back to you. Because, by her nature, she’s also ready to give back every bit of love, curiosity, and care that you can muster for her.
I thought she was intimidating, but now I see her as the greatest form of encouragement there is. Encouragement to love and be genuine. And to have it rewarded so completely is truly special.
Her lesson is actually a very large one. She teaches a greater sense of responsibility to our own lives, that it’s up to us to create the love that we want by giving it. The more value, attention, and
consideration we pour into our lives, the things around us, what we do, and what we want to be doing, the more we get. She taught me that, despite what I thought, our value isn't about whether we get things right or wrong. Our value is up to us. It's how much we're ready to invest."
Niko 2020
To allow a young person to fall in love with a living and unconditionally loving animal is such a
gift. I want to thank all of you reading this newsletter for making this possible either by your contributions, prayers, listening ears and encouragements over the years.
One Wednesday evening when the girls from the recovery house returned to the farm to talk about their weekly trip to the nursing home with the goats, dogs, and rabbits and were sharing their stories, I teared up with an overwhelming feeling of joy. I knew then that these evenings were something I will remember forever. When I am an old woman I will look back and still be astounded that I was ever this lucky to be a part of such an evening. The old folks are transformed by the visitors, both human and 4 legged. The girls are transformed by the love and acceptance and appreciation they get from the old folks and doing something for someone else. There are many moments they feel cherished and accepted even with their rough pasts they sometimes choose to share.
All of us are transformed, the visitors, the volunteers and even the animals. I was wondering if Sundance who never seems too interested in anything but food could transform to a "therapy horse" Would she ever develop the sensitivity of her mother and brother?
Have I told you how horses mirror our feelings? A few weeks ago Sundance was very afraid of one girl's energy. This is demonstrated by the horse moving around rather nervously each time a particular person approaches her. She even went so far as to kick at the volunteer who was cleaning her feet. This is definitely not something Sundance does. Something was up. The girl next to this team suggested to Suzie that something might be bothering her because “Remember what Sonja said about horses reading what is
going on with you even when you aren't aware? Could it be about your sister?. No, I gave that up says Suzie, but I am upset about. I moved into the scene and reassured Sundance that Suzie needed to talk about something with her. Sundance calmed and Suzie laid her hand on the horse's neck and proceeded to tell her horse how worried she is about who ran away from the recovery house last night. "I didn't really like her, but I'm really worried about her out on the streets" and she burst into tears. Sundance closed her eyes and very gently brought her head around past me to lay it on Suzie's shoulder as she cried. I stood there amazed and fighting back tears, in awe at this wonderful horse. Yes. Sundance has become a therapy horse.
2003 by Sonja Wingard
