It’s amazing to hear about the creative ways that people use horses to help hurting people. Horses have a way of bringing some people a lot of comfort and peace. Several months ago, a young lady in Pennsylvania named Grace sent a proposal for a grant to do a very special project. Her idea was to use horses from a program that she participates in called Stable Moments and invite children who are currently in foster care to spend time with them. She called her program “Fostering Hope through Horses.” She used the grant money to pay for the foster children to have a therapeutic experience with the horses.
One activity was designed to give these children an opportunity to find a creative way to let go of things that may be weighing them down. They selected any color of finger paint (non-toxic and washable, safe for human and horses) and got to bond with Charlie, one of the mini horses, by connecting with him through this multi-sensory activity. They painted something that was heavy on their heart and then could wash it away or leave it for Charlie to carry with him to help lighten their load.
One child stood for minutes just with her hand on Charlie’s back and paint on her finger. She then started to make a stick figure, she drew lines over the figure and then placed a small heart next to that image. She then hugged Charlie and told him, “Thank you for coming– you made my heart feel bigger because you showed up here. My dad is in jail, again, and it happens a lot. It makes my heart feel so small.”
Making hearts feel a little bigger, smiles a little easier to access, and an evening where they could find joy in horses showing up just for them to feel special, seen, heard and known!
This event was made possible by a teen volunteer named Grace, who studied and worked hard to receive a certification with trauma informed training specifically to support youth who are in foster care though Stable Moments. The Fostering Hope Through Horses program provided all of it at no cost to the camp participants or providers because of the generosity of an amazing lady (The Shirley Smith Foundation in partnership with The Adams County Foundation), who gave generously to the work of teens in the community who seek to make an impact by giving it back and paying it forward through volunteer efforts and projects though her philanthropic foundation.