Gandalf & Gabby Get to Keep Giving - Due to Some Generous Local Grants
Rainhorse Equine Assisted Services is excited to announce that we were awarded grant funding for continued work in our program, "Horse Tales: Ponies & Poetry" offered to the residents of the Wyoming Retirement Center in Basin, Wyoming. Rainhorse was the recipient of a Wyoming Community Foundation grant that was made possible because of the Gordon & Edna Sykes Endowment Fund and the S. Wesley and Margaret F. Hyatt Fund.
Rainhorse also received a grant from the Big Horn Rural Electric Company in Basin, Wyoming.
Gabby hangs out with a table of ladies at the Wyoming Retirement Center Gandalf is in the background visiting another table.
The "Horse Tales: Ponies & Poetry" program is a weekly visit that Rainhorse makes to the Wyoming Retirement Center with Rainhorse's two service ponies, Gandalf and Gabby. During their visits, Maria uses the ponies to help inspire memories and communication about animals the residents had in their lives and from those memories, poems and stories are crafted. A visit by the ponies (and Maria) is not only joyful and happy times for the residents, but also helpful with cognition and communication skills.
Gandalf visiting with a Wyoming Retirement Center resident.
The culmination of several visits resulted in the recent release of the book, A Gathering of Voices, Poems and Stories from the Wyoming Retirement Center - Edited & Compiled by Maria Lisa Eastman.
The book is full of wonderful poems and stories about horses, dogs and a cat, that the residents had fond memories of. Rainhorse is selling copies of the book for $10.00 each ($12.50 with shipping & handling). Click Here to purchase a copy.
Here's a recent video of Maria and the Ponies at the Wyoming Retirement Center, sharing a poem from the newly released book.
Gabby at the Wyoming Retirement Center during the exciting book release that features her and Gandalf on the cover! Both ponies were dressed up for the day with flowers in their mane and tails.
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To learn more about the Wyoming Community Foundation, visit their website:
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To learn more about the Big Horn Rural Electric Company's Round Up Foundation, visit their website:
