The Flying Horse Foundation has been a life changing experience for our family. The staff and volunteers have showed my family so much love and support over the past two years. My oldest daughter was given the opportunity to start equine therapy at the ranch in the spring of 2017. She was a sophomore in high school and was struggling with depression. She had started experiencing a number of medical issues that the Dr.'s could not explain. Many of her symptoms were being written off as anxiety, but the standard treatments for anxiety were not effective. My daughter was shrinking before my eyes, becoming introverted and quiet. She was paired up with Hunter as her equine partner, he had come to the ranch in need of love. She loved on him unconditionally, grooming and bonding with the scrawny horse that laid in his waste. I watched my daughters confidence grow while she was working with Hunter, she came into the first few sessions quiet and unsure about her abilities. As she developed a relationship with Hunter, the staff and volunteers I saw her self esteem grow. The Ranch provided her a place where she was loved and accepted for herself and she thrived. In the fall of 2018 her health took a turn for the worse and she spent a lot of time inpatient at The Children's Hospital in Aurora. Her hospitalizations made school impossible to attend and she had to drop out. The Ranch became her safe space, it is the one place she can go and forget about all of her medical issues for a short period of time and feel like a normal teen. It provides her the socialization time that she has lost from attending school and it is the one thing she looks forward to each week. Many times my daughter will push herself to attend knowing that she will be physically drained afterward, but spiritually/emotionally filled. Watching her ride and interact with the horses makes me so proud to see how happy and confident she is now, compared to where we began.
My youngest daughter was fortunate enough to join the program in the summer of 2018. She is a petite, shy child and she was not confident that she would be able to manage a horse. Within a short time I have seen her confidence grow and she has developed a loving relationship with Tucker. My youngest daughter has bonded with the other girls in her group and they have all built a friendship based on trust with each other. I am so very thankful for the Flying Horse Foundation. My girls look forward to their sessions at the ranch. It provides them a safe place to share their joys and fears with people that will love and support them through it all. The time with the horses allows the girls to escape what's going on in their daily lives for a little while and focus on something they have grown to love. The support and understanding that they receive from the staff and volunteers has made such a positive impact on their lives. They've bonded with their horse partners and get great joy out of the unconditional love their horses show them.
*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved.
