Member of the Week: Coleen Agner

Introducing this week's Member of the Week, Coleen Agner, she's the one with the shades on!

"This member and host, Coleen Agner, has been with ACTHA a long time. Her rides are legend in Florida, consistently wonderfully attended and managed with emphasis on fun. All proceeds go to the non profit that preserves, creates and maintains exquisite horse trails in the piney woods of Florida. She works tirelessly for the cause and has been a cornerstone of support for trail riding and every member that rides with her. A wonderful inspiration to us all down here as a member. Just recently she held a great ride at RO Ranch Equestrian Park in Mayo, Florida! There were many smiling faces and happy horses and riders. She had the place done up really nice and her obstacles were fun, too. You can't find a better lady to put on rides!"

Congratulations to to Coleen Agner, for being this week's Member of the Week and showing great spirit! Many thanks to Molly's Custom Silver for sponsoring this weekly event. Molly's Custom Silver is ACTHA's official silversmith! www.mollyscustomsilver.com ACTHA Member of the Week nominations remain anonymous. If you would like to nominate an ACTHA member, Ride Host, judge or volunteer, you may do so by clicking here: http://a.pgtb.me/TH6twF. Or, you may send your nomination along with one or two good photos of large size to alex@actha.us .

A Message From Equine GutFlush

Tips For Reducing Equine Colic

1. Make all feed changes gradually.

2. Don’t feed on sand.

3. De-worm regularly.

4. Do more frequent, small feedings.

5. Minimize carbohydrates. (horses are best adapted to eat grass and hay)

6. Supply plenty of fresh water and provide salt.

7. In cold weather, offer warm water.

8. Provide regular exercise.

9. Check on your horse at least twice a day.

10. Have their teeth checked or floated at least once or twice a year.

We want to see healthy happy tummies here at ACTHA. Our sponsor, Equine GutFlush helps your horse through mild colic, and can have him back on his hooves in about 45 minutes. Visit their website today to learn more about the signs of colic, and how you can help your horse!

Click here to visit Equine GutFlush online >>

Member of the Week, Selena Lucas!

Introducing this week's member of the week, Ride Host and rider, Selena Lucas!

"As a kid, Selena showed Walking Horses. When just starting out she leased a mare named Lace and later owned her own gelding Lester. Nowadays, she has chickens, goats, cats, a dog and besides her gorgeous horse, Prince she also owns a Belgian Draft Horse named Cody. 

Selena is the type of person that is always in a happy mood, if I am having a bad day and have her over for a ride, she will make me laugh and smile, she has a good sense of humor and loves all her animals very much. 

If Selena sets out to organize an event (such as her ACTHA AOC) she leaves no stone unturned, she gives it 110%, really works hard to get nice prizes donated and makes sure everyone involved has a great time and leaves with something. Selena and her dad are also leaders of Rusty Spurs 4-H. Horse based 4-H group in our area. Selena has always been involved in 4-H and showed at her state fair in 4-H when she was a youngster. Not only does she help out these kids, she also helps with a bowling league on the weekends! She's truly a good soul and a great friend. She really deserves this award!!!"

Congratulations to to Selena Lucas of West Virginia, for being this week's Member of the Week and showing great spirit! Many thanks to Molly's Custom Silver for sponsoring this weekly event. Molly's Custom Silver is ACTHA's official silversmith! www.mollyscustomsilver.com ACTHA Member of the Week nominations remain anonymous. If you would like to nominate an ACTHA member, Ride Host, judge or volunteer, you may do so by clicking here: http://a.pgtb.me/TH6twF. Or, you may send your nomination along with one or two good photos of large size to alex@actha.us .

This is My Trailhorse: Little Miss Thundercloud

This is my Trail Horse… By Val Delana

I first set eyes on Little Miss Thundercloud as she came cantering out of the woods near Athens, TX, with her two mule running buddies.  So very black with that perfect white star and one of the prettiest TN Walking Horse canters I had ever seen, it was love at first sight.  Well, it was for me that is, Missy had other ideas.  Wild as a March hare since she had very little handling in her first year of life, she turned tail and ran away.

We soon coaxed her into a pen and then our little stock trailer, and set off for home so I could begin bonding with her.  Again, she had other ideas.  We opened the trailer door when we got home and she took off across a 20 Acre pasture at a full gallop.  Hmmmm……how was I going to bond if she was not willing?

18 years later and Missy and I have been through so much together.  She became my first Parelli Natural Horsemanship partner and we worked through to Level 2.  That established the bond that I had so dreamed of that first day.  We have covered hundreds of miles of trails in 7 states and we trust each other every step of the way.  In 2011, after competing in ACTHA for less than a year, we tried out for America’s Favorite Trail Horse and become 1 of the 100 horse/rider teams to go on to the finals.  What a fabulous experience that was!

Missy has achieved her Bronze Medal with ACTHA and while she was doing that, she continued showing on a State level and competing successfully in the Trail Obstacle classes.  She often gives ‘test rides’ at the ACTHA events because so many folks here in Texas have never experienced the 3 gaits of the TN Walking Horse.  She can do them all and you can carry a glass of wine while she does them. 

Many thanks to Durvet Apple Wormer for sponsoring "This is my Trail Horse".  Little Miss Thundercloud will receive a gift from Durvet. www.applewormer.com Share your "This is My Trailhorse" story with ACTHA Facebook by leaving your story with a photo in the private message box of the ACTHA Facebook page or by emailing alex@actha.us.

Charity of the Week: Reins of Life Youth Ranch

A Ranch of Rescued Dreams . . . 

Imagine for a moment that you were a child hiding in your room because mom or dad or both are drunk or high again.

Imagine that you were taken from your home again to go live with a relative or a stranger.

Imagine that all you have known as a home, good or bad, is taken away.

Imagine how lost, afraid or angry you could be. 

Imagine the invisible shell that you go into to retreat. 

We at Reins Of Life Youth Ranch work hard to restore a sense of normalcy in their world of hate and addiction. And every time our rescued horses seem to understand what these kids are going through. The abuse, hunger and neglect. These horses listen to problems that weigh down those little shoulders. They give these children their power back by responding to the reins, leg pressure and voice commands.

The Reins of Life Youth Ranch was established in June 2008. Since then we have taken in numerous horses from abuse, neglect, starvation and being unwanted and have nursed them back to health. Some strive from the nutrition and attention that they receive, but some, sadly, are just made comfortable for their last days.

The farm does so much more than rescue angels in horse hair. Each summer the farm opens for children to visit that have similar backgrounds to the horses. They can relate to the horses and on many occasions they form a tender connection, forming a strong bond between the two.

The farm strives to mentor and give guidance in the skills of basic horsemanship, including horse care, grooming and tacking and riding lessons. Through this summer program we help children to conquer their fears, provide ways to boost self confidence and even to mend families. We truly believe that if you put an unwanted horse with a special needs child, you will see an overwhelming bond being formed right before your eyes. Horse Therapy is becoming one of the fastest growing and greatest therapies offered.

To Reins of Life, special needs takes on many shapes and forms such as: mental, physical, emotional, and functional. Sometimes a child comes to the farm that just needs a place to hang out and be a kid. They get to experience farm life, since so many does not get the opportunity to visit grandparents at the farm anymore.

What makes this therapy program so unique, is that many of the horses living at the Reins of Life have come from violent abuse or life threatening neglect. These extraordinary horses, each with their own story of triump and hope, are paired with one leader and one child, for a riding lesson. Allowing time to best serve the unique needs of the child. It is our hope, that with hands on experience, the children will learn values of life, family, faith and trust.

Many great things happened this year on the farm. We had more than 50 volunteers from the local college and high school, which gave us the opportunity to help more children during the summer program than ever before.

Even though , personally, I dealt with my mother being in the nursing home and her stroke that eventually lead to her death, which is the hardest thing in life that has ever happened, we still made a difference in so many children’s lives. Giving them something that they will take with them throughout their lives.

We currently have 21 horses on the farm, 6 dogs, 5 cats and a micro mini pig.

The horse is mentioned 188 times in the bible. The horse is a magnificent and powerful animal. They give us hope and faith and hope makes us who we are.

This letter comes to you to request that the Reins Of Life Youth Ranch be put on your giving list the year so that we can continue to help so many children and angels in horse hair.

HOPE HAS AN ADDRESS – REINS OF LIFE YOUTH RANCH
YOU CAN CHOOSE TO SPONSOR A RESCUED HORSE FOR $1000 FOR A YEAR
TO SPONSOR A WEEK OF THERAPY RIDING FOR 10 CHILDREN FOR $1000
OR SIMPLY DONATE WHATEVER YOU CAN TOWARD FEED, WATER BILL AND OPERATIONS OF THE FARM

WE WOULD BE GRATEFUL FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH - http://www.reinsyouthranch.com/

FRIEDA PALMER – REINS OF LIFE YOUTH RANCH – A RANCH OF RESCUED DREAMS

How I Found ACTHA . . .

Hello ACTHA friends!

My name is Alex. You may not know me, but I'm ACTHA's social media manager. I started with ACTHA back in June and I've been loving every minute of working with everyone on the staff, and especially you members and subscribers.

My day-to-day tasks involve producing some of the email promotions you see in your inbox and managing ACTHA's social media accounts, including our blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts. I love being able to share stories and pictures that you submit. You all have amazing unique tales involving ACTHA and your very special trail companions. Anytime you feel like sharing, you can send your pictures/stories to me at alex@actha.us and I'll get them out there so everyone can see.

I started riding when I was just a little mite. I took lessons at a fabulous facility called Norwood Stables in Savannah, Georgia when I was about 7, and really picked up on riding there. When we moved to Texas, it took a little while for me to return to the horse world, but by the time I was in middle school, I was competing as a hunter/jumper and had my first horse, an off the track Thoroughbred named Special Few, aka Grace.

Grace was a beautiful bay mare with what I affectionately called split personality disorder. One moment you'd have a sweet little girl in your pocket, and the next you had a speed demon snorting fire. I loved her, even though she was difficult at times. When I moved to eventing, we thought she would be a great match, but she had issues with the open spaces and coming back after a jump. So, we retired her to munch hay bales in our front pasture until we sold her several years later, while I got started with a new horse, my wonderful gelding, Veridicus aka Klaus (pictured here).

As full of fire and pep as Grace was, Klaus was the opposite. He was a pokey little guy who was a saint 90% of the time. That other 10% he was a bolter, only when he was scared. He always tried to take care of me, was a patient old soul. He was a plucky little bay who loved peppermints most of all.
We competed at a couple of eventing shows, never placing high because we were too slow. But our dressage scores were always decent, so after those few shows, I decided to move on to strictly dressage. We went to many shows, scoring well up to first level. As I neared the end of my college days, I stopped having time to ride, and had grown frustrated with trainers and a lack of improvement in our movements. I realized I did not have the time to invest in continuing to ride, so I stopped riding.

I graduated, got married, and moved away from home. Far away in fact, from Texas to South Carolina. My mom sold Klaus to a nice lady who was looking for a little guy to love on, and I tried to focus on looking for work in archaeology, to apply my degree, but the pool of jobs that had been there were gone due to budget cuts and other issues. So, I stayed at home, and one day, my mom told me about ACTHA. She said they were a great company, and had some open positions that I ought to apply for.
I was over joyed! I hadn't noticed how much I had missed horses until I saw this opportunity to become re-involved with them. Even though I only see the horses on the screen for now, and read about your stories, I'm re-connected to the community. I cannot wait to get back into riding and own horses again someday. I LOVE renaissance fairs (hence the photo of me in my costume) and want to do haute ecole demonstrations at them someday. A lofty goal, I know, but when you put your mind to something, you have only yourself to stop you!

Anyways, that's enough about me. Looking forward to continuing to work with y'all! -Alex

This is My Trailhorse: Cody - The Best Horse

I’ve been riding for 60 years and Cody is by far the best horse I have ever known. Over the years I’ve developed strong opinions about the “perfect horse”, Cody is as close as I’ve ever seen. Funny thing, Cody came to me by way of the internet. A fellow in Montrose, Colorado was selling him online. I rode him for 4 hours then wrote a check, a pretty large one. Best buy of my life as it turned out. Once I got him home I stared to discover what a special fellow he was. He’s a registered Quarter Horse and was 6 at that time.. then mostly dark gray and dappled. He is the most agile, powerful, yet careful horse I have ever seen. We spend hundreds of hours every summer up in the high country above 10,000 ft. and mostly on rough mountain terrain. I’ve never had a mishap with him or been with anyone I thought was better mounted. Cody is a horseman's dream. Good horses are hard to find and great horses are rare. Cody and I are a perfect match… we both have curiosity, stamina and a joy of getting out in the mountains. I look after him, always careful to make sure I don’t ask him to put a hoof in a dangerous place, let him rest after a long or steep pull and he looks after me, never letting us get in a bad situation. If I chose a path that is less then smart, he says “lets try this way, it’s safer and easier” .. Cody’s never wrong. Nothing scares him… we were on top of a mountain, way above the timberline, at 12,500’ in the Pecos and lightning hit 125 feet from us.. Cody never even flinched. That was more then I could say for me. He told me 13 years ago he didn’t like iron bits so we stopped using them and I had a horsehair bosal made for him, sometimes we just skip a bridle altogether. I have been blessed to share the past 14 years with this outstanding fellow. We are both grey old-timers now but still have the will and strength and I think love of the trail. I truly hope we have many more years in the mountains ahead of us. 

Bill Manns

Santa Fe, NM

Many thanks to Durvet Apple Wormer for sponsoring "This is my Trail Horse". Cody will receive a gift from Durvet. www.applewormer.com Share your "This is My Trailhorse" story with ACTHA by leaving your story with a photo in the private message box of the ACTHA Facebook page or by emailing alex@actha.us. 

Charity of the Week: AERO

Arizona Equine Rescue Organization (AERO) was founded in April, 2001 and is a highly specialized health center for rescue horses that require intensive medical care. AERO provides a productive life for unwanted horses and provides a community resource for youth who find solace in spending time with the horses. AERO operates from volunteer hours and relies on charitable contributions from the community.

On Sunday, August 11th, 2013, Phoenix PD were called out to recover a stolen car in the Gila River bottom. They stumbled across a very frail mini horse barely alive. He had been abandoned near the river bottom and unable to find food or water. Volunteers from AERO hurried to help the miniature gelding. The vets named him Shiny Chevy in honor of the stolen car that saved his life.

Upon arriving at AERO’s facility in New River, he collapsed to the ground, simply unable to go any further from extreme starvation. The fight to save Shiny Chevy was on! Soleil Dolce, VP of AERO, physically lifted him back to his feet. He weighed less than 100 pounds, at 9 years old; he was considered a -1 on the body chart used to evaluate a horse’s physical condition. His prognosis wasn’t good, he was in such poor condition, extreme care had to be used to not over-feed him. But Shiny Chevy had the will to survive and he just found a friend and an extremely knowledgeable horsewoman in Soleil. An exam by the Vet dentist determined that he had terrible teeth problems. The sharp edges on his teeth had actually cut a hole in his tongue and his mouth was full of ulcers. After 3 sessions with the dentist, his mouth has healed and he can eat properly. Over the next few weeks he received specialized food and lots of probiotics. 

On September 20th, Shiny Chevy was healthy enough to visit the employees of Roadrunner Pharmacy; their employees took up a collection and donated to AERO. On October 11th, Chevy visited the Az Agribusiness Equine Center in Mesa, where aspiring Vet students learning about equine anatomy painted the bone structure on him and other AERO horses so they could see how the bones moved when the horses moved. On October 12th, at the Large Animal Rescue Training in New River, AZ, Chevy was the live anatomy model and participated in live horse scenarios. On October 23rd, Chevy made his first visit to a bed ridden person and proved to be excellent at therapy. He nudged for more petting and gently enjoyed a carrot. The only challenge he had was the slippery tile floor.

As of November 11th, Chevy is nearly 200 pounds and will need 50-60 more pounds to be at his optimal weight. Shiny Chevy is making great progress is now up for adoption.  www.azequinerescue.org

Member of the Week: Rowyn Biddle!

Introducing this week's Member of the Week, Junior Rowyn Biddle.

"With first place all but locked in, Junior Rowyn Biddle, age 9, gets thrown by her trusted (at the time) pony DURING THE SOUNDNESS TROT! At first she gets up and dusts herself off...then walks her pony in. She whimpers a little but nothing too big. Later she finds out she was in first place but now must be disqualified...fall of horse or rider = automatic DQ. The sobs come back, but just for a little while. 

After the new first place is awarded to the next highest score junior I heard Rowyn say to her Mom...."It's ok Mom, she deserved it. She must have trained harder than me."

ACTHA sportsmanship...from the mouth of babes."

Congratulations to to young Rowyn for being this week's Member of the Week and showing great spirit! Many thanks to Molly's Custom Silver for sponsoring this weekly event. Molly's Custom Silver is ACTHA's official silversmith! www.mollyscustomsilver.com ACTHA Member of the Week nominations remain anonymous. If you would like to nominate an ACTHA member, Ride Host, judge or volunteer, you may do so by clicking here: http://a.pgtb.me/TH6twF. Or, you may send your nomination along with one or two good photos of large size to alex@actha.us .