We are thankful for so many things this fall. The incredible efforts of our volunteers to make the DO MORE campaign real and to build the new barn. The incredible generosity of the donors whose funds made the purchase of materials possible. Those who came out for the open house to support us. The Richmond Mounted Police who donated their time to give our students encouragement and hope. The students who come every week and bring us joy. The horses who are so patient with us. We could go on endlessly.

Recently we have come across the “Thanksgiving Address” through reading the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. “Beginning with where our feet first touch the earth, we send greetings and thanks to all members of the natural world.” It reminds us of the abundance and beauty of it all. Something we experience every day here at Labyrinth, but find no words to encompass. If it hasn’t crossed your path yet, you can find an excerpt here. Happy Thanksgiving.

There is so much happening, we had to put it in bulleted points!

Life is beyond humbling at times. In the last few months we have lost dear friends (horse and human), we have had health scares with loved ones, AND we have brought in new friends into the fold (horse and human) and been the recipients of endless generosity as we work to raise money for our DO MORE campaign. There will always be a desire and need to do more, but for this one moment we take a moment to take a deep breath and be humbled by what life is presenting and grateful too.

The grass is above the ankles, the bees and baby trees survived the winter, and the horses are already using the shelters already to get away from flies.

APRIL 15, 2023

BEYOND THE SADDLE CLINIC

Days End Farm Horse Rescue’s Beyond the Saddle Clinic Series is a great opportunity for horse owners and enthusiasts alike to get one-on-one interaction with trainers, Sara Strauss and Leigha Schrader, in a semi-private lesson format. Working on your specific goals as a horseperson, the trainers want to help you discover that there is much more to your relationship with a horse than just riding.

Lessons will be semi-private, with two participants per hour between the hours of 9am and 4pm, with a 1-hour lunch break at noon. Participants are welcome and encouraged to stay before/after their lesson to audit and learn from the lessons of their fellow participants. Privately owned horses welcome with proof of an updated Coggins. A mall number of DEFHR horses will be available to those without a horse.

To participate with a horse please register here: https://defhr.org/calendar/

To participate as an “observer,” please register here: https://labyrinthtc.betterworld.org/events/beyond-saddle-horse-clinic

About the Trainers:

Sara is passionate about educating the adult horse person on ways to better communicate with horses, whether it is on the ground or under saddle.

Leigha enjoys teaching positive reinforcement and liberty training. She is also a fantastic teacher to the younger generation, with a focus on the hunter/jumper discipline.

The planet keeps on twirling. While we still try to peel away the sadness at the loss of Kali, we welcomed this guy, Little (ole) Red in our midst. His story is long and tortured, but in short, he was rescued from a meat truck in Texas by a Good Samaritan and he found himself in Virginia. He is sweet, a little shy, obviously been around, and has a nice foot-long gash that has healed over near his groin (t-post? cow horn?). And the question was, would he get lucky? Would someone give him another chance now that his history had been erased by miles of pavement? A really long story short, YES!

He is rideable, sound, healthy, sweet as pie, willing, and honest. He has already found his forever home with a wonderful woman from Richmond. We will continue putting on some bells and whistles for a bit, but this little guy is a rock star! We are sooooo happy for him, his new owner, and all our volunteers working to bring him back slowly.

It is not lost on us that the very day he found his new forever home, the Founder of Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Kathy Howe, passed away. She leaves a legacy not only in the footprint of the physical organization that continues to do incredible work, but in all of us who were inspired by her. It started, for her, and for many of us with one horse. What we all do as individuals in response is up to us.

We released Kali from her suffering this weekend. She battled recurrent uveitis for the better part of the last two years and in the last two weeks changes accelerated, she lost vision in one eye, and we were unable to keep her comfortable by any standard any longer. Tears flow as I write this. Kali was a fiery diva who would lose her mind at new events, but amidst routine and stability was tender, motherly, loving, and could be handled by our most novice participants.

I grew up boarding my horse as my family did not have a farm. Everywhere Labyrinth lived, there were as many horses as could be tucked in each nook, cranny, and side pasture. There was never much grass, if any. And he got several quarts of grain morning and night to make up the nutrient deficit. So when we moved to this farm, I counted the pastures and figured I could put 3-4 horses in each and calculated we could have roughly 15 horses on the property, no problem. And my husband cocked his head at me. And the agricultural extension officer he invited out softly said, “not sustainably.” And I cocked my head.

As we reflect upon this year, we are so grateful for everyone who has played a part in making this organization happen: the horses, the Board of Directors, volunteers, the rescues, friends, and the community. So much has come together and so much more lays within reach for this coming year. Thank you to everyone, big hugs, have a wonderful holiday season, and we will see you all in the New Year!

We had such an incredible time with Debbie Draves Legg and the horses learning about what their interactions and cues can teach us each individually about our own intuition and internal guidance. The horses clearly felt the mission was worth supporting!

We had fabulous weather and such a great time with Debbie Graves Legg of Eponicity this weekend! The students explored leadership roles, listening to what the horse was teaching, and what our inner emotions can inform us about what is going on around us. But more than even the learning, we just had fun!

Thanks to our incredible community and generous donors, our fall campaign was a HUGE success! We secured the funding for eight students to attend horse summer camp free of charge in 2023 and to provide opportunities each season in between! The outpouring of support was truly humbling - over twenty separate donations of tack for our used tack sale; monetary contributions that blew us away; over a dozen separate donations of items for our online auction; endless volunteer hours spent organizing and cooking; over 70 people from our community coming out to meet us and enjoy the beautiful day! The highlight of all of it was meeting everyone and spending a moment under the sun hearing why horses motivated them to come out!

This post is the hardest of all to write. We decided to lay GG Poppy to rest this week. She started to have trouble breathing and a vet check revealed problems with her left lung. Whether it was collapsed or a mass blocking her airways or something else, we will never know. But given it was unresponsive to steroids and given all her other ailments, it was clear we were really too little too late. We take some solace in knowing she went surrounded by many who loved her deeply despite the short time she was with us. She managed to win many of us over with her shuffles to get closer for scratches, her whinny at feeding times, and her quiet perserverence. May you finally Rest In Peace dear Poppy.

We wanted to give a Great Grandma Poppy update. She is gaining weight and eating and drinking (and pooping!) well. We are working through some issues - pain in her front left leg (as seen in the picture), a right hip issue, hives, residual rain rot, and all the things summer flies bring. Despite all this she introduced herself to a volunteer yesterday and showed interest in what was going on in the barn. So, we are holding out hope that we can get her quality of life to a place where we can see joy (or at least peace) in her life. In the meantime, she is loving her daily groomings and being doted on by everyone here at the farm!

On Saturday, September 24, 2022, come visit the farm! Meet our horses, walk the trails, browse the silent auction items, or pick something up at the used tack sale! This year’s summer camp was wonderful and we will be offering it again next summer for the same students to return and we hope to add a few more new students with an additional camp week! One hundred percent (100%) of the proceeds from this fundraiser will go directly to that effort. Please save the date and come out and see what we are all about!

The week went by way too fast! We had a blast with the campers! Every single one of them was a joy to be around and impressed us with their work ethic and curiosity. They learned how to take care of the horses and chickens, how to lead a horse, how to saddle up, how to ride, and how to clean stalls, tack, and water buckets.

They learned horse communication and somatic awareness from Liz Liverman (www.equisyncoach.com). They learned about wild animals and why soil matters from Ross Braun, a Virginia Master Naturalist. The campers are now master zip-liners and have met a black snake (Bessie) and a box turtle up close. The campers dressed up Willy Donka and learned about donkeys with Meredith Milligan. They did morning movement with Kristina Frolova of Washington, DC, to center their awareness and breath and set their intentions for the day. They each created an Equus artistic masterpiece with cloth, paint, and yarn with art master and camper wrangler, Sheri Blankenship.

To close it out, they each showed off their skills for their parents and friends and independently rode through an obstacle course. We could not be prouder of what they put into their week and what they accomplished!

We have finally settled on the name Gigi Poppy, which suits her spunk well! Gigi Poppy was not in the plan, but sometimes the right next step takes over the best laid intentions and plans. She is making friends (horsey and human), she is gaining weight and luster, and she is a reminder of what is important. We have transitioned to feeding every two hours to every three hours, which is opening up our days (and nights) immensely!

A huge “thank you” to everyone who is chipping in to bring her back to health. A board member is not only donating feed bags, but also sent her this halter and these lovely fly boots to make her more comfortable this summer!

“Never be afraid to be a poppy in a field of daffodils.”

~Michaela Deprince

It takes a village folks . . . .

We have been quietly emerging from Spring, getting fences shored up and organizing for the summer camp that is coming up in a few weeks. And then this beautiful lady found her way to us last night. We do not know how this will all turn out, but we are grateful to hear her whinny at us every time we come into the barn to check on her.