Autism Awareness Month and New Hope
By Dan Roark It’s been a busy month, but before Autism Awareness Month ends, I would like to get in a post in support. Riders at New Hope Equine Assisted Therapy are often dealing with a number of issues. In numerous cases, one of those issues is autism. Or, more precisely, they are somewhere on […]
Volunteer Highlight – Emily Klemme
By Dan Roark Emily is a regular volunteer at New Hope, in addition to being a substitute teacher in the Argyle school district. She recently moved to Argyle and she is mom to six “wonderful” kids. A love of horses and volunteering brought her to New Hope. As well as a desire to learn new […]
Kudos to Highland Homes Volunteers
By Dan Roark The sensory trail at New Hope is brighter, thanks to the painting skills of the Highland Homes Volunteers (HHV). They painted every game on the trail that really needed painting and revived the Number Doors game after scraping the old loose paint off. They also painted new rails for the Ball […]
Expressions of NH: Three New Hope Friends
By Dan Roark A few Sundays ago, Cyndy and I met Tucker and her mother, Sarah, in Weatherford and took Tucker to New Hope to ride and work with Claire and Juliana – two of her New Hope friends. Since Tucker and Sarah moved southwest of Weatherford, we have brought Tucker to New Hope as […]
Horses Highlight: Seeing the Doctor
By Dan Roark Or more precisely, the doctor came to the horses in the form of Dr. Jennifer Voellinger and her Precision Equine Mobile Veterinary Service. More about her in a minute, but she has a gentle personality conducive to both humans and horses. Torrin and I helped Kim, the barn manager, bring each horse […]
9th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot
By Dan Roark The days leading up to the 9th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot were cloudy with a little rain. But the sun came out Saturday morning with just a little wind, making it a beautiful day for supporting New Hope Equine Assisted Therapy. After registration and the signing of waivers, the welcome by Dave […]
Paddock Drainage Fundraising Campaign Reminder
By Dan Roark With the rain overnight, and more coming, it’s again painfully evident (for the horses) that paddock footing/drainage is needed. Every little bit adds up and matters. Please contribute to the Paddock Drainage Campaign. The horses will thank you! Ride on and Ride for hope.
Expressions of New Hope: Riders – Robbie
By Dan Roark The first rider I sidewalked with was Robbie. His mother is the other sidewalker. Robbie is a sweet boy, but he has his moods. He is very expressive in that regard. And he definitely has a playful side. Enjoy Robbie’s moods and expressions. At least you don’t have to be hit with […]
Denton Roundup Club Playday
By Dan Roark Due to the events of the past week or so, well, life, I’m playing catch-up with posts. As I said in the post last Tuesday, we went to the Denton Roundup Club (DRC) Playday for the second time on Palm Sunday. Despite the strong wind and cloudiness with intermittent sun, everyone enjoyed […]
Denton Roundup Club Playday – Daisy Mae Highlight
By Dan Roark New Hope riders, instructor, and volunteers participated in the Denton Roundup Club Playday for the second time. This time the horses were Cy (Cyclops), Chito, and the mule, Daisy Mae. Look for another post about the Playday and Susan, Claire, and Juliana’s rides and so forth, but I want to highlight Daisy […]
Paddock Drainage Update and Clay Shoot Reminder
By Dan Roark First, here is the updated link for the Paddock Drainage Fundraising campaign. Each time it rains, the need for dry paddock footing becomes all that much more evident. Missy has her fly mask on in the picture, but you can still see her sad face. And picking the horse’ hooves tells the […]
Expressions of New Hope – Callie
By Dan Roark I take a lot of pictures trying to get some good ones for the New Hope blog, Facebook, and the website. Some pictures I take for personal reasons to see if I can get a particular shot I see in my head. But the pictures that I will post in this feature […]
Paddock Footing: Donations Needed
By Dan Roark The relentless rain of the last couple of months made one thing drastically clear – new paddock footing is a definite necessity. The muddy paddocks need a drainage system to keep the horses out of the mud. Lighthoof will provide drainage while the gravel […]
Horse Highlight: Cy (Cyclops)
By Dan Roark Cyclops is a quarter horse, vintage 2005, who joined New Hope in 2019 when his owner could not take him to college. Before becoming a therapy horse Cy was a barrel racing school horse, and before that he was a jumper. Back when Cy was a jumper he lost his eye to […]
Clay Shoot Raffle Reminder
By Dan Roark First, a reminder that registration is open for the 9th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot benefiting New Hope Equine Assisted Therapy. For more information on the Clay Shoot see the former post on the blog or go to the Clay Shoot page of the website. This is a reminder about the firearms raffle to raise […]
9th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot Reminder
By Dan Roark There are still spots open for the Annual Sporting Clay Shoot benefitting New Hope to be held at Fossil Pointe Sporting Grounds in Decatur on Saturday, April 13. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. with a 9 a.m. anticipated start time. Awards, Auction, and Lunch provided by 407BBQ will start at Noon. […]
Equine Therapy is Therapy for Volunteers, Too
by Dan Roark In the volunteer highlight yesterday, Jessica brought up a point about volunteer therapy I’ve been thinking about myself. The picture is of me side walking with Clayton on Rain. I don’t get many pictures of me – I’m usually taking the pictures. So I’ll use myself as an example. One Sunday night, I […]
Volunteer Highlight – Jessica Hamilton
By Dan Roark When we decided to highlight volunteers on the blog, it was just before the winter break preceding Chisholm Challenge. Following Chisholm Challenge, the wet weather was relentless, causing lesson cancellations. Now that Spring lessons are in full force with only the odd cancellation – and I have enough responses – it’s time […]
Horse Highlights – Relationships
By Dan Roark With just a few horses left to highlight, I thought I would focus on relationships among the herd. This is Missy and Sierra with Gabby behind Sierra. The pictures were taken after the horses that participated in Chisholm Challenge returned home and all of the horses were turned out of their paddocks. […]
Three New Hope Riders Participate in DRC Monthly Playday
By Dan Roark On Sunday, February 25th, Claire, Ava, and Juliana participated as juniors in spur, poles, and barrels in the Denton Roundup Club (DRC) – now monthly – Playday at the DRC arena on Ryan Rd. in Denton. The girls rode Cy (Cyclops), Rain, and Chito, respectively. Members of the DRC compete to get […]
Horse Highlight – Flash
By Dan Roark The picture is of me washing Flash, a gray 2004 model grade quarter horse gelding who came to New Hope in 2020, during the heat wave last summer. He was given to New Hope by his owner who could no longer ride. Flash was nervous when he arrived until Missy took him […]
Sporting Clay Shoot Firearms Raffle Reminder
By Dan Roark First, a reminder that registration is open for the 9th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot benefiting New Hope Equine Therapy Center. For more information on the Clay Shoot see the former post on the blog or go the Clay Shoot page of the website. This is a reminder about the firearms raffle to raise additional funds for […]
Monday Sporting Clay Shoot Reminder
By Dan Roark There are still spots open for the Annual Sporting Clay Shoot benefitting New Hope to be held at Fossil Pointe Sporting Grounds in Decatur on Saturday, April 13. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. with a 9 a.m. anticipated start time. Awards, Auction, and Lunch provided by 407BBQ will start at Noon. […]
Annual Sporting Clay Shoot Benefitting New Hope Reminder
By Dan Roark There are still spots open for the Annual Sporting Clay Shoot benefitting New Hope held at Fossil Pointe Sporting Grounds in Decatur on Saturday, April 13. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. with a 9 a.m. anticipated start time. Awards, Auction, and Lunch provided by 407BBQ will start at Noon. The clay […]
Horse Highlight – Missy
By Dan Roark I picked Missy for the horse highlight today, not because she’s known as Grandma, although that’s certainly part of it. And not because being near an elementary school helped to calm her anxiety stemming from her encounters with children on North Texas trails prior to Missy’s joining the herd when her owner […]
Reminder: Clay Shoot Coming April 13
By Dan Roark For those who may not have heard, and for those who have heard, but let it slip their mind, the 9th Annual New Hope Sporting Clay Shoot – benefitting New Hope – will be held on Saturday, April 13th. Registration will begin at 8 a.m. with a 9 a.m. anticipated start time. […]
Three join New Hope Board of Directors
By Kathleen Beisly, Marketing Communications Chair We are so pleased to announce the addition of three new board members for 2024: Christine Cioffe advises and consults for a variety of companies about sustainability, specialty industrials, agriculture and bio pharmaceuticals. She has led R&D organizations at PepsiCo and Merck & Co, focusing on innovation, productivity, disruptive […]
Clay Shoot Firearms Raffle for New Hope
By Dan Roark First, a reminder that registration is open for the 9th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot benefiting New Hope Equine Therapy Center. For more information on the Clay Shoot see the former post on the blog or go the Clay Shoot page of the website. This week’s post is about the firearms raffle to […]
Expressions of Chisholm Challenge – Trail
By Dan Roark Expressions of Chisholm Challenge, which will morph into Expressions of New Hope, will be an irregular regular feature on the blog to take advantage of pictures I’ve taken that aren’t used elsewhere. The riders’ expressions tell a lot about where they are on their inner journey and their relationship with the horse. […]
Volunteer Fridays
By Dan Roark Non-profits cannot survive without volunteers and New Hope is no exception. Despite the weather of the first of the week, not only did lessons begin this week (albeit late), but volunteer training sessions began as well. Emily and Sharla co-led the training session with eight prospective volunteers. Claire assisted by being the […]
Spring Lessons Finally Begin!
By Dan Roark After the weather of the weekend and the first of the week drenched the little universe we call New Hope, Spring lessons finally began on Wednesday with the outer half of the arena unusable. Actually, they began on Monday, with Eduardo getting his lesson in the fog and drizzle, but it kept […]
Horse Highlight – Rain
By Dan Roark Rain is an estimated 2014 model brown and white paint pony who was rescued from a kill pen to be a companion for a lonely horse. It is not known how she ended up in such circumstances. She does, however, have vision issues in one eye which makes her jump when someone […]
The Road to Chisholm Challenge for the Drill Teams
By Dan Roark As you may recall, if you’re a regular reader, the two man(person) drill team won second place and the four man(person) drill team won first place at Chisholm Challenge. I also mentioned that Susan takes great pride and pain to come up with two winning routines each Chisholm Challenge – comprising humor, […]
9th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot
By Dan Roark The days leading up to the 9th Annual Sporting Clay Shoot were cloudy with a little rain. But the sun came out Saturday morning with just a little wind, making it a beautiful day for supporting New Hope Equine Assisted Therapy. After registration and the signing of waivers, the welcome by Dave […]
A Freezing Day at New Hope
By Dan Roark Everyone knows about extreme weather from the weather we’ve had this year. While that would pretty much apply to anywhere in the country – or the world for that matter – we’re concerned with the little universe we call New Hope. Back in the dog days of summer, the volunteers and staff […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – The Awards Party/Luncheon
By Dan Roark Being just a little over two days since Chisholm Challenge, the Awards Party/Luncheon still had the energy and excitement vibe that accompanied the competition itself. Pizza was passed along as the riders and their families arrived at the Pizza Hut. When those who were coming were there, Susan started the awards part […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – Wednesday! – Getting the horses home.
By Dan Roark After pole bending, the only thing left for volunteers and staff to do was pack up and get the horses, tack, etc. back to New Hope. Some of the volunteers put things in their vehicles and took them to New Hope on Thursday. I followed the trailer back to New Hope with […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – Wednesday! – Pole Bending
By Dan Roark Pole Bending was the last event of Chisholm Challenge on Wednesday. It’s mostly just called poles. Which makes more sense to me because – as you will see – no one is bending any poles. Just going between them. But the girls did it very well. It was a very good day […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – Wednesday! – Barrels
By Dan Roark The girls that rode barrels and pole-bending (poles) are very good friends and stay in touch through chat messaging. You will recognize some of them from other events, including 4 man drill team (albeit on different horses). […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – Tuesday and Wednesday! – Trail
By Dan Roark Trail, like Equitation, displays each rider’s individual skills. […]