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. […]
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. […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – Tuesday! – Four Man Drill Team
By Dan Roark Four man(person) “Wednesday Addams” drill team. […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – Tuesday! – Two Man Drill Team (2)
By Dan Roark The routine was good enough to share more for a complete picture. Ride […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – Tuesday! – Two Man Drill Team (1)
By Dan Roark Both New Hope Drill Teams were a sight to behold – literally. Susan Altshuler spends a lot of time and effort each year putting together routines for the drill team competition that comprise humor, entertainment, decorum and the talent of riders and horses. Following the completion of the Chisholm Challenge posts, I […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – Tuesday! – (1) Equitation
By Dan Roark Tuesday, the first day of competition, for the New Hope riders, was Equitation, Drill Team, and Trail. For the volunteers there was getting horses, riders, side walkers and horse leaders to John Justin Arena for Equitation and Will Rogers Coliseum for trail. Several volunteers participated in several (or more) consecutive events. In […]
Chisholm Challenge Start to Finish – Monday!
By Dan Roark Monday morning, Jan. 8, began with transferring the first loads of horses in the rain and damp. By the time I followed the last load to John Justin Arena about 12:30, the rain had stopped, but it was still damp and cold. After waiting […]
Chisholm Challenge Competition – Day One
By Dan Roark Here are a few of the expressions on the New Hope riders – and horses during competition. It was a long day, but they did really well overall. Kyrie, Luci, and Esme competing in English Equitation. More to come! Ride on, and ride for hope.
Chisholm Challenge – And So It Begins
By Dan Roark I have a song that begins “It was a dark and dreary day in the middle of July,” but it’s January and it aptly fit the rainy mood yesterday as numerous trips were made from New Hope to the John Justin Arena in the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo grounds with […]
Merry Christmas From the New Hope Family!
Merry Christmas from the New Hope Family – staff, volunteers, riders and horses!! Ride on and ride for hope.
A Rainy Day at New Hope
By Dan Roark Yesterday, Cyndy and I picked Tucker up in Weatherford and took her to New Hope. The idea was that she would have a chance to ride to get ready for Chisholm Challenge. A drill team practice was scheduled for 2 p.m. If any of the drill team riders were unable to make […]
Horse (Mule) Highlight – Daisy Mae
By Dan Roark Daisy Mae (circa 2002) is the New Hope resident mule, easily recognized by her long, expressive ears or her loud hee haw at turn out time. A number of the horses don’t like having their ears touched too much and a few their faces as well. Daisy Mae couldn’t care less. Riders […]
Split Rock Jumping Tour and Chisholm Challenge
By Dan Roark A group of people from New Hope went to Fort Worth last Saturday, the 16th, to watch both the junior/amateur Split Rock jumping events in the morning and afternoon. Then the next to the last night of the professional Split Rock jumping competition Saturday night. Susan Altshuler, New Hope instructor, was participating […]