We have had a wonderful and busy January here on the farm, with the usual activity associated with horse care during the winter. The horses are staying warm and well fed through these colder days and are enjoying their interactions with their therapy clients, volunteers and staff. It's business as usual, aside from everyone wearing more layers and moving a little slower through the snow.

Upon reflection of our incredible year of growth and improvement in 2023, we were proud to acknowledge many positive changes that we experienced over those twelve months. In terms of expansion, we finalized our agreement to move horses onto the next-door property. This created opportunity for more horses in need to join us at THS, and for us to manage paddock rotation in a more effective manner, which is part of our long-term land stewardship goals.  In concert with this ethos, we had major drainage work done on our property so that our paddocks can drain more efficiently, which will improve the footing for the horses.

In terms of growth, we increased our herd numbers by welcoming eight new horses to the farm and to balance that out, we also hired a few new staff members in addition to bringing on three independent volunteers to work part time. We have significantly increased awareness and use of our Services here at the farm and we proudly launched our Adopt a Horse Program. This is a small branch of our program that opens opportunities for our sound and energetic youngsters to move into lives of purpose with their new Forever People. 

We hosted two MAJOR fundraising events. The first was a Casino Night Gala in July, which was a vibrant and celebratory evening of festivities and education about who we are and what we strive to achieve through our mission. In September we held an intimate concert with John Oates, who played an acoustic set and shared stories with the audience. Our very own local performers Walt and Gianna, of 'The Wallies' opened the evening with their incredible talent. Both evenings were great successes and between them and our many other fundraising efforts, THS raised roughly $450,000 throughout the year.

Thank you all for sharing these incredible memories of 2023 with us!

Programs

Our services at THS for Equine Therapy are available year-round, as are HorsePlay sessions. During the more inviting weather, our calendar fills with other activities that we have on offer, so be sure to reach out to us for any event needs you may have. We often host school field trips, Girl Scout troops, Bachelorette type events as well as corporate Team Building days and staff bonding excursions.

Volunteers

A massive part of our daily successes here at the farm, are with thanks to our incredible volunteer base. We know how fortunate we are to have the team of dedicated individuals who assist us with farm chores and event support, time and time again. The tasks that folks learn to do range from cleaning paddocks and stalls, to grooming, helping on farrier days, filling regular feed slots and being helpers at events either as horse assistants or ambassadors for our services.

We look forward to another year of camaraderie and team effort with our hardworking volunteers! Pictured below, are the THS staff members, showing thanks for the volunteers. 

Interested in joining our volunteer squad? Keep your eyes open for volunteer introduction sessions in the Spring!

Staff Spotlight

Since we have so many new faces here at THS, we thought it would be a perfect time to do a quick introduction to everyone on our team. this month, we'd like to recognize Erin Christopher-Sisk and Jim Sisk, Co-Founders of Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga.

Between seeing the responses to Equine Therapy in her work, and recognizing the limited options for retired racehorses firsthand, the inception of THS became the obvious choice for Erin and Jim. Being a Veteran himself, Jim fully supports the partnership of Equine Therapy and its healing modalities that are being utilized by the community, which includes: military, Veteran and first-responder programs. Erin's approach to her work is that she ‘wants to leave this community better than she found it', and it is clear that she continues to work to fulfill this goal on a daily basis.

Horse Highlight 

We get so much enjoyment from our horses, as do our program participants. Each horse has their own unique personality and traits that endear them to us in different ways, so we want to share some of those important details with all of you who support THS too! Get to know our horses one by one as we introduce them over the course of the year!

This month, we introduce D.W.'s Regal.

D.W. is a Standardbred gelding who raced as a pacer until 2011, earning $27,508 in winnings. He loves to play and frolic, but his favorite afternoon activity is a nap in the grass. D.W. loves a good massage and is notorious for the funny faces he makes. You can count on D.W. to be a popular therapy horse and he's always ready to say hello. It's not that he's nosy, but he does like to know what's going on. This is one of the reasons that D.W. is often out and about in the community at our events. Next time you have the chance to meet him, be sure give his withers a good scratch!