On Sunday afternoon I was invited to participate and volunteer with three very special, and dear-to-my-heart organizations: Hearts for Horses, Rio Grande Down Syndrome Network, and the New Mexico Mounted Search and Rescue (NMMSAR).
My friend Matt of the NMMSAR contacted me on Friday night asking me if I wanted to come out and help out at the Hearts for Horses event being held on Sunday in Carnuel, at the Town and Country Feed Store, in Tijeras canyon, just before you reach Albuquerque.
It was also nice to escape the deep snow, that refuses to melt, back at my house and drive down about 1,500 ft in elevation to see some brown earth and enjoy some warmth.
Matt has been offering his time, energy, talents, and horses to Hearts for Horses since it started over 5 years ago. You can read a wonderful tribute to Matt on the Hearts for Horses website: Matt Coulombe.
(Some of horses were decorated for Christmas)
When he mentioned to me that this event was for the Downs Syndrome Network, I was so excited because 16 years ago I had a job as a full-time nanny for a family with 3 sons, one of which had Down Syndrome. The youngest, Jesse, was just a baby then and I enjoyed taking care of him. I took all 3 boys with me wherever I went, went fun places with them on the weekends, walked them to and from school during the week and helped them with their homework.
(Jesse riding Matt’s “horse-with-no-name” with Steve, Jesse’s Dad holding the lead rope while I snap the photo. Matt’s horse is only 8 years old and is very strong and is also mouthy, trying to nibble and lip everything in his reach. So you have to have a firm grip to keep him under control)
The Mom, Julie, was a flight attendant and her husband Steve, is an engineer who also enjoys hunting, so between hunting trips and long weekend flight trips, I spent a lot of time with their sons, and enjoyed every minute, too.
Julie and Jesse
After about a year and a half, I became pregnant with twins and then at about 5 months I was too tired and uncomfortable to be a full-time nanny, so I moved on and we all got busy in our own lives, and even though we kept in touch on special occasions, we rarely ever got together in person.
Then thanks to Facebook, Julie and I kept in touch a little more often and we just recently attended the Temple Grandin Autism Conference together.
So when Matt contacted me about helping out at the Hearts for Horses event, I sent Julie a message about it, too, hoping she and Jesse might attend as well.
(New Mexico Mounted Search and Rescue and Hearts for Horses volunteers and a couple kids from the Rio Grande Down Syndrome Society)
But unbeknownst to me, Julie already knew about Hearts for Horses, because Jesse was the first Down Syndrome child to become involved in this organization when it was first created. How cool is that?!
So, imagine my surprise and excitement after my arrival at the horse arena to have Julie and Jesse greet me!
Oh yeah! I was on cloud 9!
After visiting for a little bit, Matt called out and asked if I’d take over leading his new horse, so he could help out with another horse, and of course, I said Sure! I was so happy to just jump right in and help out. What an honor.
Matt, Jesse and I
Matt’s new horse is this huge 8 year old warmblood gelding that used to be a hunter/jumper before he bought him.
Matt’s been trail riding him during the day and even at night and riding him with the New Mexico Mounted Search and Rescue, and he even rode him last month in the Caballos de Christmas Parade in Corrales, NM.
He has a strange habit of leaving his tongue hanging out (The horse….not Matt)
And yeah, Matt still hasn’t named this handsome fella even though he’s owned him now for about a month.
(Notice the tongue hanging out?)
I keep telling Matt that he should name him King, because his other big horse is that famous Clydesdale, Prince.
Remember Prince? Yes. Apache fell in love.
Matt does an awesome job at taking care of Prince. And Prince in turn does his best at whatever he is asked to do. It was easy to see how focused Prince was at taking care of his precious cargo during the event.
But he always does everything in style. He’s such a handsome fella and all the kids begged to ride him at least once. Adults, too. And someday I’m going to get my chance to climb aboard that wide strong back, too.
This is a very special little 9 year old girl named Elana.
Notice the huge blingy belt buckle? Elana is a talented horseperson and shows Miniature Horses. She has competed and won at the AMHA World Championships, too. This is her adorable miniature horse, Tinkerbell.
She also rode Matt’s big warmblood with me several times and was fearless and so excited. Take a few moments and read this amazing article in the Miniature Horse World Magazine: Amazing Elana Coleman
(Matt let Elana lead Prince around the arena. Quite a huge size difference between Prince and her little mini-horse Tinkerbell)
I had such a fantastic day, leading Matt’s horse around the arena for an hour, giving some very special and wonderful kids pony rides.
(Jesse really liked Matt’s big “horse-with-no-name” and asked to ride him several times. I took Jesse around four times and enjoyed visiting with him)
(Seeing this photo really makes me see just how grown up Jesse is now. He’s 17 years old! Where has the time gone?)
Seeing the kids’ eyes light up and hearing their laughter brought joy to my heart. And now I’m looking forward to volunteering for any future Hearts for Horses events.
When we finally get thawed out up here (it’s snowing again as I type this post), I think Apache would enjoy doing this with me, too.
I know she’d certainly love to see Prince again.
