or The Healing Power of Horses By: Laurie Searle A young girl snuggles head-to-head with a cream-colored specked horse. Her eyes are half closed in that blissful look kids get from utter contentment, trust, and love. The horse’s body language and peaceful demeanor seem to mirror the girl’s feelings. In his book, Riding Home - The Power of Horses to Heal, author Tim Hayes says it’s the horse’s ability to read the behavior of others and their silent intentions that give them the psychological mirroring expertise of the most gifted human therapist. As a result of this uncanny natural ability, horses are being utilized in a relatively new discipline known as Equine-Assisted Activities and Therapy (EAAT). Within that framework, some more common therapies include: therapeutic horseback riding, equine-assisted learning, and equine-assisted psychotherapy. In this month’s issue we introduce three Chatt Hills residents who work with the healing power of horses: • Grace Aldridge, founder and director of Serenbe Stables, has moved her family and Equine-Assisted Activities nonprofit to Wild Fern Ranch on Hutcheson Ferry Rd. • Julie White, long-time resident on Wilkerson Mill Rd, founded White Horse Farm last year to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome at-risk horses. • Chatt Hills teen Addie Koehl shares her experience volunteering at CORRAL (Coweta Organization for Riding, Rehabilitation and Learning). This Month’s Issue: P2 – Grace Aldridge: Wild Fern Ranch P4 – Julie White: White Horse Farm P6 – Addie Koehl: CORRAL Volunteer P7 – Community Announcements P11 – Community Events P17 – Church Bulletin P18 - Memorials P19 – City Government P23 – City Calendar ISSUE No. 39 March 2018 A monthly publication of the Chatt Hills Community, a citizen-run news service that connects, informs, and engages friends & neighbors of Chattahoochee Hills, GA. About CHATT Mya the rescue horse now lives at White Horse Farm in Chatt Hills.
6
Embed
CHATT or · • Julie White, long-time resident on Wilkerson Mill Rd, founded White Horse Farm last year to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome at-risk horses. • Chatt Hills teen Addie
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
or
The Healing Power of Horses By: Laurie Searle
A young girl snuggles head-to-head with a cream-colored specked
horse. Her eyes are half closed in that blissful look kids get from utter
contentment, trust, and love. The horse’s body language and peaceful
demeanor seem to mirror the girl’s feelings.
In his book, Riding Home - The Power of Horses to Heal, author Tim
Hayes says it’s the horse’s ability to read the behavior of others and
their silent intentions that give them the psychological mirroring
expertise of the most gifted human therapist.
As a result of this uncanny natural ability, horses are being utilized in
a relatively new discipline known as Equine-Assisted Activities and
Therapy (EAAT). Within that framework, some more common
In this month’s issue we introduce three Chatt Hills residents who work
with the healing power of horses:
• Grace Aldridge, founder and director of Serenbe Stables, has
moved her family and Equine-Assisted Activities nonprofit to Wild Fern Ranch on Hutcheson Ferry Rd.
• Julie White, long-time resident on Wilkerson Mill Rd, founded White Horse Farm last year to rescue, rehabilitate
and rehome at-risk horses.
• Chatt Hills teen Addie Koehl shares her experience volunteering at CORRAL (Coweta Organization for Riding,
Rehabilitation and Learning).
This Month’s Issue:
P2 – Grace Aldridge: Wild Fern Ranch
P4 – Julie White: White Horse Farm
P6 – Addie Koehl: CORRAL Volunteer
P7 – Community Announcements
P11 – Community Events
P17 – Church Bulletin
P18 - Memorials
P19 – City Government
P23 – City Calendar
ISSUE No. 39
March 2018
A monthly publication of the Chatt Hills Community, a citizen-run news service that
connects, informs, and engages friends & neighbors of Chattahoochee Hills, GA.
About
CHATT
Mya the rescue horse now lives at White Horse Farm in Chatt Hills.
Chatt About – March 2018 | www.chatthillscommunity.com 2
The Healing Power of Horses
Grace Aldridge: Wild Fern Ranch As if on cue, the daily rain and gloomy skys of February subsided for an
afternoon, allowing the winter sun to brighten and warm the day for a
trip to Wild Fern Ranch in Chatt Hills.
This beautiful 50-acre property has undergone several transitions over
the years. Originally built in 1986, its log home, 1,000 organic
blueberry bushes, and fenced pastures, paddocks and horse stalls
reflected the owners’ passions. The next owners transitioned the
property into a corporate retreat and nonprofit blueberry farm.
Then last year, Grace and Doug Aldridge transitioned from their life at
Serenbe and moved here with their six children and five horses. The
family now has plenty of room to roam, while Grace home schools her
children and works her equestrian nonprofit on their Wild Fern Ranch.
A transition from city life to Serenbe Grace grew up in Atlanta and developed her love of horses at an early age. She began riding when she was eight years
old and continued for the next 10 years before taking a break for college, marriage and starting her family.
She and her future husband Doug discovered Serenbe while searching for an ideal place for their wedding in 2004. At
that time the budding community had established the Farm House as a B&B and event venue, and had just built its first
home in its sustainable community plan.
The couple continued living in Atlanta for the next 10 years, happily expanding their family to five children and a large
assortment of pets. Then in 2014, they re-discovered Serenbe on their way home from a family trip in South Georgia.
“Coming back to Serenbe somehow brought us back to the core of who we were when we married here 10 years ago,”
Grace said. “We saw an opportunity for a different and a better quality of life for ourselves and our children.” And with
Serenbe’s horse stables and 15 miles of trails, Grace also saw an opportunity to return to her love of horses. Soon after,
the family saddled up their bags (and horse) and made the move.
Establishing Serenbe Stables In 2015, Grace opened Serenbe Stables as a nonprofit with the mission to
connect horse and human and heart together in a positive way.
Grace said that from the moment she first felt this calling, her business
had to have some component of service that involved her two passions –
children and horses.
“I started with one horse and slowly built a herd of six and a team of
instructors and volunteers,” Grace said. “For the first few years, we didn’t
do any boarding; we focused on offering trail riding and establishing our
outreach programs.
Grace Aldridge at Wild Fern Ranch carries on her mission to serve children and horses.
Chatt About – March 2018 | www.chatthillscommunity.com 5
Horse Tale – Shadow’s Story
Shadow came to White Horse Farm from a couple who was no longer able to care for him. The horse didn’t have any
problems except he didn’t like men. Luckily, a husband contacted Julie who wanted a horse for his wife. The couple
came to pick up Shadow, intending to ride him the five miles back to their home. But the horse went crazy and wouldn’t
come out of the driveway, most likely because the man was there. Julie saved the day by riding the horse the five miles
to the couple’s house.
Horse Tale – Sweetie Pie Story
Confined to a barn stall for breeding, this broodmare had no name other than “Mama.” She came to White Horse Farm
before the old cattle barn was set in place and before the pastures were fenced. She was a horse that loved to be loved,
so Julie called her Sweetie Pie. The owners thought that Julie was buying her, which wasn’t what she had in mind since
the horse had cancer. When the owner came to take her back, Sweetie Pie didn’t want to go. She reared up and took off
running. The owner threw his hands up in the air and told Julie she could have the horse.
Horse Tale – Julie’s Story
All total, Julie has cared for eight horses since she moved to her Chatt Hills.
But as interesting as her horse stories were, we asked Julie to share a bit of
her own personal story.
Julie grew up in Union City back before the city was so built up. She lived in a
modest home on a city-sized lot, but it was near a corn field, of which her
family had permission to fence off an acre. All of her friends had horses and
she wanted one too, so she was given Jubilee, a Welsh pony. The horse was
a little small for Julie, so she sold it (but kept it on their property) and bought
a larger horse named Rebel. She eventually sold it, (but kept it on their
property) and bought Red. She kept that horse until she wrecked the family
car and her dad made her sell the horse to pay for the car. She couldn’t find
anyone who could ride Red, until a six-year-old girl saddled up Red one day
and rode her. That little girl had just bought herself a horse.
When Julie met her future husband Ron, he was a city boy with a
hankering to move to the country for a little more space. Once they
became engaged, he bought 13 acres of land on Wilkerson Mill Rd.
After they married, they built their home there in 1984.
Over the next 18 years, the couple sold off three acres of their land
and made a few improvements to their homeplace while they both
worked full time. They built a modern outhouse, which they still
enjoy today, and in 2001 they relocated and rebuilt the old cattle
barn. When the couple retired from their full-time jobs, they spent
their leisure time enjoying their farm.
Last year, a friend recommended to Julie that she create a non-
profit for her White Horse Farm, which she did. Since then Julie has
been working on improving her pastures and gravel roads in
preparation for additional horses.
Julie’s cowgirl tree is decorated with all the boots she’s worn over the years. In the back left, the farm’s functioning outhouse, in the back right, her beloved barn.