The bottom of Rio's hoof from a recent farrier visit. See the damage? Freya; learning how to learn Retraining a frightened horse to lift her feet Lift your feet-  Ephesians 4:31-32 states, ‘Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ, has forgiven you. What attracted me to this verse is the reference to wrangling. That is, in fact, the job title of those who work with horses. A job title that suggests that we will encounter some level of turbulence or unwillingness with the horse. At the minimum, there will be a conversation with the horse about how today’s program will roll out. But I think it would be short-sighted if wrangling is where we left it- with the expectation that horse and human cannot work in unity together. I’ve heard people say that the horse ‘really doesn’t want to be with you.’ And while I think that can be true [...]

Freya- first time in the round pen! A little more obedient? You decide... This is why you need to fix this problem early! Beginning Teaching  - The responsibility of accepting a beautiful baby untrained horse is quite intimidating. Because Freya is Belgian Draft cross, even as a 9-month-old foal, she is as big as many full-grown horses. More to the point, she has the good sense that God has given horses, but none of the learning that allows her to interact safely with her human trainers. Getting her started in the right direction takes a lot of know-how. To assist in getting her started, Katy Pistole, of Beautiful Brokenness Ministries came to start building the foundation of her learning. She consulted with our Barn and Wrangler staff in the dos and do-nots of teaching a weanling. Mostly, it’s about being safe and not letting Freya develop any bad habits while still young. Freya will not be ridden during her first couple years, but there are still many lessons to learn. One [...]

Aidan ready to roll Winter is cold and windy at WSS and our wranglers, like Aidan, work hard to care for our herd. Aidan Clack-  Hey everyone, My name is Aidan and I'm one of the three wrangler interns this year on the WSS EXSEL discipleship program. I am really passionate about music, criminal justice, and people. I am an extrovert and love to chat with the kids that come to ride horses. Being a military kid, I can't say where home is, but I have spent a lot of time time in Baltimore, MD, Washington DC, California, and South Korea. Before I came to WSS, I did not want to come to this place! I honestly felt like it would be a waste of time, and that I should go to college instead. But I couldn't shake the feeling that God wanted me here, so I reluctantly applied two months after the deadline. Thinking I wouldn't get accepted, I was surprised by the turn of events when my application was approved. It turns out I was supposed to [...]