She is full grown and she is a big girl! It takes a community to care for our horses. Being a non-profit, we are reliant on the generosity of  neighbors, friends, and donors to maintain our herd. Please considering supporting WSS by giving to this very special and beautiful work. Donate to WSS Horses Folks have asked, “How is Freya?” And the answer is, she’s doing great. She turned 4 in March and continues to entrance all those who find her in the pasture. She has been ridden, but she is not ready to enter our string. Mentally and socially, she is still a very young horse, and I don’t want her to make a mistake, or for pressure to be put on her that she would not understand. She needs time to level out. And this being the first horse to train from the ground-up, I want to live to tell the tale. Although, I've not had any frightening or dangerous situations with her. She only freaked me out once. When she began to come into [...]

Saying hello in her quirky way! It takes a community to care for our horses. Being a non-profit, we are reliant on the generosity of  neighbors, friends, and donors to maintain our herd. Please considering supporting WSS by giving to this very special and beautiful work. Donate to WSS Horses Where is Freya? I am so glad you asked! In the fall we moved her over to a neighboring farm. Some of our young Wrangler staff were not prepared to deal with the exuberant play of a 3-year-old, so a friend took her for the winter. I set her training aside during the harsh winter. Because Freya is a draft cross, drafts tend to mature more slowly. Riding her last summer, I could tell she was not dialed in. It could be a host of contributing factors, but my gut told me her brain was still developing and asking her for too much could prove harmful to her or me. So, we took a slower path. If you drive over to WSS, you can see her down in [...]

She's very tall and impressive in her size! It takes a community to care for our horses. Being a non-profit, we are reliant on the generosity of  neighbors, friends, and donors to maintain our herd. Please considering supporting WSS by giving to this very special and beautiful work. Donate to WSS Horses Freya and I hope you've had an excellent summer. Freya certainly did. She loves being part of the horse string, in the corral, being with the 'big kids.' She did an excellent job this summer and I am so proud of her. Something else became clear the more I worked with her. She was entirely compliant and willing, but she was also lacking context. Let me explain. Teaching a horse is a lot like building a lego castle. There are many different pieces that the horse has to learn. For example: learning to accept the bit, different gaits, move out under pressure, leg cues, rein training, the environment with all its sounds and smells, etc. All these, plus a lot more, make for a cohesive action like [...]

Freya escaped her pen and laid herself down for a nap with her head in the road? Photo bombing Hannah and Martha refilling the water trough Freya, the funny girl Horses have horsersonalities, and Freya certainly has a comical one. If you’ve read this blog before, you know that she is extroverted, friendly, persistent and curious. She is gentle and teachable, but in the herd she is boss girl.  She knows how to point her ears and shake her mane to move the herd around. But it turns out, she is also very funny. I’ve seen this before. One of my favorite horse stories is a time I was out feeding in the mean depths of winter. I found myself standing close wedged between Tasso and Koa. I was loving on them, brushing and talking with them. But I was also complaining about how cold I was and how much my fingers hurt. And then the Holy Spirit told me to listen. Not with my ears, but in my spirit. All of a sudden, I was awake, [...]

In this latest addition of the Freya blog, we want to honor Richard Kurz. Rich was a WSS guest and lover of our horse program. He adopted Koa, our big Belgian draft, when Koa was done working but not done living. Enjoy this beautiful song written about Koa by Katy Pistole, founder of Beautiful Brokenness Ministries, in honor of Rich’s life and legacy. Rich is now riding horses in heaven waiting for his beloved Koa to arrive. Find out more about Katy’s ministry here: https://beautifulbrokenness.org/

Saying goodbye to our horse friend Rich. He's riding horses in heaven now. Hannah McKinney working with Freya, Winter 2025 Donate to WSS Horses It takes a community to care for our horses. Being a non-profit, we are reliant on the generosity of  neighbors, friends, and donors to maintain our herd. Please considering supporting WSS by giving to this very special and beautiful work. Back from the Jungle! Hello White Sulphur Springs Freya fans. It feels so good to be back out in the corral working with Freya. The last time I published a blog was in October. Since that time, I was busy with the WSS Christmas season, and then away for most of the winter on sabbatical. Before I bring a Freya update, let me tell you about my adventures. Beginning my sabbatical on January 31, one of the first things my husband Mark and I did was go to the memorial of Richard Kurz, a WSS guest, lover of our horse program and the adopter of Koa, our big Belgian. We [...]

Freya is inquisitive about everything. Here she's checking out the newly hung carpenter bee trap. Our first trail ride. Freya is a good girl and she knows it. Donate to WSS Horses It takes a community to care for our horses. Being a non-profit, we are reliant on the generosity of  neighbors, friends, and donors to maintain our herd. Please considering supporting WSS by giving to this very special and beautiful work. Welcome back to the Freya blog! Looking back, our summer here at WSS was one for the books- the largest summer yet. All our programs were well attended and our horse program was the star of our guest events. And little/big Freya. She has truly come into her own. She loves the attention and is curious about everything. It’s quite typical to see guests gathered around her on the other side of the fence while she meets and greets everyone in the crowd. She loves being the star of the show. And now things are going to slow down. For the next [...]

Chris Pease and Freya on her first ride. Pure joy! The tire tower. Her favorite game in the whole world! Donate to WSS Horses It takes a community to care for our horses. Being a non-profit, we are reliant on the generosity of  neighbors, friends, and donors to maintain our herd. Please considering supporting WSS by giving to this very special and beautiful work. The more time I spend with Freya, the more I discover about her personality and wiring. She’s grown enormously physically in the last 3 months, thick muscles and a broad neck. This makes her natural bent of extroversion and dominance bring some exciting new challenges. Her desired place is to be right up close in your lap. A 1,300 lb lap dog. Without shutting down her wonderful, open friendliness, I want to keep her at arm’s length (+/- an extra foot) so she doesn’t accidentally step on me. It’s not the big things that are making a difference right now, it’s the little teaching areas that make a difference. She [...]

Hannah McKinney and Freya have a little snuggle. Hannah is WSS Wrangler staff. Could you be a future wrangler? Freya's Genetic Make-up Who/what is the surprise baby? Freya's DNA results Click here to see Freya's DNA report from Texas A&M Cream Draft Haflinger Garrano Learning to accept the bit should be done in a quiet, gentle way with good encouragement Donate to WSS Horses It takes a community to care for our horses. Being a non-profit, we are reliant on the generosity of  neighbors, friends, and donors to maintain our herd. Please considering supporting WSS by giving to this very special and beautiful work. Freya DNA TEST- BIG NEWS Freya is now a confident 2-year-old filly. She is gentle and feisty at the same time. She is pastured with a mixed herd of other mares and geldings and she can hold her own. If you’ve met Freya, you know she’s not afraid of much. She’s happiest when she has a crowd around her. A generous donor recently [...]