Author Archives: Christine Raddeck

Welcome Teddy & Dakota!

We like to introduce you to our newest herd members Teddy and Dakota.

Teddy, a 20 year old Quarter Horse gelding, is as sweet as sweet can be. In his prior years Teddy was used as a trail/pleasure horse and has also been used for lessons for children and adults. Teddy will be a great addition to our herd with his playful and easy going personality. His solid gaits will make him a favorite mount for our independent riders. He passed his therapy testing in record time. We are very grateful to Teddy’s owner, Sandy Johnson, for the use of this wonderful horse.


Dakota is a 12 year old Quarter Horse gelding, standing proud at 15.3h. Before his time at Xenophon he was used as a trial and a pleasure horse for the whole family. Having experience with working with a child with disabilities he passed his testing with flying colors. His sweet and easy going personality is a plus and Dakota enjoys hanging out with his herd mates. He has already become a favorite for our students, staff and volunteers.

Starlight and Ruby Retire from our Herd

We have come to a difficult decision that it is time for Starlight and Ruby to retire from our herd.

Starlight joined our program in spring of 2012 and has been a fantastic four-legged therapist. Starlight has carried some of our most difficult mounts with such ease, she also absolutely loved being groomed and led by our morning program participants/veterans. We will miss her dearly and thank her for the 4 years of service with us!

Ruby joined our program in the winter of 2014. Ruby has taught many of our independent riders the sitting trot and canter with her smooth gaits. Sweet Ruby was also a favorite for our morning program participants for leading and round penning. Thank you Ruby for your service with us for the past 2 years.

Unfortunately both Starlight and Ruby have shown some physical issues at their age of 23 and 22. We wish both Starlight and Ruby all the best in their well deserved retirement and thank them for their years of service!

Gianni’s Italian Bistro Fundraiser

The perfect opportunity…Monday, October 3rd from 5:00 – 9:00PM, come experience some of the best Italian food in the Bay Area, while being waited on by the Xenophon pastastaff and board members. 

Yes, that is right, the Xenophon staff will be moonlighting as waiters in order to earn your tips.  Gianni’s Italian Bistro in San Ramon opens their restaurant on Monday evenings (a day they are normally closed), so that a non-profit can come in, provide the wait staff and then keep all of the tips earned that evening.

Reservations Required.  Please call (925)820-6969.  Book early, as last year the event sold out. Or visit opentable.com to make your reservation.

Summer Camp

 

Summer Camp 2016 was filled with fun filled surprises this August. To start with each day, we covered various themes of discussion relating to our horses. Communication of body language i.e. tail swishing and ear movement; tack equipment; the horse skeleton and showmanship. Arts and crafts galore were done daily along with coloring related pictures of the topic given that day. A special guest arrived on the second day of camp to share his talents in balloon making! This guest was “Harpo the Clown”. He was quiet, gentle and fun for our campers.  To top the week off, we had 2 horses from SonRise Equestrian Foundation visit, a mini named Blackie and a pony named Derby. Tom Locke (their trainer and Traveling Tails Coordinator), who also takes these 2 horses to various hospitals for children to meet, conducted a demonstration of arena work. After his show, the campers did a meet and greet with the horses and were able to lead them through a obstacle course. To end the day our campers got to paint and bathe the SonRise horses and Kiwi! Campers got to play games while riding horseback, a ribbon was received upon completion for riding a patter with obstacles and they also learned how to groom, clean waters and muck the pastures. Wow! What a week of busy excitement had by all.

A special thank you goes to Laura Fend, Melissa Maker, Heidi Koch, Danielle Coburn, Christine Raddeck and our valuable volunteers for assisting in Xenophon’s camp!

Xenophon Family Night Out

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Join Xenophon for a fun evening at an A’s game!

Saturday, August 13th at 6:05 vs the Seattle Mariners

STAR WARS Fireworks Show will follow the game!

You can watch fireworks from the field or from the section we will be seated in.

Tickets are $30 – checks can be made payable to Xenophon TRC or you can purchase online under the donate tab. Please indicate for the purchase of A’s tickets.

We have 50 seats reserved and it will be on a first come-first serve basis.

Please email Janet Alexander at janet@xenophontrc.org to indicate how many tickets you would like to purchase by July 29th.

Instructor In-Service Day

Xenophon instructors and staff gathered together on April 30th at the center for a First Aid and CPR review as well as hands on AED training workshop led by retired fire fighter paramedics and hors

20160430_141439e women, Cathy S tralovich and Dena Stephens.

Several hours were spent reviewing specific medical/injury scenarios that could occur at Xenophon dur ing lessons or anywhere else where horses and riders are present.  Instructors shared personal experiences and learned how to handle each situation for the best outcome possible.  A special thank you to Cathy and Dena for sharing their time and expertise!

Following this workshop, Tineke Jacobsen, our on staff Physical Therapist, reviewed safe holds for side walkers to use during lessons, vaulting positions and how to move riders around the horse so that it is comfortable for the rider as well as the horses back.  Thank you Tineke for providing us with this valuable information and thank you to our volunteer Emiley, who was our demo student!20160430_160418