Charles Wilhelm generously donated his time last Friday, August 26th, to put on a ground manners clinic for our Xenophon horses and volunteers. The clinic focused on developing a relationship of leadership with the horse. Charles focused on teaching how to do this by getting the horse to respect personal space and to move their feet away from the handler when asked. Our four Xenophon horses were brought in and Charles demonstrated with each one of them. He had all 4 working around him in minutes and ground tying in the arena. It was fabulous to watch. Many of our horse handlers were then able to try. It was a refreshing and fabulous learning experience by both the participants and those that audited. Thank you, Mr. Wilhelm for donating your time and providing us with this wonderful opportunity. Our horses thank you as well.

Thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who turned out for our Saturday Work Day on August 20th.  Many hands made very light work of all that had to be done to get the center ready.  We moved into the new office and sitting area, put in the loft in our tack shed (thank you Terry Murphy and Ron Bass for taking on that hot stuffy job), stained the deck, moved hay, cleaned out the hay shed and tool shed, and many other tasks.  It was a very successful day.

Our first student to ride in the new covered arena…

Xenophon has been the lucky beneficiary of a brand new lift. MAX-Ability, a company that specializes in products associated with accessibility for individuals with disabilities, is donating this fabulous piece of equipment.

The lift will be installed in our new arena. Using a belt system, it will allow us to mechanically lift clients directly from their wheelchair and onto the back of the horse, eliminating the need for awkward and often difficult mounts from the mounting ramp. It will ease the strain on the backs of our instructors and horses, as well as making mounts easier for the rider.

MAX-Ability is located in Santa Rosa and has been in business since 1993. The company goals coincide with the principles of environmental access and the affect it has on home care, rehabilitation, caregiver safety, and more. Their company has equipment in hospitals, schools, assisted living facilities, businesses, rehab facilities, and homes.

We are truly grateful to Lee Kaufman and MAX-Ability for giving us this wonderful donation.

We were in the Orinda Parade!  Our float looked wonderful and several of our students did a great job riding Exercise Annie while we maneuvered our way through the streets of Orinda. It was so exciting to see the crowds cheering for us.  Thank you to all the volunteers, parents and students who came and joined in the fun. All in all, a great day!

Here are pictures of the progress at Xenophon.  -So much fun to see…

The new arena will go here.

The deck used to be here.

One of many french drains.

Mountains of rock.

Monday morning May 2nd, was another  great day. Our new covered arena arrived in many pieces on the back of a flat bed truck.  Since our gate is small all materials had to be put on a forklift and moved into the parking lot.  It took three hours to unload the whole thing.

On Saturday, April 23rd, Xenophon participated in the first annual Horse Faire at Heather Farms Horse Arena.   Tatiana Casadont rode Wimbledon in the breed parade and demonstrated her trot work, steering and fine posture.  She had practiced her wave for weeks before, and did a fine job demonstrating it to the crowd.  One of our former students, Sierra Olson, was the event princess.  Xenophon also had a booth and a big thank you goes to Danielle Coburn for making our booth look so spectacular and to all the volunteers who came and worked.  It was fun day allowing many people to learn about our program.

Clark Construction and McGuire Hester started the Xenophon project on Monday, April 18th.  Even though this looks like destruction, which I guess it is,  it is the first phase. The old barn is going and a new one will take its place.  It was a sad moment for those of us who built and loved this little barn, but this IS progress and it is good.