By Priscilla Lightsey | Founder
Greetings HOPE Supporters,
A lot has been going on at HOPE! In April our dear Luna retired from HOPE after almost 10 years as our Administrative Director. We miss her, but are happy she now has time to travel and relax. Luna was instrumental in HOPE obtaining our NGO (non-governmental organization) status – she worked tirelessly to help HOPE become the respected program that it is today.
In April, Amy visited the HOPE team in Beijing. She was pleased to see how well things were operating. She offered ideas on how to improve tack fit and ground work, helped in classes and provided feedback on horse training and assessment.
In June, Priscilla visited Beijing. What a joy it was to be back and see how well the team works together! Priscilla helped in classes, participated in a Board of Directors meeting, and consulted on participants with physical disabilities.
While Priscilla was there, we realized that our pony DaXi no longer liked her job doing adaptive riding. Once summer camp is over, the hunt for a new pony will begin. It can be challenging to find a horse that is comfortable with a horse-handler, two side-walkers, an unbalanced rider, and toys - all in one class. (Notably, Amy and Lucia did a great job finding Tank in 2019 in a short time. That was unusual and a true gift!)
HOPE is becoming recognized in southeast Asia for our safe and effective equine-assisted services (EAS) as well as our focus on horse welfare. Requests from other provinces in China and Hong Kong are coming in asking for training in EAS. Lucia worked with two coaches from Suzhou in early June. And she, Priscilla, and Xiao Zhao went to Qingdao to present to veterinary students at Qingdao Agriculture University on EAS. Stay tuned as HOPE develops a training program to demonstrate to interested parties what it takes to do EAS in China.
Thank you, kind donors, for being part of the HOPE team. Although your support may not be “in the dirt” it is very much necessary and appreciated!
In gratitude,
Priscilla, Amy and the HOPE team
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