Hope & Healing For Children & Horses
Our first-ever horse was so sick… She needed our new Hope & Healing Barn!
When a young girl just sits with a horse and cries … your heart cries out too — for answers. What’s wrong? How can I help?
Ada, 13, was crying with Shiloh … the very first horse ever to come to us here at
Reigning Grace Ranch. In fact, that’s Shiloh you see in our logo.
But one day, Shiloh fell ill. Some days, she was wracked with pain. Some days, she was lame. Sometimes she was simply lying down 16 hours a day — dreadfully abnormal for a horse.
Finally, she was diagnosed with Cushing’s — a horse-version of diabetes. Shiloh’s condition even generated a giant abscess on one of her feet, making it impossible for her even to move without excruciating pain.
I confess: Receiving that diagnosis, I had a twinge of regret … because if we had already opened our new Hope & Healing Barn, we could have diagnosed Shiloh ourselves, and quickly — to spare her months of agony.
But in the days since then … seeing Shiloh grow healthier and stronger day by day … I resolved to set aside my regrets — and redouble my efforts to get our Hope & Healing Barn fully constructed and equipped. For the sake of the horses we love … the horses who are doing such phenomenal work with children like Ada … we must provide better care.
So I’m bringing you this heartfelt request today: Would you please give a special gift of compassion to help us provide dramatically better medical attention to the horses in our care?
Many friends have already given generously — if you’re among them, I thank you! We’re 65% of the way toward our goal … just $87,740 to go. With a project of this scope, this is great news!
I don’t know how generous you can be, but I pray every friend will consider giving, or even giving again. Maybe you could give $87.74, doing your own personal part as a member of our Ranch family. Perhaps God has blessed you abundantly, and you could do more — maybe you could even be one of a hundred friends to give a major gift of $877.40.
But whatever gift you give today, large or small, I can assure you of this: Your generosity will make a real difference for the horses here at the Ranch, and a real difference in the lives of the children and families so beautifully impacted by these wonderful animals.
I wish you could meet Ada and Shiloh together, and see for yourself what an amazing relationship they have. You would see firsthand the power of your generosity, and the tremendous importance of quality medical facilities for our horses….
At just 5 years of age, Ada was struggling with hormonal imbalance, anxiety, depression, fits of rage, and other emotional issues, both at home and at school.
Her family had tried various forms of therapy. But when they brought her to the Ranch, something new happened. In our mentoring program, as she learned to work with the horses, she learned to work with her own feelings. Ada gained confidence, she acquired skills, she blossomed. It was thrilling! We watched her begin to change, to heal, to grow.
Today, at 13, Ada is still changing, learning and growing — but she’s vastly different from the angry child who first arrived here 8 years ago.
And along the way, she fell in love with Shiloh. This is a horse with a mind of her own, but that was a good thing for Ada to encounter. “When you’re trying to handle situations, you can’t just expect everything to go your way,” Ada has learned. “You actually have to work with the person to come up with a solution.” Or work with the horse!
Ada is grateful for Reigning Grace Ranch, especially “the skills they taught me to handle things,” she says. “The horses really help you learn how to regulate your energy and stay calm…. I don’t get really angry anymore.”
To risk a horse’s health … in fact, risk a horse’s life … is a terrible thing. We’ve got to finish our Hope & Healing Barn. No horse should ever again go through what Shiloh went through.
So I hope you can help today, or help again. Please do whatever you can. Thank you in advance for caring enough to give generously, and compassionately.
Believing in second chances,
Amanda More
Founder
P.S.
Also, your gift can earn you a dollar-for-dollar credit against your state taxes, through the Arizona Charitable Tax Credit. Claim up to $400 of your gifts to Reigning Grace Ranch if you file singly, $800 filing jointly. (And if you can give a major gift of $10,000, we’ll name one of the new horse stalls after you. Or give $5,000 to share naming rights with someone else, or $2,500 to share naming rights with 3 others.) Thank you again!