Equine Reflections' Horses
Our main mascots are Baron Von Vendavel ("Val"), an award-winning Georgian Grande, and Clyde, whose inspiring true life journey from struggling rescued colt to beloved celebrity Clydesdale is told in Clyde: The Never-Give-Up-Horse by Deborah Young. Equine Reflections incorporates the book and Clyde's life example into many activities, including Magical Horses school field trips, to inspire learning, confidence building, goal setting and achievement, and many other personal growth tools and strategies.
Clyde and Val are joined in the Equine Reflections programs by 12 (and counting!) other horses, miniature horses and ponies -- rescued from situations, due to no fault of their own, of mistreatment, malnourishment, neglect and/or abandonment -- that we have rehabbed, retrained and repurposed into a wonderful, life-changing team of equine therapy and learning partners. They love each other, they love their their jobs, and most of all they love all the people they get to meet and help while doing their jobs!
All of our horses are kind, well behaved, and experienced as partners in equine-assisted activities. Nonetheless, Equine Reflections goes above and beyond even typical industry standards to make safety a priority at all times. Every program or new client session begins with review and signing of liability releases, as well as safety education by Certified American Association of Horsemanship Safety Riding Instructor and EAGALA Equine Specialist Bonny Barry. All of our staff and volunteers who assist in equine activities also undergo safety training. We additionally require that our clients wear ASTM/SEI certified safety helmets whenever working with horses both on the ground and in the saddle (up-to-date helmets are kept on site and provided by Equine Reflections for client use during sessions).