The document provides information about upcoming events at Healing with Horses Ranch, including Amplify Austin on March 2nd-3rd where they hope to raise $8,000. It encourages volunteering, donating, and fundraising for the nonprofit during this event. It also shares an update on horse Levi who has gained weight and confidence since arriving at the ranch. Finally, it discusses the importance of hay for horses' nutrition and mental well-being.

1. I am writing this as we are gearing up for our annual volunteer
recognition. This is a time when we can reflect back on to the past
year and celebrate all of our accomplishments that were made
possible because so many volunteered their time and talents to make
this dream a reality! I hope that everyone takes a moment out of
their busy lives to come and enjoy the Fiesta and find out who the
Volunteer, Youth Volunteer, and Horse of the Year are! Good food +
live music + wonderful people = a great time!
There are so many upcoming events, that it keeps my head spinning,
but Amplify Austin is our next excitement as we welcome the public
to come out to our Open House on Friday March 3rd from 9 am to 6
pm. Encourage your friends and families to come out and meet the
herd and see what we do. We are determined to increase our
capacity by increasing the number of PATH certified Instructors and
PATH certified Equine Specialists on staff and by building our covered
arena. This will allow us to increase our enrollment in our SAFE
(Strides to Achieve Family Engagement) program, our veterans
program, as well as our weekly therapeutic riding classes. So please
help us surpass our goal of raising $8000 which is < 10% of what we
need to raise for the arena alone!
Healing with Horses
Ranch
10014 FM 973
Manor, TX 78653
512-964-0360
1
DATES TO REMEMBER
March 2nd & 3rd - 6pm-6pm Amplify Austin
March 3rd - Open House with demo rides
and Duck race
April 10 - April 14th - tentative
Equine Specialist Workshop and certification
April 15th - Annual Easter Egg Hunt
July 2nd - 2nd Annual HHR Horse Show

2. Teah Brannam 3/5
Libby Hallett 3/7
Miranda Sanner 3/9
Diane Powell 3/14
Irene Schulz 3/14
Amanda DeSantiago 3/19
Jackie Marin 3/19
Emily Dwyer 3/22
Cari Weiss 3/25
Angela Stephens 3/26
Andrew Sultenfuss 3/28
Kadie Meroney 3/31
2
HAPPY BIRTHDAY:
Studies estimate that approximately a half million teens struggle with eating
disorders or disordered eating and those numbers are rising in both male
and female teens and adults. Eating disorders, such as anorexia,
bulimia, and binge eating disorder are serious emotional and physical
problems that can have life-threatening consequences.
There are many factors that have been shown to be connected (though not
necessarily predictive) to the development of an eating disorder. Having a
hard time expressing emotions or being teased or bullied because of size or
weight, or those with a history of physical or sexual abuse can obviously be
affected psychologically. It can lead to low self esteem, feelings of
inadequacy, a lack of control in life, depression, anxiety, anger, stress or
loneliness all of which can be connected to the development of an eating
disorder. Cultural pressures that glorify “thinness” or muscularity and place
value on obtaining the “perfect body” can lead others to find alternative
ways to achieve the “perfect” body. Additionally, scientists are researching
possible biomechanical or biological causes of eating disorders such as
chemical imbalances or even heredity as eating disorders often run in
families.
Equine-Facilitated Learning (EFL) can benefit youth and their families by
offering a safe, accepting, non-judgmental space in which to work. EFL is a
hands-on educational program that uses the interactions and developing
relationships between horses and humans in an environment of learning
and self-discovery. It is designed to promote personal growth and the
development of positive social/life skills such as anger management and
explore character assets such as trust, honesty and responsibility. Students
also develop a sense of self-worth, self-knowledge, and self-confidence.
Through a curriculum of activities designed to address individual goals and
needs, each equine interaction is framed to help clients learn and grow.
National Eating Disorders Awareness
Week—February 26th to March 4th!
Learn more about
this issue …
CLICK HERE

3. 3
Amplify Austin Day is our city's annual community-wide day of online giving. The 24-hour period
begins at 6pm on March 2nd and ends 24 hours later at 6pm on March 3rd provides an easy and fun
way for our entire community to give together while helping local nonprofits. Over the past four years,
Amplify Austin has raised over $24.7M for hundreds of local organizations. In 2016 $8.5M was raised for
over 600 Central Texas nonprofits. This year the goal is to raise over $9M for almost 700 organizations.
There are so many opportunities to help Healing with Horses Ranch.
Be a Donor. Go to amplifyatx.org to make your selection of nonprofits to make a donation to. I
personally recommend Healing with Horses Ranch, but I am a little biased! You can go ahead and
schedule a donation now! The following link will take you directly to Healing with Horses Ranch’s
fundraising page. https://amplifyatx.ilivehereigivehere.org/healingwithhorsesranch/overview
Be a Fundraiser for Healing with Horses Ranch. You or your family has a passion: it could be for
the students, the horses, or even the property. We bet you have a wonderful network of friends and
colleagues in your life and they are probably going to be more likely to donate to Healing with Horses
Ranch because of you.
1. CREATE AN ACCOUNT with Amplify Austin.
2. Go to https://amplifyatx.ilivehereigivehere.org/healingwithhorsesranch/overview and Create a
Fundraising Campaign button, where you will be asked to create a donor account. It doesn't take
long
3. Tell your story of why you're so passionate about Healing with Horses Ranch to inspire your friends
to be part of this awesome work in our community.
4. Submit it for approval to the nonprofit you're supporting. Once they approve it, your campaign will
be live to the world!
5. Share your excitement!
a.Recommend Amplify Austin on your social media handles and link back to your fundraising page
b.Send emails about our mission, your goal and a link to your fundraising page. Your friends and
family can start giving once your page goes live.
6. Everyone that creates a fundraising page for Healing with Horses Ranch will be entered into a raffle
to win an awesome prize
7. The biggest fundraiser will win a prize also!
SPREAD the WORD on Facebook, instagram, twitter and any other social media. Let’s Amplify
Austin! And better yet, let’s amplify Healing with Horses Ranch!
Amplify Austin Day - March 2nd

4. UPDATE on Levi
4
Levi was donated to Healing
with Horses Ranch in June of
2016 by one of our amazing
volunteers, Kiera Quiring. Prior
to coming to the ranch, Levi
was mostly a pasture "pony"
only getting ridden when an
occassional friend would come
over that needed a babysitter
for a mount. He was definitely
the low man on the totem pole
and was chased away from hay which caused him to be
quite thin when he came. He also has cedar allergies
while living in a groove of cedar trees. When he got
itchy, do you know what he itched himself on? You got
it... a cedar tree. It was a vicious circle for him!
Levi is a 10 year old, 16.2 hand high, black Percheron
gelding who already has some wonderful nicknames...
Moose, Goliath, Giant, Black Beauty just to name a few!
He has grown leaps and bounds in the last 8 months...
mentally and physically. He weighed 1472 lbs when we
came to the ranch and he is now topping out at 1703 lbs.
Now if he could only realize that he is not the same size
as Oreo!
It never fails that some of our smallest riders get chosen
by this gentle giant and it is quite comical to see these
little tikes flawlessly guiding him on trail rides. Levi also
can handle the weight of some of our adult riders that
otherwise may not have gotten the experience to ride.
Healing with Horses Ranch has a policy that horses will
carry no more than 20% of their weight including tack.
That means that Levi could potentially carry 340 lbs! He
has proven his place at Healing with Horses Ranch!!!
January and February have been big hay donation
months for the Ranch. I thought I’d take this opportuni-
ty to share some hay information with all of you. I am
certainly not qualified to tell you the nutritional details
or horticultural facts but I can share the things I’ve
learned living with a horse person for 30+ years!
Hay is a critical part of a horse’s diet not only for
their nutritional but also mental well-being. Horses
were around thousands of years before humans started
putting buckets of high energy gain and pelletized feeds
in front of their long faces. In the wild, horses graze
constantly in order to acquire enough nutrition to sus-
tain their 1000+ pound bodies. I’ve been told a horse
will graze as much as 20 hours a day!
Horses are grass eating machines! From what I can tell a
horse’s day is made up of 20 hours eating, 3 hours poop-
ing, and 1 hour looking cute for our selfies!
As a result, horses are “genetically programmed” to
graze. Even if their nutritional needs are met via other
sources, they still need to graze to be a “horse”. Think
of it like this - Hay is to a horse what french-fries are to
you and I – comfort food! If a horse is restless in his
stall, give him hay. If he’s pacing in the field, give him
hay. If two horses are confronting each other, give
them both hay….. You get the idea. If you see a single
horse in a small dirt field you can bet he is not happy….
give him hay!
Even with 43 acres, it’s hard to maintain enough
grass for 15 constantly grazing horses. Therefore we
must supplement with hay. Hay can be acquired in bulk
form in either square or round bales. Square bales are
more prevalent in the northeast where higher energy
alfalfa hay is more common and 40 to 50 lb. square
bales are easier to handle by hand and control the
amount consumed. Round bales are more common in
Texas, especially for cattle. A round bale can weigh any-
where from 900 to 1500 lbs depending on the baler,
require equipment to handle, and currently, cost in the
$50 to $80 range (depending on quality and availability).
On average our herd currently consumes approximately
3 round bales a week. The quantity (and cost) quickly
add up. We added round bale ring feeders to our wish
list. They will allow us to better control consumption
and waste. We have been blessed recently with several
very generous hay donations. The staff and especially
the horses thank you.
By: Davina Merkel

5. 5
Richard Powe
Richard Powe officially took the volunteer training class on November 5, 2016, but
has been volunteering at the ranch for close to 2 years. When Richard worked at
Dell, he would lead volunteer teams to help clear trails, raise the canopy and moni-
tor the large burn piles. Since then, he has really enjoyed helping individually with
lessons, feeding the horses, and basically, anything the ranch needs help with!
To say Richard has moved a lot is an understatement! He was born in Houston and
graduated high school from Lake Jackson, TX but the in-between years took him all
over the country. His father was an aerospace engineer and worked for NASA and
Boeing to name a few, and the job market would come calling every few years.
Texas would always be home for Richard though.
In 1996 he suffered a terrible car accident. Richard was driving on southbound I-35 towards San Marcos in the
early morning hours and fell asleep at the wheel. He rear-ended a dump truck protecting a street sweeper and
was t-boned on the driver's side by another vehicle. He was life flighted to Brackenridge hospital and spent the
next year of his life in rehab and recovery from a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and a greenstick fracture of the left
elbow. After a full recovery, he went on to complete his B.B.A. in Accounting from Texas State University and
took a full-time position with Dell. Richard worked for Dell for close to 17 years.
The road of life has him on a different path right now and he is currently studying to obtain a Project Manager +
SQL Certification to solidify what he accomplished at Dell, Inc. as well as taking a strong interest in Nutrition and
the Environment. While working on some new career goals, he also finds time to volunteer at Launch Pad Job
Club on Friday mornings, Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge a few times per month, and at Healing
with Horses Ranch twice a week!
When Richard is at the ranch, he loves spending time with all the horses, but in particular, Chocolate. He doesn't
really have an explanation for the attraction, he just feels drawn to this horse. Holly is a close second! Neverthe-
less, he enjoys the entire horse gang, even Levi!. Richard urges anyone that is even thinking of volunteering at
the ranch to "just do it". He says "come on out, you will learn so many things you didn't know how to do, and in
the process learn about yourself". He also says "don't be afraid to fail, the only way to learn is to fail"!
A few facts about Percheron's...
•Originally bred as a war horse and they originated from the Huisne river valley in France, which was previously know
as Le Perche.
•Percheron's are now primarily bred in the US, France & Great Britain
•Percheron's are considered Draft Horses - or Dray Horses. 'Dray' is a word derived from the
Anglo Saxon term for 'to haul' or 'to draw'.
•They are referred to as cold blood breeds, in reference to their quiet and calm tempera-
ment.
•Most Percheron's are black or grey, but sorrels, bays, roans, and other colors are also seen.
•Percheron's are big eaters, easily eating 30 pounds of hay and over 5 pounds of grain and
other supplements per day.
•The Percheron is an easy keeper, and not particularly prone to health problems.
•Good grooming is essential since the hair around their ankles can attract bacteria from the
soil, making them susceptible to "Scratches" or pododermititis, which is more prevalent in
horses that are subjected to wet muddy conditions for extended periods.

6. 6
2017 Fundraising at HHR
We are gearing up for our third year of fundraising! We are currently seeking companies and individu-
als to sponsor the event this year! If you know anyone who is interesting in sponsoring the event our
levels come with a variety of benefits, including an article in our newsletter highlighting the company/
individuals who sponsor!
If you are interested in helping, please contact Elyse at elyse.healingwithhorsesranch@gmail.com
or 412-913-5008.
PS. We are looking for an off-site venue to hold our fundraiser in order to bring the fun closer to our
clients in Austin, stay tuned for details!
Sponsorship:
Raise the Roof Sponsor - $10,000 Donation (1 Available)
o Name the 2nd
Annual Horse Show on July 2nd
; tent display for your business at the show
o Venue sponsorship, company logo/name at entrance of Barn Bash
o Company logo/name on sponsorship sign and slideshow at Barn Bash
o Recognition on invitation and thank you cards
o Preferred seating for two (2) tables (seats 16 guests)
o Verbal recognition during event program
o Article highlighting your business in an issue of the 2017 monthly newsletter (distributed to 2,000
contacts in Central Texas)
Build a Stall Sponsor - $5,000 Donation
o HHRanch 2nd
Annual Horse Show – choose an event to sponsor (Trails/Showmanship/Barrels)
o Company logo/name on sponsorship sign and slideshow at Barn Bash
o Recognition on invitation and thank you cards
o Preferred seating for two (2) tables (seats 16 guests)
o Verbal recognition during event program
o Article highlighting your business in an issue of the 2017 monthly newsletter (distributed to 2,000
contacts in Central Texas)
Sponsor a Veteran - $2,000 Donation
Our veterans program is free to our students, it costs about $100/ week; your donation
will sponsor a Hero for 20 sessions!
o Company logo/name on sponsorship sign and slideshow at Barn Bash
o Preferred seating for one (1) table (seats 8 guests)
o Verbal recognition during event program
o Listing in the November 2017 Veterans newsletter (distributed to 2,000 contacts in Central Texas)
Care for a Horse Sponsor- $1,000 Donation
o Choose what horse to sponsor! Name on horse locker for one (1) year
o Company logo/name on sponsorship sign and slideshow at Barn Bash
o Company logo/name listed on silent auction metal print of the horse you have sponsored