Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011

Group helps hurting horses, children

Blind horses aren't usually in high demand, but when Hope Reins of Raleigh heard about Joey, they jumped at the opportunity.

"Really, who wants a blind horse?" said Kim Tschirret, founder and president of Hope Reins. "We want a blind horse."

Hope Reins specializes in helping the hurting, be they horses or people.

At Hope Reins volunteers pair children -- sick, abused or hurting in some way -- with horses.

Volunteers show children how to care for the horses, and the experience infuses the children with feelings of accomplishment, enjoyment and safety.

The horses themselves have struggled, so the children may find they can easily relate.

Joey is one such animal.

Animal control in Virginia got a call about a dead horse carcass.

But the horse wasn't dead; it was lying on the side of the road starving to death. Animal control loaded Joey onto a trailer and rehabilitated him.

Eventually he was placed in foster care where a 5-year-old girl rode him.

Joey, colored like a Dalmatian with black flecks on white hair, is blind from the starvation, but is otherwise in good health.

When Hope Reins got hold of him this past February, he was ready to help.

"He has every right to hate people," Tschirret said. "But he doesn't hate people."

In fact, he's helped one girl in particular: 17-year-old Angela Thompson.

She lives in foster care now, but she was neglected, abused and ultimately abandoned by her real parents. She was introduced to Joey and took to him, and now goes to him every time she visits Hope Reins.

"She says all the time that Joey is her comfort," Tschirret said. "And she said that if he can overcome, if he can persevere, if he can trust people, then that's what she feels God wants her to do."

In 2010, its first year of existence, Hope Reins provided 119 sessions for hurting children.

In the group's second year, which will officially end Dec. 3, it will have provided 600 sessions.

It's grown in other ways, too.

Hope Reins has 11 horses now and is expecting three more. It has 135 active volunteers, up from 66 last year.

And the facilities, north of I-540 off of Creedmoor Road, expanded into an adjacent field that used to house boarded horses.

By next year, the staff hopes to double the number of volunteers and sessions provided.

"I feel like what God has done is he's just created this little community out here where people just come and serve," Tschirret said.

Hope Reins partners with organizations including the Ronald McDonald House, the Wake County Department of Social Services and the Raleigh Rescue Mission.

Although it runs a summer camp which provides some cash, Hope Reins depends on contributions to operate. This week it is holding the "Feast for the Beasts" Thanksgiving fundraiser.

Until Wednesday, Nov. 23, anyone can donate to an online hay drive. Any funds raised will be used to buy hay needed to feed the horses during the winter.

Hopefully, Hope Reins will get the funding it needs, because at the end of the day, it's a valuable resource for kids in the area who hurt the most.

"A lot of these kids don't feel like anybody wants to be with them. They don't have friends; they're very shut down," Tschirret said.

But after they work with the horses at Hope Reins, everything changes.

"If you could see their little faces..." she said.