la finca

On Fridays "¡Vamos a la finca! ¡Vamos a montar los caballos! (We're going to the farm! We're going to ride the horses!)" resounds throughout the house. The finca is the land owned by La Casa de Mi Padre (My Father's House), another independent, Christian children's home founded by our friends Gary and Sharon Powell. The finca is where their daughter, and my dear friend, Whitney Powell blesses us, the children of La Casa de Mi Padre, and other clients with her therapeutic riding ministry.

Therapeutic riding is beneficial for children with cognitive, physical and emotional conditions. Building relationships with an animals is a rewarding experience. Students learn trust and loyalty from the horses and being able to perform riding exercises increases their self-confidence. They learn to apply their interaction with the horse and their newly-acquired self-esteem to form meaningful relationships with people. Every Friday Whitney walks our kids through a series of exercises, slowly introducing new ones as they master the old.

hands up

hands down

touch the ears

around the world

ride backwards

leg up

kneeling

 trot

ball toss

love these kids :)