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The Healing Power of Horses By: Laurie Searle

A young girl snuggles head-to-head with a cream-colored specked

horse. Her eyes are half closed in that blissful look kids get from utter

contentment, trust, and love. The horse’s body language and peaceful

demeanor seem to mirror the girl’s feelings.

In his book, Riding Home - The Power of Horses to Heal, author Tim

Hayes says it’s the horse’s ability to read the behavior of others and

their silent intentions that give them the psychological mirroring

expertise of the most gifted human therapist.

As a result of this uncanny natural ability, horses are being utilized in

a relatively new discipline known as Equine-Assisted Activities and

Therapy (EAAT). Within that framework, some more common

therapies include: therapeutic horseback riding, equine-assisted

learning, and equine-assisted psychotherapy.

In this month’s issue we introduce three Chatt Hills residents who work

with the healing power of horses:

• Grace Aldridge, founder and director of Serenbe Stables, has

moved her family and Equine-Assisted Activities nonprofit to Wild Fern Ranch on Hutcheson Ferry Rd.

• Julie White, long-time resident on Wilkerson Mill Rd, founded White Horse Farm last year to rescue, rehabilitate

and rehome at-risk horses.

• Chatt Hills teen Addie Koehl shares her experience volunteering at CORRAL (Coweta Organization for Riding,

Rehabilitation and Learning).

This Month’s Issue:

P2 – Grace Aldridge: Wild Fern Ranch

P4 – Julie White: White Horse Farm

P6 – Addie Koehl: CORRAL Volunteer

P7 – Community Announcements

P11 – Community Events

P17 – Church Bulletin

P18 - Memorials

P19 – City Government

P23 – City Calendar

ISSUE No. 39

March 2018

A monthly publication of the Chatt Hills Community, a citizen-run news service that

connects, informs, and engages friends & neighbors of Chattahoochee Hills, GA.

About

CHATT

Mya the rescue horse now lives at White Horse Farm in Chatt Hills.

Chatt About – March 2018 | www.chatthillscommunity.com 2

The Healing Power of Horses

Grace Aldridge: Wild Fern Ranch As if on cue, the daily rain and gloomy skys of February subsided for an

afternoon, allowing the winter sun to brighten and warm the day for a

trip to Wild Fern Ranch in Chatt Hills.

This beautiful 50-acre property has undergone several transitions over

the years. Originally built in 1986, its log home, 1,000 organic

blueberry bushes, and fenced pastures, paddocks and horse stalls

reflected the owners’ passions. The next owners transitioned the

property into a corporate retreat and nonprofit blueberry farm.

Then last year, Grace and Doug Aldridge transitioned from their life at

Serenbe and moved here with their six children and five horses. The

family now has plenty of room to roam, while Grace home schools her

children and works her equestrian nonprofit on their Wild Fern Ranch.

A transition from city life to Serenbe Grace grew up in Atlanta and developed her love of horses at an early age. She began riding when she was eight years

old and continued for the next 10 years before taking a break for college, marriage and starting her family.

She and her future husband Doug discovered Serenbe while searching for an ideal place for their wedding in 2004. At

that time the budding community had established the Farm House as a B&B and event venue, and had just built its first

home in its sustainable community plan.

The couple continued living in Atlanta for the next 10 years, happily expanding their family to five children and a large

assortment of pets. Then in 2014, they re-discovered Serenbe on their way home from a family trip in South Georgia.

“Coming back to Serenbe somehow brought us back to the core of who we were when we married here 10 years ago,”

Grace said. “We saw an opportunity for a different and a better quality of life for ourselves and our children.” And with

Serenbe’s horse stables and 15 miles of trails, Grace also saw an opportunity to return to her love of horses. Soon after,

the family saddled up their bags (and horse) and made the move.

Establishing Serenbe Stables In 2015, Grace opened Serenbe Stables as a nonprofit with the mission to

connect horse and human and heart together in a positive way.

Grace said that from the moment she first felt this calling, her business

had to have some component of service that involved her two passions –

children and horses.

“I started with one horse and slowly built a herd of six and a team of

instructors and volunteers,” Grace said. “For the first few years, we didn’t

do any boarding; we focused on offering trail riding and establishing our

outreach programs.

Grace Aldridge at Wild Fern Ranch carries on her mission to serve children and horses.

Serenbe Stables photo by Scott Eaves

Chatt About – March 2018 | www.chatthillscommunity.com 3

Serenbe Strides – An Equine Assisted Activities program

Grace’s largest outreach program was Serenbe Strides – an equine

assisted activities (EAA) program that worked with young children and

adults who were currently in state care.

In the early years, Serenbe Strides partnered with smaller group homes

and served between 25-50 children a week in its program. They worked

with 3-12 kids per group on activities including grooming, horsemanship,

journaling, and trail walks. When asked how she used the healing power

of horses in her outreach program, Grace said she used experiential

learning techniques.

“I’d tell the kids that three of our herd were rescue horses, and that they

had been mistreated, even though they did nothing wrong. I asked the kids for help to let the horses know everything

would be ok. After that the kids began to connect to the horses and see the parallels in their own lives.” Grace estimated

that 99% of the kids opened up and had positive experiences through this learning technique.

As Serenbe Stride grew over the next five years, it served up to 14 schools – at no charge. To help fund the outreach

program, Serenbe Stables offered boarding, up to 40 riding lessons a week, and trail rides. As more and more of Graces

time was spent on the business – and less time on a horse –she felt the need to step back and re-evaluate.

A transition from Serenbe to Wild Fern Ranch In 2017, Grace and Doug considered finding a home in Chatt Hills with

more land, when they came upon the 50-acre property for sale on

Hutcheson Ferry Rd. With its spacious log home and its horse pastures,

paddocks, and stalls, the property was perfect for their large family and

equine nonprofit, so they made an offer and moved to green pastures.

Before Grace re-opening her nonprofit, she sought professional

development from the Equine Experiential Education Association to

augment her partial master’s degree in Equine Science.

“I finally learned there was an actual term for what I had been doing –

Equine Experiential Education – and a whole field of practioneers who

loved working in the field as much as I do,” Grace said. After completing

her professional development, Grace achieved certification as an E3A

level 3 practitioner.

Grace looks forward to

re-opening her business at Wild Fern Ranch. She plans to offer riding

lessons, and small group equine assisted activities, but on a smaller scale.

Wild Fern Ranch will continue Grace’s mission to improve lives and enrich

hearts, promote healing and growth of the soul through education,

encouragement and experience: horse + human + heart.

For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/wildfernranch

Serenbe Strides photo by Serenbe Stables

The Aldridge Family at their Wild Fern Ranch

Grace Aldridge – Wild Fern Ranch

Chatt About – March 2018 | www.chatthillscommunity.com 4

The Healing Power of Horses

Julie White: White Horse Farm

Last year, Newnan artist Cindy Shaw visited Julie White’s homeplace

on Wilkerson Mill Rd in Chatt Hills to capture the essence of her

White Horse Farm.

Cindy set her easel in front of the old cattle barn in Julie’s pasture.

Built in the 1940s on the Trotters’ property in Fairburn, the barn

was scheduled for demolition to make way for a new subdivision

when Julie learned of its fate. Seeing potential in the

old barn, Julie offered to rescue, re-home and

restore the barn on her property. The builder said

she could have the barn if she could remove it within

10 days. To hold her to her word, he required she put

up $1,500 in earnest money. Working like a woman

possessed, Julie enlisted the help of family and

friends, and completed the task on-time, with $1,500

still in her bank account.

As it turned out, the story of Julie’s barn would also become the story – and the essence – of her White Horse Farm.

Each of the eight horses she has owned over the years have come her way by being rescued, fostered, or acquired free

for the taking. Each needed a little Tender Loving Care to recover from their former circumstances. And through Julie’s

determination, each horse was successfully rehomed – five horses to new homes; two horses remain on her farm. To

get a better idea of what her horses went through along their journey, we asked her to share a few of her horse tales.

Horse Tale – Mya’s Story Meet Mya, a severely neglected & starved horse.

Julie says the circumstances that lead to a horse’s condition are not always known.

Sometimes an owner moves or can no longer care for a horse. Often the horse is

scheduled to be destroyed.

Mya was rescued last year by Bent Tree Stables & Equestrian Center in Jasper GA,

and underwent months of rehabilitation, gaining strength, confidence, and the trust

of humans again.

Here is Mya after her four-month rehabilitation. She was brought to White Horse

Farm for her retirement, where she now enjoys lush green pastures and a

companion horse named Slim – the only brown horse in White Horse Farm.

Julie affectionally calls Mya her “Flea Bitten Grey.”

Julie White proudly displays the fine art paintings of White Horse Farm by Newnan artist Cindy Shaw.

Chatt About – March 2018 | www.chatthillscommunity.com 5

Horse Tale – Shadow’s Story

Shadow came to White Horse Farm from a couple who was no longer able to care for him. The horse didn’t have any

problems except he didn’t like men. Luckily, a husband contacted Julie who wanted a horse for his wife. The couple

came to pick up Shadow, intending to ride him the five miles back to their home. But the horse went crazy and wouldn’t

come out of the driveway, most likely because the man was there. Julie saved the day by riding the horse the five miles

to the couple’s house.

Horse Tale – Sweetie Pie Story

Confined to a barn stall for breeding, this broodmare had no name other than “Mama.” She came to White Horse Farm

before the old cattle barn was set in place and before the pastures were fenced. She was a horse that loved to be loved,

so Julie called her Sweetie Pie. The owners thought that Julie was buying her, which wasn’t what she had in mind since

the horse had cancer. When the owner came to take her back, Sweetie Pie didn’t want to go. She reared up and took off

running. The owner threw his hands up in the air and told Julie she could have the horse.

Horse Tale – Julie’s Story

All total, Julie has cared for eight horses since she moved to her Chatt Hills.

But as interesting as her horse stories were, we asked Julie to share a bit of

her own personal story.

Julie grew up in Union City back before the city was so built up. She lived in a

modest home on a city-sized lot, but it was near a corn field, of which her

family had permission to fence off an acre. All of her friends had horses and

she wanted one too, so she was given Jubilee, a Welsh pony. The horse was

a little small for Julie, so she sold it (but kept it on their property) and bought

a larger horse named Rebel. She eventually sold it, (but kept it on their

property) and bought Red. She kept that horse until she wrecked the family

car and her dad made her sell the horse to pay for the car. She couldn’t find

anyone who could ride Red, until a six-year-old girl saddled up Red one day

and rode her. That little girl had just bought herself a horse.

When Julie met her future husband Ron, he was a city boy with a

hankering to move to the country for a little more space. Once they

became engaged, he bought 13 acres of land on Wilkerson Mill Rd.

After they married, they built their home there in 1984.

Over the next 18 years, the couple sold off three acres of their land

and made a few improvements to their homeplace while they both

worked full time. They built a modern outhouse, which they still

enjoy today, and in 2001 they relocated and rebuilt the old cattle

barn. When the couple retired from their full-time jobs, they spent

their leisure time enjoying their farm.

Last year, a friend recommended to Julie that she create a non-

profit for her White Horse Farm, which she did. Since then Julie has

been working on improving her pastures and gravel roads in

preparation for additional horses.

Julie’s cowgirl tree is decorated with all the boots she’s worn over the years. In the back left, the farm’s functioning outhouse, in the back right, her beloved barn.

Julie White – White Horse Farm

Chatt About – March 2018 | www.chatthillscommunity.com 6

The Healing Power of Horses

Addie Koehl: Volunteer at CORRAL

Ask anyone who lives in Chatt Hills for directions to the CORRAL and

you’ll get a country reply: “Go south towards Newnan. About a mile

or two south of the county line, pass the hairpin turn at the Roscoe

General Store and follow the sign.

Located in the historic Sewell barn in the Roscoe community, the

Coweta Organization for Riding, Rehabilitation and Learning

(CORRAL) has served the greater Chattahoochee Hill Country and

areas beyond since 1987.

On a mission to provide and promote equine-assisted learning for

physically and/or mentally challenged individuals in a safe, loving and

Christian environment, CORRAL accomplishes its mission with help

from its instructors, volunteers, and sponsors.

Chatt Hills teen Addie Koehl first learned about CORRAL through her mother Davina. “Mom worked at Arbor Springs,

where I came to know and love many of the children that participated in CORRAL programs,” Addie said. “Years later

when I was a student at Northgate High School, I was looking for a service project to meet requirements for the National

Beta Club, and CORRAL came to my mind. I had loved horses ever since the first time I was put in a saddle when I was

five years old, so I thought this volunteer position would be a perfect service opportunity for me.”

CORRAL classes are comprised of students with a wide range of mental and physical challenges. The classes offer a

variety of activities for students including horseback riding, pony and cart driving, fishing, hiking, and nature exploration.

Classes are led by instructors certified by PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International).

Volunteers are active participants in the equine assisted learning team. Together they help students progress both

physically and mentally, achieving goals they never thought possible.

Addie started volunteering at CORRAL last year. She helps set up the classes, which sometimes includes a series of

games students play while on horseback. Addie says that an instructor will take the lead and walk in front of the horse,

and a volunteer will walk on each side of the horse. This helps build the confidence of students as they learn basic

horsemanship skills.

Since each class runs once a week for several weeks, Addie said she sees improvements in the kids over time. “Some kids

may start out at the beginning of the session not all that excited about being on a horse,” she said. “But as time goes by

and they become more accustomed to the horses, they seem to relax and really enjoy themselves.”

When asked to give advice to others who may want to volunteer, Addie said, “Don’t do this unless you love being

around horses, because sometimes when you’re out in the weather (when it’s raining or cold), it’s not all that much

fun.” But Addie’s mother says no matter what the weather, Addie always comes home from CORRAL happy and excited

to have helped the children.

For more information, contact CORRAL at P:770-254-0840, E: corraltrc@gmail.com, W: www.corratltrc.org

Addie Koehl volunteers at CORRAL as a service project to fulfill her school’s requirement for the Beta Club.