or
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: [email protected], W: www.corratltrc.org
Addie Koehl volunteers at CORRAL as a service project to fulfill her school’s requirement for the Beta Club.
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