The World of the Tyrrell Jrs.: Brasada Ranch Intern Trip

When I was in college, I thought my dream job would be running a Equine Facilitated Mental Health program, geared toward at-risk youth. I got my feet wet in this area, then decided it was the at-risk youth was too hard-core for me. Luckily, I have learned that all kids need positive mentoring, regardless of their background, and that I can still have a program that combines youth with horses. It was from this that my Student Intern idea (while I was running the Riding School) was born.

I originally started with 2 or 3 "Interns" 2 years ago, and this past summer my assistant and I had 15 Interns volunteering at the barn. They would do everything from horse turn-outs to bathing Simon. I expected the Interns to treat it like a job -- put in a good work performance, notify me if they were not coming in, ect. They were always eager to help (well, okay, maybe not...) but they were a great group of kids who put in A LOT of hard work in the Riding School.

At the end of the summer, the Interns were rewarded with an all-expense paid trip to Brasada Ranch, which is a new resort in Central Oregon. I picked the kids that had logged the most hours, and we ended up going with 5 teenage girls. Nick and I had our own cabin, so we were still able to get away from the teen-excitement and get Lilah down for her naps. Thank goodness for that!

Here is a modge-podge of the weekend pictures as I'm trying to get up-to-date on all my posts!

The girls didn't believe me when I told them L could put her foot over her head. So when she did it in the car ride home, they had to get pictures of it....

The stairs that Lilah fell down on Day 2. Luckily she was okay, but did get some nasty bruises.

We got to visit a school horse that retired out to Central Oregon. (Lucky guy!!) He was a bomb-proof baby-beginner horse for me, and he deserves the retirement!