This past week at Colorado Rocky Mountain School, our students and faculty took a week off from our regular academic schedule to experience Interim. CRMS Interim is designed to immerse students in experiences and pursuits that enable them to learn by doing. It exposes students to new ideas, experiences, and environments.  

In our Beginning Horsemanship Interim, we were very fortunate to hold our sessions at Strang Ranch where school counselor Ashley Smith and equestrian and horse professional Billy Goedert taught us many aspects of horsemanship, from mucking stalls to riding properly. During the week, we took multiple field trips and are very appreciative of the many organizations that took a great deal of time out of their day to inform us of the amazing deeds taking place. 

First, we would like to thank Strang Ranch for the use of their loving horses and wonderful facilities. Second, we’d like to thank Aspen Valley Horse Rescue and Mary Bright. AVHR takes in horses and finds homes for horses that would otherwise have been slaughtered and, with the help of donations, feeds and trains them. Many of the horses are pregnant mares from PMU ranches that are closing down their operations, where there is not enough money to feed and sustain the mares or their foals. 

We’d also like to express our gratitude towards Wind Walkers, an Equine Assisted Learning and Therapy Center where gentle horses, compassionate professionals, and helpful volunteers help challenged individuals find a state of well being. As a nonprofit organization, Wind Walkers reaches out to many families and positively impacts their lives through horses. They showed us how they help someone who’s disabled and how it might feel to be blind or not have the use of both arms. Next, we’d like to thank the Glenwood Veterinary Clinic for making our interim even more educational and for showing us some unforgettable pictures of surgeries. The things they are able to do to help out horses are truly miraculous. Because of the help of these organizations, this horsemanship interim has become a special part of our lives at CRMS. 

If you would like to volunteer or donate to Wind Walkers, they can be contacted at windwalkers@sopris.net. For more information about the horses rescued by Aspen Valley Horse Rescue, go to www.aspenvalleyhorserescue.org.

For more information on attending CRMS please go to www.crms.org 

by CRMS Beginning Horsemanship Interim Students

For a video of their Interim please click here

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