NOT FOUND: little hearts2.jpgHearts and Hooves is the first non-profit organization of its kind, and it’s right in our backyard. Maureen Ferreria and her husband George own and operate the Hearts & Hooves™ Therapy Program from their own property in Rio Linda, and have been doing so for more than five years. It all began when Maureen saw a representative from the national headquarters of Hearts & Hooves™ in Austin, TX on the Today Show in 2004. Maureen was touched by the story of how Hearts & Hooves used mini horses to provide hope, health and happiness to children with special needs, and knew that this was something that she wanted to be a part of. The national headquarters in Austin offered training programs for people that wished to bring this particular type of therapeutic treatment into their own communities, and Maureen headed to Texas. She came home armed not only with a wealth of information and the ability to start providing the treatment in the Sacramento area; but she also came home with the first of her small, four-legged friends, Angel. He became her Founder Horse, and has since been joined by seven others – five of which still reside with George and Maureen.
NOT FOUND: little hearts.jpgThe other horses are Buddy who is the oldest mini at 11 years. The others: Beauty, Special, Magic and Nemo (also known as Rock Star) are all six years old. Each horse is not only unique in his looks, but each also possesses a very different personality. They love people, and are kind and gentle with children and adults. There were two other horses: Blaze and Honor that recently went to live with a local family that has special needs children.
Mini horses aren’t the only animals that can be found at George and Maureen’s place. They have an alpaca named Spirit, and a four week old goat that didn’t have a name when we joined Hearts & Hooves™ on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. Children from the Rancho Learning Center, Rancho Cordova, were on site during our visit, and we were able to watch the program in action. The kids loved the horses, alpaca and the goat. They were happy to help brush, walk and even chip in with recycling some weeds that had been pulled from the pasture. They were allowed to vote on the name for the baby goat.
Over the past five years, Maureen and George and their team of awesome volunteers has brought their mini horses into hospitals, nursing homes and special schools to bring the healing power of animal-assisted therapy to persons that have experienced emotional and physical abuse, severe illness, disabilities and other difficulties. The program offers the following:
Physical Therapy helps improve motor skills, coordination and muscle strengthening by assisting with brushing and washing the horses, following and giving basic commands to the horses and walking them. Speech Therapy encourages communication, sometimes when there isn’t any speaking at all; enunciation and communicating thoughts and feelings into words. Hearts & Hooves™ has been instrumental in helping children in special needs schools develop the skills necessary to go on to live more independent lives, get jobs, live on their own; and even in a few cases, get married. Grief Therapy: using proven methods that show people with special needs often respond better, revealing their true feelings to an animal give even the perception of judgment. Art Therapy increases the capacity for remembering and allows for creativity. The individual reflects on their activities of the day and then draws whatever stood out as meaningful to them.
When continued, this type of interaction with animals yields great benefits for participants. They develop bonds with the horses and the volunteers. They become more confident in their own abilities, and show marked and measurable improvements.
Hearts & Hooves™ Sacramento is definitely doing their part to help others, and now they are in need of some help themselves. George and Maureen have been supporting their program with the help of some generous donors such as River Valley Feed & Pet Supply in Rio Linda and Stephen Larson, Farmers Insurance Group Agent, but are in need of some more community support. They currently have a recycling program that you can get involved in by visiting their web site for more details. You can also make an online contribution on the site: www.heartsandhooves-sacramento.org. You can also donate your car, truck, RV, boat or real estate via www.YourDonations.com – your donation is tax deductible and will go directly to Hearts & Hooves™.
If you would like to help out in another way, they are always looking for volunteers. They have Volunteer Nights every Wednesday and Friday beginning at 4:00pm. You can volunteer as an individual; or like Guy, Stephanie, Jordan and Perrey, you can join as a whole family. Teenagers are welcome, as well as individuals that are looking to fulfill their community service requirements. For more information on volunteering, please call Maureen at 916.991.3480 or visit the web site listed above. Please do what you can to help support a program that gives so much back to those who need help most of all.