2011 Christmas video

2011 Christmas slide show.

IBM sponsors SonRise’s Traveling Tails program for 2011

 

   A generous grant has been made by IBM to help with the expenses of the Traveling Tails program for 2011. 

SonRise’s miniature horses have ramped up their schedule this year, and will make their first visit to Children’s Hospital Oakland on October 12th, as well as continuing their regular visits to George Marks Childrens House and schools for children with Autism.

Blackie and Windy have become quite well traveled and respected throughout the community and we look forward to being able to serve many more children in 2012.

 

Thank you IBM for your support of this important work.

 

 

 

 

Wente, Wine & Equine – Celebrating SonRise’s 5th Anniversary in Style!

Just 5 more weeks til the 2011 Wente, Wine & Equine at the beautiful Wente Winery on Arroyo Road in Livermore.

Friday, September 16th at 6pm SonRise will host a fabulous dinner by the restaurant at Wente paired with wine from Wente.

The evening will feature a live and silent auction, raffle, opportunity to meet the SonRise miniature horses and a presentation on the important work SonRise does with children facing social, emotional and physical challenges.

Jack Pollard Jazz Group will entertain and provide music for the evening, and the evening will conclude with dancing under the stars.   A great way to support SonRise and enjoy an evening out! 

 Tickets for this event are $150 per person and are available at www.SonRiseEquestrianFoundation.org or by phone at 925-838-(RIDE) 7433.

Horses and Healing – Jacyee Dugard video and how horses are helping her recover.

Click on the link below to see how Horse Therapy is helping Jaycee Dugard recover.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/jaycee_dugard/jaycee-dugard-horse-therapy-18-year-abduction/story?id=14150520

 

Another Chapter in Blackie’s life

Life comes full circle so many times, and our famous Little Blackie, the mini horse, continues to be there right in the middle of it all!  In June we were contacted by a family whose daughter, Allison Angove, suffered a Tramatic Brain Injury riding her horse two years ago.  Allison was in acoma for 14 months and is now recovering at a hospital in Rossmoor.  We were asked to bring Blackie to visit Allison at her Rehab hosipital in hopes that he would brighten her day and stimulate her memory.  Little did we know that 6 years ago, before Blackie was donated to SonRise, Allison used to help his previous owner in caring for the mini. 

We were so happy that Blackie could now go and care for his long time friend Allison.  The visit was so anticipated that several TV and radio stations showed up to witness the event.  Blackie as always knew his job and stood patiently with Allison, but something was definitely different this time.  It was obvious that he knew this young girl and stood by her side for 30 minutes, allowing her to clumsily touch him and hold his halter. 

It is our hope that Blackie will able to be a regular part of Allison’s recovery and that maybe some day, she will again be able to care for him.

 

The Place is Going to the Horses!

By  Nancy L. Clark

SonRise Volunteers:  Alana Koski, Sheri Jean Rodrigues, Tasia Wiggins, Lauren Koski, Danielle Coburn and Kathy Somers

Sunday, June 26, was a special evening at Incontro Restaurant in San Ramon – it was taken over by “horses.”  “Incontro” expanded to a whole new meaning—not only does it signify the coming together of the cuisine from owner Gianni Bartoletti’s mountainous Northern Italian region of Piemonte and Southern Italian region of Puglia, but, on June 26, it also included a coming together of Bartoletti’s wonderful cuisine and SonRise Equestrian Foundation volunteers.

To raise money for the Foundation, Bartoletti invited the SonRise volunteers to wait and buss the tables with all gratuities going to the foundation.  For one night, attorneys, accountants, management consultants, store owners, etc., took orders, served food, filled water glasses, and cleaned tables.  “This is hard work.  The professional staff were great and thankfully kept us all organized,” said Del Chandler, who served a large group from the Danville-Sycamore Valley Rotary.  “I am just pleased that I got the order right and didn’t drop anything!” 

SonRise Volunteer, Del Chandler, trying to keep the order straight.

As one of the volunteers, this writer can attest to how difficult food service is.  With no restaurant work experience, I too jumped into to help.  My feet, back, and patience clearly prefer the role of customer as opposed to busboy.  No surprise that we needed about 5 volunteers for every professional.  Although we volunteers may have fumbled our way through the evening, the customers were delighted at our effort and our eagerness to serve. 

Melanie Buerke, Founder of SonRise Equestrian Foundation, and Gianni Bartoletti, Owner of Incontro Restaurant

“Gianni Bartoletti is so kind to help our foundation.  He definitely cares about the community and is willing to take the risk with us as his staff,” said Melanie Buerke, Founder of SonRise.  “We raised $2000 which will help us continue to provide a therapy equestrian program that connects youth and horses.  For all our aching feet, it is worth it to see a young person build self-esteem or to see a child with autism speak for the first time by connecting with our horses.  Thanks to all our volunteers and a wonderful giving community, we can help so many.”

SonRise Equestrian Foundation is a non-profit organization guided by Christian-based values that makes a positive difference for youth living with social, emotional, or physical challenges including terminal illness.  Participating children develop confidence, integrity and responsibility through mentoring and peer relationships centered around the care and enjoyment of horses.   For more information, go to http://www.sonriseequestrianfoundation.org/

Incontro Restaurant is located at 2065 San Ramon Valley Boulevard in San Ramon (925. 820.6969) and is open Tuesday – Sunday for dinner.  For more information, go to http://www.incontrosanramon.com

Everyone Loves PlayDay!

Saturday, April 2nd was another great Playday! 

Once a quarter, SonRise offers children who are enrolled in the  program as well as those on the waiting list the opportunity to come to the ranch for a morning of fun with the horses.

During the 3 hours, the children rotate between stations, ranging from bareback riding to horse bingo.  This day one of the favorite activities was the craft station, where our “Resident Craft Expert” , Kathy, taught the kids how to make a terrarium out of a recycled plastic bottle.  They planted seeds and took them home to watch them sprout.  We may even see some vegetables out of this project!

Of course, the bareback riding is always the “best” horse activity according to the kids, but in a close second place was grooming the minis, and adding braids to their manes and tails and even giving Joey a mohawk….. Joey was very patient.

Looking forward to the next PlayDay in July and even more adventures!