🌟 Exciting news from SGS! 🌟
We hope your summer has been filled with laughs, relaxation, and maybe some swimming, and minimal fly bites (Mandy’s arch nemesis).
Mandy enjoying a good scratch! Those fly bites are so itchy!
We have some exciting news to share with you all - we found a home. 😍
To first give you some context, you might recall in past newsletters we’ve mentioned our horse trainer, Farah Dejohnette of Farah Dejohnette Whole Horsemanship. Farah is deeply aligned with our values of prioritizing human, animal, and environmental well-being and trauma healing.
When I (Nicole) first learned about Farah it was through her Whole Horsemanship podcast. I can remember listening to one episode that encouraged anyone who works with horses who cares deeply about their relationship with them and prioritizes consent over coercion to keep doing it, even if the horse world tells you to stop.
Wow. I was flabbergasted (and in tears) when I heard this. I spent a lifetime of being told I was too nice to work with horses. I needed to show them who was boss (often through violent means), otherwise get out of the saddle.
Being introduced to Farah’s playful yet skillful approach to relationship building and horse training has been a breath of fresh air, and has given me a deep feeling of being validated and healed. Truthfully I didn’t think anyone like Farah existed until this point. Farah also incorporates having a reciprocal relationship with the land in her horse management and care practices. All of this goodness we have learned about using native grown species as medicinal supplements for horses has come from her! 🌱
Here’s a bit from Rebecca on her relationship with Farah: When Nicole introduced me to Farah's work a few years ago, I was instantly hooked. And like Nicole, I found myself crying in my car listening to her podcast and processing my past relationships with horses. I attended a weeklong camp with Farah at Ohana and was hooked. I enrolled in Farah's one-on-one Virtual Coaching and have learned so much. This past spring, I was also honored to co-facilitate a Retreat on Nervous System Regulation together with Farah at the farm. And it was from there that we began discussing possibilities of partnering in our work together.
With that being said, I am over the moon excited to share that Farah has invited SGS to operate at her farm, Ohana Farm in North Brookfield, Mass! We are moving Mandy this Monday on September 1st 🤩
This partnership not only makes sense values wise, but also allows us to work with and learn from Farah in a deeper way. We hope to use our platform to spread her wisdom as far as we can. We will also have the ability to partner with Farah to execute more of our Sanctuary’s mission of providing opportunities for the community to engage in trauma healing practices for the horses, people, and land.
But, you might have noticed, I mentioned Massachusetts. Yes, SGS is moving out of the New Haven area, which is a bittersweet statement to make. Our commitment to New Haven is deeply ingrained in our nonprofit’s development. However, this move is not the end of our commitment to New Haven. While we take this open opportunity to work in communities local to Mass, we would welcome the opportunity to come back to our roots here in NH. We still plan to maintain our connection with the community of New Haven, and will continue to have our programming like our annual Kids Camp available for New Haven youth.
To help us get established at Ohana Farm and organize upcoming community events with Mandy and her new herd mates, we are excited to launch our first SGS swag fundraiser!
You can purchase our branded t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, and hoodies through this link below. All funds will be used to help us get started on planning community programming and getting Mandy to Ohana. Join in to support by getting yourself a new tee, and spread the word to others!
We will keep you updated with all that is to come with us, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support
With all of our love,
Nicole and the rest of the SGS team ❤️
