Updated: 5/15/2008

A HUGE Thank You goes out to Charleston|Orwig, Inc., for their generous donation of time, materials, and creativity in filming and producing this video as well as the new LifeStriders brochure.

Charleston|Orwig, Inc.
515 W North Shore Dr
Hartland, WI 53029

Individual thanks go to:

CEO: Lyle Orwig
COO: Mark Gale

The Creative Team
Associate Creative Director: Jen Wallace
Graphic Designer: Suzanne Brown
Art Director / Videographer: Christine Bielke
Copywriter: Bill Coons
Director of Production & Traffic: Sharon Schackel
Traffic Manager: Amy Thew
Account Coordination: Hannah Jewett

LifeStriders will be able to use these presentation assets for many promotional purposes. LifeStriders is very thankful to all of you for supporting the organization's, mission, and programs.

Sincerely,
Robert Conley, President
LifeStriders

Dear Parents and Participants,

Happy Spring! We are greatly looking forward to starting our spring programs and wanted to review some important information with you.

LifeStriders Therapeutic Riding Spring Session will run for 7 weeks starting on Tuesday, May 13th until June 28th. If you would like to get your child on the waiting list please fill out and mail in the rider application available on Riders section of this website. Although we will be adding additional class times to accommodate those on the waiting list, the current schedule is as follows:

Tuesdays- 4pm class & 5pm class
Wednesdays- 4pm class & 5pm class
Thursdays- 4, 5,6pm classes
Saturdays- 9am, 10am, 11 am classes

In addition to the therapeutic riding program LifeStriders is now offering additional family support services:

• LifeStriders Social Skills Program (starts May 12, 2008) 8 spots available. These fun and interactive groups are designed for children ages 3-12 with challenges in the area of social-communication that affects the quality of their interpersonal relationships. The goals of the groups include increasing social awareness, understanding others peoples' perspectives, and understanding the impact of their own behavior on the impressions that other people form of them. It is a fun class for kids to learn the skills they need in building social connections. LifeStriders social skills classes will be held in a small group setting with individualized activities. Classes will be held on Mondays at 4 pm for ages 3-6 and 5pm for ages 7-12. Both groups will be facilitated by Veronica Sosa Agnoli, MS. and Ann Treleven-Carl, LifeStriders social skills trainer.

• Bilingual Counseling Services for individuals, children and families offered by Veronica Sosa Agnoli, M.S. former School Psychologist and LPC (training through UW-Madison). Sliding scale fees available.
  

• Educational Counseling and Consulting Services Helping parents understand special education and how to work in collaboration with schools. Representing families in IEP/504 meetings.

Payment Policy: LifeStriders is a non-profit organization that is committed to offering accessible therapeutic services to our community. LifeStriders actively fundraises throughout the year to offset the cost for parents paying out of pocket and to provide scholarship to low income families.

One of the ways we are able to keep our prices significantly below going rates is by minimizing accounting costs. LifeStriders charges $30.00/per therapeutic hour if paid in advance or $60.00/therapeutic hour if paid after May 6th, 2008. We ask that the entire therapeutic riding or social skills session ($210.00) be paid for in advance by sending a check (no cash) to our address before May 6, 2008. If your child is enrolled in the federally funded school lunch program (free lunch) they may be eligible to receive scholarship funding for services provided at LifeStriders. We must have the school's verification on file before May 6th in order to qualify.

Please feel free to email us at striders@lifestriders.com or call 262-565-6124 if you would like to inquire about any of the new services being offered at LifeStriders.

We thank you and look forward to working with you and your family!

Sincerely,

LifeStriders Team

I wanted to do something really interesting for my last “blog”. I decided to interview a rider and her mom. I interviewed Lacey and Jill Pflaz.

Lacey has been riding at LifeStriders since the summer of 2006. Lacey's favorite horse is Jesse. She told me that Jesse is her favorite horse because he is pretty and tall. Jesse also was the very first horse that Lacey rode when she started at LifeStriders. Lacey said that this winter she has missed the horses and the volunteers. Lacey is looking forward to start riding the horses again this spring. When I asked Lacey what her favorite part of lessons was, she responded that she loved playing games. She also enjoys the key hole, and barrel races.

Lacey is not the only one who loves coming to LifeStriders, her Mom loves bringing her. Jill Pfalz told me that she is so glad that Lacey has found an extra curricular activity she enjoys and can participate in. Lacey’s disability keeps her from participating in sports. Lacey has had a love for horses almost all her life. Jill told me that she was impressed by the eagerness of Veronica and Rob to individually work with each child and their specific needs. When I asked Jill how Lacey has benefited from LifeStriders, Jill responded that LifeStriders has helped Lacey so much, but over all has improved her core strength. Jill said that she did not think Lacey would ever be able to ride horses. I guess you could call this just another ordinary miracle.

Over the course of a year, the cost of feed, shavings, hoof care, standard veterinary care, and other expenses for our program horses add up to over $3,000 per horse. We therefore invite you to partner with LifeStriders in the care of our amazing therapy horses, and sponsor a LifeStriders horse! Click HERE to download a Sponsor Form! (PDF format)

For Your Annual Donation:
* Certificate of Sponsorship with a picture of your horse (See Meet the Horses)
* A tax deductible donation receipt
* Your name engraved in brass on the stall door
* Personalized periodic updates on your horse
* Recognition in LifeStriders publications

Your support will enable the organization to continue providing high quality care for the LifeStriders horses, while keeping the cost of lessons and therapy as low as possible for our riders. Sponsorships are available to individuals, companies, clubs, or any other organization.

Interested parties should contact Veronica Sosa at 262.565.6124 or fill out the form and mail it to LifeStriders and we will contact you. Thanks for your support!

LifeStriders has received two donations. As you may know, LifeStriders is a non-profit organization and is greatful for any donation large or small.
One of the donations LifeStriders received was a donation from Walmart in Delafield. Victoria is the sales associate at Walmart in Delafield. Victoria helped to get LifeStriders this wonderful donation. Victoria and her team donated $757.89.

The other donation was from the Wisconsin Walking Horse Association or WWHA. The WWHA is an organization that promotes and informs people about the Tennessee Walker. Tennessee Walkers are a breed of horse. On Saturday March 8 Veronica and Rob showed a presentation about LifeStriders to WWHA members. The WWHA gave LifeStriders a generous donation of $1,000.

Thank's again to Walmart and the Wisconsin Walking Horse Association for their charitable donations. Donating is a great way to contribute to LifeStriders, and it is greatly appreciated by the whole LifeStriders team.

Hello, my name is Kristen Layo. I am your "blogger of the month" for March. I have been a volunteer at LifeStriders for almost three years. LifeStriders is a wonderful place. I always have fun, whether it's working with the volunteers, the riders, or just hanging with the horses. It is never a boring place. LifeStrider's volunteers do more than just work with the horses and kids. We clean the barn, muck paddocks, give horses hay, we even help with the fund raising. Lifestriders' volunteers do it all. No matter what I am doing I have never had a bad day at Lifestiders.
I am so excited to be "blogger of the month." I will keep you informed as to what's happening!

Have you ever thought that you would enjoy working with children or adults in an outdoor setting, alongside great volunteers and great horses? Are you older than 18 years old? If so, you might consider being a certified therapeutic riding instructor (CTRI).

Being a CTRI takes dedication but is a great opportunity to share your teaching skills with others. You’ll work with clients whose needs vary but whose love for horses abound. You won’t be alone, either. Our volunteers here at LifeStriders are awesome and are some of the nicest people you’ll find anywhere.

This sounds interesting? Great! All you need to do to initiate the process is to come to one of our orientation meetings that will be offered in March. At the meeting you will find out what it takes to fulfill the requirements of being a qualified CTRI and the rewards associated with equine therapy. Please call Veronica at 262-565-6124 or email her at veronica@lifestriders.org to sign up.

In the meantime, for those individuals who have already fulfilled the requirements for being a certified therapeutic riding instructor, but need to attend the certification workshop, the following OSWC workshop will be offered in Illinois in April. It is best to register early and have all paperwork on hand. Currently, this is the closest workshop offered in our area.


Thursday, April 10-13 2008
ILLINOIS, Burr Ridge Registered OSWC
Ray Graham Association - Hanson Center 15 W. 431 59th Street, Burr Ridge, IL 60527 Contact: Cathy LeBeau Email: GML959@aol.com Phone: (630)325-5330 Registration Deadline: 3/5/08

Lin kTo More Information

You can also find other locations on the NARHA website at www.narha.org

Thanks to Cristiane and Brian for the video of our great day, and to all the volunteers for a great 2007 season.!!

LifeStriders would like to extend a giant thank you to Mr. Mike Churches (AKA Carly's Dad) for raising $2500 at his work to help support the programs and riders at LifeStriders. Mr. Churches was thoughtful enough to enter LifeStriders into his company's charitable giving campaign and delivered us a check from his company last week.

This is a great way to help LifeStriders, and if anyone else is interested in raising money for LifeStriders through their employer, we can supply you with whatever materials you may may need.

Thanks again Mr. Churches.
We all appreciate it!

The LifeStriders Team