Statements
Mission
White Fawn Farm is dedicated to enriching the lives of families dealing with disabilities and other life challenges through personalized equine therapeutic programs including interacting with horses on the ground, on horseback or in a horse carriage.
White Fawn Farm delivers individualized equine therapeutic sessions for people with disabilities and other special challenges; accomplished by hiring highly motivated, professionally trained, compassionate instructors and volunteers to provide a safe, consistent program using suitable horses.
Background
Cheryl Farrar and her husband, Randy, held classes with a small number of students at their Spirit Oaks Ranch in California from 2002 through 2011 when they moved to middle Tennessee. Spirit Oaks Ranch, while not incorporated and run entirely on a pro-bono basis, was the genesis of White Fawn Farm. With the new location and property, they are able to serve a larger population of guests.
Cheryl grew up with horses since the age of eight and has served on two different equine related non-profit boards. She has participated in fundraising, put events together, served as secretary and held vice president positions on both boards. In addition to serving as the President of White Fawn Farm, she is also a member of Tech Bridge Tennessee Leadership Board. The Farrars have a history of supporting local equine programs and have participated in two major California horse show events for people with disabilities - Calnet and Special Olympics.
They have a heart for people dealing with disabilities and other life challenges as well as compassion for these families' concerns. Before beginning this center, they both volunteered at two Williamson County equine therapeutic centers. In the summer of 2018, the founders of Take the Reins, just one mile down the road, decided to retire and close their equine therapeutic center. They offered to entrust their horses, riders, staff and volunteers to White Fawn Farm. This is one of the two centers where Cheryl and Randy volunteered for a number of years.
Having great admiration and respect for the work that started with Jerry and Sharon Clement, the Farrars and the White Fawn Farm Board agreed to combine the two centers. This merger allows for the expanded capacity to offer more lessons to more people. We expect the transition to be completed in the Spring of 2019.
Impact
Mission to Community The program services participants of all ages. White Fawn Farm meets an unmet need in the community by offering services to participants over the age of 18. Our group lesson size gives participants more one-on-one time with their instructors and volunteers, enhancing the overall experience. This tailored approach gives participants, their families and therapists a better understanding of needs and abilities, helping the team to set and work toward goals together. Our custom approach also allows for rapid development and piloting of new horse-assisted therapies to better address unmet needs within our community.
White Fawn Farm addresses a need that is not served as comprehensively by any other organization. Not only do we assist family members addressing disabilities, we also address children of poverty with all the social problems that go with these circumstances, people struggling with depression or anxiety, individuals with life-threatening diseases, and people who are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorders - all age groups in a diverse population.
White Fawn Farm delivers year-round, weekly equine-assisted-activities to participants and sinc, providing individuals with greater than 500 lessons. Participants are adults, children, and youth at risk with diverse disabilities and other life challenges. Individuals who seek our services have diagnoses that can make them feel dependent upon their families, doctors and others.
Currently, 90% of the participants are children under the age of 19. 85% have cognitive or behavioral disabilities such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, autism, or Angelman Syndrome5% face physical disabilities, including seizures Approximately 5% of our participants are youth-at-risk And 5% are siblings.
White Fawn Farm's program services have expanded over the years in response to the needs of our participants and the community. Starting with one instructor and three horses, White Fawn Farm now has 6 instructors, 5 horses, 3 ponies, and over 40 regular volunteers.
White Fawn Farm's programming staff are:
o PATH Intl. certified Advanced and Registered level Therapeutic Riding Instructors with years of training and education in disabilities, teaching methodologies, learning styles, techniques to support, challenge, and progress children and adults, and of course, riding.
o Credentialed Equine Specialists in Mental Health & Learning with backgrounds in education and/or mental health. They provide challenging curriculums to encourage personal growth and build self-esteem.
Key Achievements
• Expanded the horse barn to add two stalls and fenced pasture areas
• Hired trained and certified instructors
• Selected and conditioned appropriate therapeutic horses
• Assembled and trained suitable volunteers
• Continue the 3-year track record of operating, successfully offering therapeutic horseback riding services, continually improving, developing and implementing new programs.
Needs
Financial support of donations is critical to the ongoing success of the equine therapeutic program.
• Lack of arena cover for inclement weather - $250,000
• Needs-based Scholarships for participants: $500 per 10 week session per participant
• Sponsorship of 5 horses: about $3,000/year per horse for feed, farrier and vet care
• Acquire operating funds: $20,000
While the program has grown, it has been limited by the lack of a covered arena. The current facility has a 95' x 225' fenced arena for conducting lessons. Unfortunately, when it rains or is extremely hot, lessons are canceled due to the lack of overhead shelter. For many of our participants coming to the farm is something they look forward to all week. It's unfortunate when we must disappoint them and cancel their lessons due to rain or excessive heat because we don't have overhead protection from precipitation or the lack of shade in the summertime. One other option is to only cover half of the arena. However, the overall costs to complete the arena would be greater than if the work was performed initially. The arena has already been graded and lights were installed outside the fence.
CEO Statement
White Fawn Farm is unique in that it addresses a need in the community that other similar programs don't - that is the inclusion of servicing individuals 18 years of age and older. There is at least one prominent program in Middle Tennessee within less than 10 miles of White Fawn Farm that every year will have participants that 'age' out of their programs. Speaking with their family members, we understand that it's difficult for these young adults to give up an activity that has become so meaningful to them.
Board Chair Statement
The initial delay in launching White Fawn Farm in the latter part of 2016 was that our first student was 6'2' and weighed over 200 pounds. Our weight limit was 180 pounds based on the capacity of our horses. Unfortunately, our first participant was too large for our existing herd at the time and we had to delay this participant's lessons until we could acquire a larger horse. After one donated horse and another we tried to buy (neither of which worked out), a dear friend loaned us her horse who was suitable to carry our first student's weight. Thus White Fawn Farm had it's first student!! Word is definitely beginning to get out that our equine therapeutic program addresses the age demographic that other facilities do not service, in addition to youth and teens. We started with 3 students in early 2017 and have since grown to 9 students with several more potential riders scheduled for an assessment. We exceeded our 2018 goal of 20 participants. One limitation we have is our lessons will be subject to the weather. This is due to the fact that we don't have a covered arena as of yet. As such, we must monitor the weather and reschedule appointments as dictated by the rain. We are so happy to offer this program to Middle Tennessee and look forward to bringing restoration and joy to many participants and their families.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Human Services - Children's and Youth Services |
| Secondary Category: | Recreation & Sports - Equestrian |
| Tertiary Category: | Diseases, Disorders & Medical Disciplines - Down's Syndrome |
Areas Served
Geographic Area Served: Participants served live in Davidson, Williamson, Maury, Dickson and Rutherford Counties.
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Dickson |
