Today was an absolute gorgeous day and it was indeed a spectacular day to have a Winter visit to The Austin Children’s Shelter. Master Card, Sean Monet, Rocky, Rudy, Bandit, and Bravo were all decked out in their Christmas apparel ready to spread a little Holiday cheer to the Children. There were plenty of new kids for the Minis to meet. We saw plenty of big smiles as the Children loved on the Minis. They also had a chance to groom the horses. Many of the kids took to the horses right away and began to form bonds, where they felt comfortable enough to lead and walk the horses around the grounds. Some of the kids were jogging all around with the horses, which was really a good thing because they have put on winter weight and a few Holiday pounds. Sound familiar? Today’s visit was really great and enjoyed  by all, kids and volunteers alike. We look forward to doing a surprise visit on Christmas Day to the Shelter.  Today was my husbands 50th Birthday and on the drive to the shelter, I asked him what he wanted to do for his Birthday? He said, ” I’m already doing it!” So, no questions asked, I know on Christmas Day, we will be joining Sally and Gil, for a trip to the shelter to visit these kids, who are sometimes forgotten about during the Holiday Season, to try to bring the spirit of Christmas to them through returning to show them the horses love and care about them! What a great day! The Minis needed to work and do this visit, just as much as the kids needed them.

Today, was an absolute gorgeous day and it was indeed a spectacular day to have a Winter visit to The Austin’s Children’s Shelter.  MasterCard, Sean Monet, Bandit, Rocky, Rudy, and Bravo were all decked out in some Christmas apparel and ready to spread a little Holiday Cheer to The Children.  There were plenty of new kids for the horses to visit with.  We saw plenty of smiles as the Children loved on the Minis. They also had a chance to groom the horses. Many of the kids took to the horses right away and began to form bonds, where they felt comfortable enough to lead a horse around the grounds. Some of the kids were even jogging with the horses, which was really great because they have all put on  a few Winter Holiday pounds! Sound familiar?  Today’s visit was really great and enjoyed by all, kids and volunteer’s alike. We look forward to doing a surprise Christmas Day visit to the shelter as well. Today was my husbands birthday and on the drive over t the shelter I asked him what he wanted to do for his 50th  Birthday and he said, “I’m already doing it!”  So no questions asked, we will give up our time on Christmas, to join Gil and Sally for a Holiday visit to the Children which are sometimes forgotten about during these Holidays. If we can bring a few smiles and a little Holiday spirit to these kids or even just touch one kid, then I feel our job is done for the day!

On Halloween Saturday, October 31st, Minis and Friends attended The Juvenile Diabetes Walk. This is the first year the event was held near the new Dell Children’s Hospital at the City park. The weather was beautiful, sunny, and warm, and being that it was Halloween, the crowd was huge. Almost everyone showed up in complete costume, from the littlest tyke to Grandparents, to furry little friends.  There were Ladybugs, Cowgirls, Dorothy form The Wizard of Oz, Punk rockers, Dracula, to The infamous balloon boy.

As far as attractions for the families, there were, Moonwalks for the Children to bounce and jump on, Rock climbing, Facepainting, Hair streaking, Fire truck rides, and free food. The hit of the whole day though was the miniature horses. All of the Children on hand, were just drawn to the little guys. Time and time again, I kept hearing from the parents, Boy you guys are the hit of the event, My children just wanted to keep coming back to see the horses. They were defiantly the main source of their entertainment for the event. We had MasterCard, SeanMonet, Rocky, Rudy, and Bravo there. All of the boys,  were on their best behaviour. Well besides wanting to eat the pumpkins, I brought for decorations and knocking our sodas off the table! This was only little Rudy’s, the new comer’s, second event. Gil and Paul, kept noticing when the kids would walk away or come towards the corral, Rudy would stick his red head, right over the corral, as if to say,” Come over here and see me.” It is so obvious, Rudy is going to be a great therapy horse, and he really adores kids. He wasn’t raised around any Children at all, so we couldn’t tell how much he loved them until we put them in the same venue.

The event was a huge success, as thousands, came out for The walk for Juvenile Diabetes and to support the foundation. There were parents Aunts,  Uncles, and Grandparents with wagons decorated which may have had their child’s name and the year they were diagnosed. As I walked around and saw these, it really brough everything into perspective and  reminded me what  and why we were all there.  To support them so that they could find a cure so no more kids have to suffer.

Emma, called us to Thanks us for attending and supporting their foundation. She also told us, What a big hit the Mini’s were. Then they offered us a donation of 31 bales of very gorgeous coastal hay, as a way to say Thanks to us and the Mini’s.  Since I was taught by my Grandfather, never to look a gift horse in the mouth, We graciously accepted this generous donation, on behalf of our Non-profit organization. Certainly this was a huge donation for us, since we are all individual owner’s and bare the expense of their food., supplemented by  Callahan’s and their continuing donations. We are extremely grateful to now have hay to feed the horses for the winter. We even took two bales and made them a very soft cushy bed to lie on to keep them off the cold ground. Thanks Emma so much for helping us so that we can continue to help our community and organizations like The Juvenile Diabetes and walk for a cure.

 (by: Braydin M, Mini Cub Reporter)

SeanMonet and New Friend

My trip to Marbridge Farms was my first visit with Minis & Friends, and I have to say, it was one of, if not the most, inspiring and influential experiences of my life.  I was very nervous coming into it, as we had to train Bravo to get into our mini-van, and also I was going to be around people I didn’t understand. And of course, that makes anybody nervous. When we first got out of the car, someone in a wheelchair immediately approached us. After talking with him for a little bit, I  realized that the people here are different, but in a good way. 

Even now, 2 weeks later, it still confuses me how people with mental disabilities have such a nice, happy outlook on life, while people with absolutely nothing wrong with them are always so depressed.

  Maybe I’ll find the answer on future visits   

Milli getting her shoes on to go indoors

PS.  3 minis decided to go indoors to those folks who couldn’t come out – pretty cool… here’s Bandit and Jess with people indoors – And MasterCard with Roger and Nicole indoors.

Bandit and JessMarbridge Villa Visit Indoors

On Saturday, September 20, 2008, Minis and Friends visited a group of ‘Good Friends‘, who meet together every 2 weeks for a few hours. Most of the ‘Good Friends’ are young people with disabilities, so they enjoy all kinds of fun and crafts and snacks, and this time, we and our minis got to join in with them.

We were invited by Jan Kerchiville, Donna Clendennen and several other ladies who hosted the group to join them. We met at Jan’s house here in Georgetown for a visit from Minis and Friends that LCRA had donated to ‘Good Friends’. When we got to the house at 2:30 PM, there were about 2 dozen people! Some to watch the festivities, some to do and help do the crafts, others to help with the horses, and others who kept the cold water coming. The craft for the day for the Good Friends was decorating horseshoes which were to be used as frames for the pictures taken with the horses. Kim Sullivan, Jan, and several others, took pictures of the day’s events, and we’re excited to share those with you on the website very soon.

One of our minis who went with us was Cajun, and he found a best friend named Stephen. Stephen hugged

Special Friends

 Cajun so much that by the end of the visit, Cajun kissed him which made Stephen’s day! Cajun who is a beautiful horse belongs to Stacey and Amanda Drane. Milli and Sterling, who were also there, belong to Jonathan and Melinda Fox. All three minis worked beautifully together to make the afternoon a great success. Our thanks also go out to Marcia Erickson and Cynthia. You helped out tremendously!

Days such as that one reminds us of our original goals and special memories that will be far reaching during the upcoming years. We thank Jan and Donna for the invitation. Minis and Friends would love to meet up with the ‘Good Friends’ group again at the Buddy Walk, on October 19, 2008. The Buddy Walk is the yearly fundraiser for the Down Syndrome Association. It will be at Reunion Ranch in Georgetown, For those who have not been to the Buddy Walk, it is a great day with food and fun and festivities. We hope to see you there!

Candy Delleney
Co-Founder of Minis and Friends