Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Bess and Corie


I met Ferronato Shen and became acquainted with Three Treasures Farms in the Spring of 2010 when I assisted in catching their beautiful stallion, Coppola, after he’d escaped from his stall.  He was so well-behaved that I had no idea he was a stallion until a few days later when I formally met Ferronato.  She was in the process of moving the program into Whispering Meadows Equestrian Center, where I was currently boarding my thoroughbred mare, Bess.  At the time, I was both actively coaching and coordinating the University of Oregon Equestrian Team and fully-enrolled in classes but I became so enamored with the amazing program that 3TF runs that I quickly found ways to become involved and do my part to help. 
My first hands-on experience with 3TF was when I introduced Bess to the Massage Intern Program.  I was amazed at Ferronato’s skill at handling and assessing the physical and emotional state of my sassy mare as well as how educated and professional her students were.  I put Bess into as many classes from then on as I could.  Being a college student (and a little horse-poor), however, I wasn’t able to pay to have Bess in all the classes I wanted her in.  So, I became one of 3TF’s working students and began my journey into the 3TF family.
I started off by cleaning stalls, turning out, blanketing, all the while picking Ferronato’s brain about nutrition and homeopathic supplementation.  I kept at it, working whenever I could and asking as many questions as I could think up.  Eventually, I passed the perseverance test and was introduced to the after-school program 3TF ran for underprivileged kids from Lane county.  I had an absolute BLAST working with the kids.  Ferronato had designed such an incredibly rewarding program and kids that might have shown up a little sad, or without wearing their smiles, would leave happy and fulfilled. 
The work I was doing with 3TF offered a kind of fulfillment that I wasn’t used to.  I’d been a working student throughout my entire show career- assisting with client horses, teaching lessons, performing general horse-keeping chores, but the work 3TF does allowed me to not only continue to grow as a horseperson, but also to directly affect the lives of both children and the horses in the program.  That feeling isn’t something I’d trade for the world.
As my time spent with 3TF increased, I was able to place not just my mare but also my Mom’s mare, Dolley, into the Massage classes.  About 30 minutes into her first class, you could not only see but actually feel Dolley’s overwhelming anxiety about the world just melt away.  To this day, Bess and Dolley become ecstatic when they see Ferronato or one of the first interns to work on them. 
After I graduated and moved back to Portland, I kept in touch with 3TF and updated on the program’s success stories.  Not 3 months after I left Eugene, I was back every other weekend taking Equine massage classes from Ferronato and, once again, learning as much as I could from her.  Being 2 hours away and only being a part of the 3TF team twice a month, I started helping out with grant proposals and recently took over as Donations Coordinator and PR person for 3TF.  I tried off and on to take a career path within the business world but I never quite found anything that left me feeling both happy and content with the path my life was taking.  Eventually, I ended up working as an assistant to a couple of training programs in Portland.  During a massage class I set up, Ferronato used her knowledge help a client’s horse who suffered from a sugar allergy.  He is still on the herbal supplements she recommended during that session, and is doing incredibly well.  I also used my massage knowledge to help rehab an injured horse in the other program I was working with.  The horse was high-strung and full of vinegar from his 6 month stint on stall rest.  I was only able to work with him successfully because of the in-hand work I learned while working with 3TF.
I am currently living in Corvallis, Oregon, and am about to start a job working with troubled youth and horses.  I continue to use my massage and nutrition knowledge with Bess and hope to show her this next show season.  The issues she was having prior to our relationship with Ferronato and 3TF have been almost completely resolved, and I know she and I will both continue to benefit from the experience, wisdom, and compassionate nature that Three Treasures Farms exudes.
My goals with 3TF are not just to help them raise the income that they need to continue to provide scholarships for their programs, such as the ones I received, but also to allow them to grow and reach more passionate, caring, horse-friendly, and hardworking individuals so that they can continue to influence the lives of those who need it the most. 

Corie Townsend


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