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

Fall Herb Walks

Our intention with the Herb Walks is not to make a student leave feeling like an herbal expert, but that they will take with them some powerful and simple tools which will enable them to sow the seed of change in their lives. It is no easy task to change our life style, even when it is a change for the better. Many of us end up in less than healthy patterns or cycles, whether it is the food we eat not being in the best interest of our bodies, too much work stress, or a lack of exercise. It is challenging to make the changes we need to feel better when we are in this place of depressed health. Modern society is not making it any easier with its conveniences designed to save time, which, in the end, ultimately steal it from us. Most of us know someone who lives a healthy lifestyle and we think: I would love to be able to do that. Given all the things going on in our lives, the distance between where we are and where we they are seems like an overwhelming distance to cover. We end up thinking: why bother? However, some of us are going to make that positive change next week, or next month or when that thing happens that will let us do what we need to.

I would love to be that person who was turned onto herbs and a holistic lifestyle who made a sudden, dramatic, and complete change. The truth is I didn’t (and I haven’t) and I still look to find the little subtle ways I can keep shifting my life towards that course of action. On the most basic level I find people really need three major things to shift to start feeling better. We attempt to touch on these three areas in our Herb Walks with real and simple solutions for people to try.

The first is to become more aware of how the foods we eat impact our bodies. For a long time I was unaware that I had some food allergies that were causing a variety of problems. Once I became aware of my allergies and took steps toward being more mindful of them when making food choices I saw a variety of health improvements. We have simple, sample foods and recipes available for people to try that will encourage them to incorporate herbs into their everyday eating habits in manageable ways.

The second is stress. Perhaps not everyone finds the forest as a relaxing as I do, but I think for most people it is far less stressful than the office and just the smell of certain herbs can lower heart rates. By getting people out into Nature we are able to reconnect, re-charge and remember what is possible for us. For those that need to hold onto reasons and agendas the Herb Walks allow one to be in nature with purpose by teaching people which herbs are helpful and can become useful parts of their health program. The kitchen part of the Walks teach people what to do with the herbs once they have them, in simple, easy to follow steps that can be duplicated outside of class.

Third is exercise. I am not a fan of the electronic era although I appreciate and value what technology allows us to do. I find that many electronic devices steal our energy and motivation. It is so much easier to sit and be entertained then go out and create our own adventures. Maybe walking isn’t exactly what you had in mind when making the New Year’s resolution to exercise more, but it is a start. You will find as you try and discover new places or when re-visiting old ones to test your Herbal IQ that you will start to feel better for having gotten out of the house and way from the TV. At each Walk we provide plants from our garden, so that for people who are ready to make a start have a jumping off point. We choose hardy and easy care for plants so that budding gardeners are inspired to get out and do more in and with their soil.

 There is so much information out there that it can feel overwhelming. We strive with our Herb Walks to provide fun and simple ways that you can take with you (a plant for your garden and samples of products you make) to start living a healthier life for yourself, your animal companions and the planet.

For more information regarding our Herb Walks check out our website, the Events section on our Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/ThreeTreasuresFarms or email us directly threetreasuresfarms@gmail.com

Chase Community Giving Contest

What it is:

Chase Community Giving Contest provides grants ranging from $250,000 to $10,000 to qualifying non-profits based on our ability to achieve Votes from the public. One of the things that I appreciate about this grant contest that as we touch the lives of more and more people around the country with our services we are able to in turn have them express their appreciate and lend us assistance by taking just a few minutes to Vote for 3TF and share with others. The Chase Community Giving Contest also gives us a chance to really connect to a variety of people and spread 3TF’s mission of education and empowerment.

What we plan to do with the grant:

As we receive grants and donations we are able to provide more and more scholarships to youth in need. One of the things we strive for with our programs at Three Treasures Farms is sustainability. We find ways in which our scholarship students can help us to help them by creating income producing activities, such as with our Herb Walks. At our Herb Walks students are taught to identify, harvest and make products using the herbs they find during the Walk. Some of those herbs are dried and used to feed to the horses and ponies of 3TF while others are used to make tinctures that are either fed to the horses or sold to help provide income for the non-profit. Students are able to take a sample of what they make home for their own personal use as well. Money received from donations and grants like Chase Community Giving provide us with the seed money we need to purchase the supplies necessary for our programs and merchandise to sell, which not only brings income in, but also helps us spread the word to others about what we do.

Our class sizes are limited, but the internet allows for us to be more and more connected to those around the world and as technology continues to advance we at 3TF strive to keep up by providing free coverage of our classes and programs so that those who aren’t able to be with us in person can still benefit from the experience. This technology takes money, time and knowledgeable people to maintain it. We plan to invest some of our Chase Community Grant funding into being able to expand our use of technology, thereby reaching and sharing our knowledge with more people.

We hope that you will join us by Voting for us and sharing this link. For those able and interested we welcome donations of all kinds and as a 501c3 are able to provide tax deductible receipts.

Student of the Horse: A Closer Look at Love

I was born a horse person so it took me many years before I realized that there are non-horse people. And many more years to realize that some people can be good people and be non-horse people at the same time. Something I had previously considered a mutually exclusive occurrence. Make no mistake though - there are definitely two types of people in this world when it comes to horses. Students of the horse and people who like horses.

I hear it so often that I now tend to cringe when someone says, “I love horses. It is my dream to work with them.” One of my favorite dictionary definitions of love is “unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for others.” What most people “love” is the idea of horses and what it means as a reflection on them, which is not actual love. True love is not a Disney story with puppies and butterflies. Rather, it is a story about sacrifice, hardship, and making the choices you do not want to make. It is about commitment and connection, and some days, it is even about bliss. For the true horse person it is a life journey that tends to be daily and one they simply cannot live without.

Given all their beauty and magnificence, I find it difficult to believe that there are people on the planet who are not moved by the grace and power that is the horse. I think most people can have those moments of awe and spiritual connection or awakening with horses, but still not be a horse person. Often times what people are really seeking so much more than riding lessons, although most people are not consciously aware of what that something might be.

I find it to be most beneficial for all involved, horse and rider, if the rider gets clear on what that thing they are really looking for is. There is nothing wrong with not being a student of the horse and simply liking them, or having an appreciation for them, or being someone who enjoys going on the occasional trail riding adventures, but feels no need to have a horse in their daily life. Horses are like people in that some come with lots of their own issues and needs, while others come across as angels of the earth, here to take care of our every emotional need. 

The Journey

In some of our up-coming posts we will be exploring the concept of being "a student of the horse" and how that differs from the traditional form of horse riding lessons. This week our journey begins with Cimarron...

Cimarron has been with me almost three months.  When he arrived, he didn't want to be haltered when at liberty in the pasture and would only let me pick up his front left foot after being haltered.   He was easy to lead on the left, but very difficult to approach, touch, or lead from the right.  The first day it took 50 minutes before he would stand in the pasture to put on his halter.  We began five days a week- one hour a day of halter and feet training combined with massage.  By the end of the first week it only took 15 minutes to get his halter on and by the end of six weeks he was coming to me to have it put on each day.  Now, if I make a kissy noise, he walks towards me and positions himself on my right with his head lowered and his neck bent towards me to have his halter put on.  He is just as calm when having the halter removed and stands or walks off calmly when it comes off instead of trotting away as he did in the beginning.  After 8 weeks he would let me clean all four feet and at 10 weeks our farrier, Megan Perkins, pulled his front shoes and trimmed his front feet.  That was a major milestone for Cimarron and after some education his owner has committed to keeping Cimarron barefoot.  

After 8 weeks, I began to include Cimarron's owner in one lesson a week.  His owner is also able to groom him, lead him, and pick up his feet.  Cimarron has also "joined up" with us both at different times and even breathes my breath on occasion.

Throughout this process, myself and Ferronato continued to work on his body.  Cimarron holds a lot of tension in his body and has a very strong "trauma response".  "Trauma response" for Cimarron means he has anxiety over every new situation- new expectations, new locations, new equipment, etc.  When his anxiety increases, so does his tension in his body.  At times, every muscle in his body would be clenched in fear in an extreme sympathetic nervous system response.  It is my belief that Cimarron has experienced some kind of trauma or abuse in his past.  He has two brands (one on each hip) and several scars on his legs.  The exact nature of this trauma is unclear and it is not necessary to know the details to see the effect it has on him.  His anxiety over grooming, hoof care, haltering, and leading have decreased significantly.  But any new experiences still causes a trauma response in his body.  So many of the tensions that have been released in his body return when his anxiety gets up again.  While I don't think Cimarron has a mean bone in his body, I am very clear that he is still dangerous because of his anxiety and fear gets too great he wouldn't hesitiate to run a person over in his attempt to escape.

We are now moving into a new phase of training for Cimarron.  His owner has put together a list of things he would like to do with Cimarron.  Specifically, he wants to do trail riding and mounted shooting.   

The other day, Ferronato and I took Cimarron for a walk on the trail to get a baseline of how much work it will take for Cimarron to comfortably and safely do those things.  We took him out in a rope halter and didn't go far because it was clearly stressful for Cimarron and unsafe for Ferronato, as well as myself and Cimarron.  He did not respect our personal space, he walked too fast and ahead of us.  He was very focused on the possible "dangers" all around him and not on the person holding his rope.  He got very nervous going under a train bridge.  And this was just walking down a wide open trail with no other people, dogs, horses, cars or the many other things that you can encounter on a trail ride.  Ferronato and I discussed how to use body work to interrupt the trauma response- using t-touch and mediterranean techniques to teach him to relax his body and release his stress (mental and physical).  We also started on a plan to break trail riding down into its most basic elements and go a little farther each time. We started with just going up and down the gravel driveway. Truly every thousand mile journey begins with the first step.

The owner has a belief that Cimarron is a much better horse under saddle than he is in hand.  I have only seen Cimarron under saddle once- after his owner took him on a short trail ride I met them at their place as thay were returning.  He was very physically and mentally stressed after that ride and I thought at that time that if they continued for another 20 minutes, Cimarron would probably have freaked out and thrown his person.  But the owner thought he "did great".  What I saw was wide eyes and trembling hamstrings.  Cimarron was complying, but he wasn't relaxed or in any way enjoying himself.  Even if a horse is great under saddle, you should still be able to walk your horse safely on a trail in case something happens and you can't ride home.  

I feel that we will have to continue to work though this "trauma response' and teach him a different way to handle stressful situations with confidence before he will be safe to go under saddle.  We will continue to use bodywork, energywork, and various training techniques to do this, but unfortunatley I can't predict how long it will take.  "It takes as long as it takes" says Ferronato.  It could be that he has a breakthrough next week and resets his nervous system and the trauma is over.  Or it could be years of "two steps forward, one step back".  

Let's be clear- Cimarron is a very smart horse.  "Dumb" is not one of his problems.  But fears are not always rational and therefore not always predictable.  I am so grateful to have this opportunity to learn how to help this horse.  And even more grateful on the horse's behalf that his owner has brought him into a program where he will be treated with respect and love as he learns to work through these issues.  As he continues to improve on all levels, I have hope that we will help Cimarron to discover his joy and purpose in life.

--Nicole Sulick 
Nicole is a Three Treasures Farms Equine Massage Intern; her bio and contact information is available on our Intern Page. 

Mountain Rose Herbs Scholarships

We recently received a very generous donation from Mountain Rose Herbs, an organic herbal company based out of Eugene, Oregon, which provides, among other things, a large variety of organic herbs and herbal supplies. Mountain Rose Herbs graciously provided a monetary donation and all of the supplies we need for all of our 2012 Herb Walks!

We rely heavily on donations like the one from Mountain Rose Herbs to provide funding for our various educational programs. As a way of honoring their contribution to our 2012 Herb Walk series, we will be providing special Mountain Rose Herbs Scholarships which will allow us to create three additional scholarships per Herb Walk. Scholarships will be awarded to disadvantaged youth and people who are within the horse industry working with youth and or rescue horses.

Disadvantaged Defined: People have less and less resources - especially in this economic decline. One of Three Treasures Farms goals is to teach sustainability and we feel that no one needs that assistance more than those on the bottom of the economic pyramid. For many it isn't a question of whether they want to live a better life so much as it is a question of not knowing how to make changes that will assist them in creating a better life for themselves. The children are very much our future and we focus what resources we receive on helping kids who are interested, but unlikely to have access to the kind of educational and life skills assistance that Three Treasures Farms programs provide for students.

Horse Rescue: Most horse people feel a strong commitment to horses and at some point in their lives come in contact with a horse or pony in need of rescuing. Few people are trained or qualified to lend rescue horses the assistance they truly need to heal. Now more than ever there is a need for qualified rescue workers and it is our goal to share the knowledge we have with others who are helping not only horses, but animals in general. We have developed many cost saving techniques to health care in our rescue work that we try to share with people whenever possible. Our Herb Walks educate animal guardians on sustainable cost effective herbs that assist in many areas of health care (including parasite control), which translates to saving the average horse guardian hundreds of dollars each year for the lifetime of their animal companions.

It is our goal to continue to create more scholarships and eventually have the funding for additional herbal educational programs that promote sustainable health to people and pets. If you would like to join Mountain Rose Herbs in helping us meet this goal by making a tax deductible donation please contact us directly or simply utilize our Donate Now button.

To find out more about dates and locations of future Herb Walks, please visit (and Like!) our Facebook page or contact us at ThreeTreasuresFarms@gmail.com.

Making Lemonade

The problems of the economy in recent years have in some ways been a mixed blessing for us. Without the economy tanking we would never have relocated to the Eugene area, and although we miss our Portland friends terribly, having horses in Eugene costs about half of what it did for us in Portland. The economy and lack of funding also forced me to find alternatives to supplements allowing for me to indulge in researching and using herbs to a much greater degree than I ever have in the past. It has allowed for us to share the knowledge and experiences we have had and in turn allowing others to be more empowered in the care they are providing their horses. 

I feel we have become overly reliant on processed supplements and food. We forget that Nature’s bounty is right outside our door. That once upon a time vitamins came from the earth in a variety of natural colors and flavors. I marvel at how despite our complete disrespect and disregard for the needs of our plant, it continues to provide everything we need, even though we are too ignorant most of the time to see it. It was such a huge eye opening experience for me to have spent years pulling annoying weeds from my horses’ pastures, only to turn around now and find I am harvesting them to feed to the horses to provide for their supplemental needs. How amazing is it that in multiple horses we have managed to eliminate a couple different cancers from their bodies altogether with various herbs and nutritional tweaks? We at Three Treasures Farms look forward to a future that with funding will allow us to do more for horses and provide for our research so that we are able to share our experience in more quantifiable ways with the horse world. We thank everyone who has supported us through the years.