Today we’d like to introduce you to Yvonne Moritz.
Yvonne, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We never intended on creating a non-profit. Our family culture is one of helping and community involvement. When there is a need, we step up and “get it done”. Sitting in church one day, there was an advertisement that they desperately needed horses and horse leaders for their therapeutic riding program so we volunteered our little American Shetland named Icee. For three years, we volunteered and acquired more horses specifically with that therapeutic riding program in mind and we loved every minute of it. Because they were the only free program in Palm Beach County there was a long waiting list and we happened to be there when a momma who had misunderstood the process was turned away. You see, she had pumped up her non-verbal autistic daughter for horseback riding with “7 more sleep until you ride a horse, 3 more sleep until you ride a horse, etc.” and when she turned in the paperwork instead of being able to ride, little Mali was placed on the waiting list. Mali didn’t understand why she had to leave when other kids were riding horses and started to cry and have a meltdown. Momma was also crying and flustered because she felt so guilty for misunderstanding and now having to drag her daughter away but thankfully we saw this unfold and were able to interject. “See this pretty pony Buttercup? Do you want to come to my farm tomorrow and ride Buttercup?” That got the tears to stop and sure enough, they came the next morning to ride Buttercup and that is how it all started.
Mali said her first word on Buttercup. Mali made eye contact while riding Buttercup. Mali would not hug a human but she hugged Buttercup. We held most of our free sessions at the local horse park and people would see us and asked if we could help their neighbor/coworker/cousin’s kid that had autism or xyz. Then social worker friends asked if we could help some of their kids that were in foster care. Then a mom asked if we could help her teenager that was cutting herself. Through word of mouth and before long, we had dozens of children and teenagers riding with us. For a long time, we were just “a family with horses that helped people” but eventually in 2015 became official and founded Horses That Help.
Since then, we have put over a thousand children and teenagers on horseback and accumulated thousands of riding hours, thousands of volunteer hours and powerfully impacted our community!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not smooth at all! Our biggest issue has always been financial because feeding horses, especially in South Florida, is incredibly expensive! We didn’t start out with a business plan and raised money first, instead we jumped right in trying our best to fill the need and did the best we could with what we had along the way. Many times we self-financed feed bills, vet bills and events but finally in 2019 we raised $45,000 in donations (up from $10,500 in 2015) and for the first time Horses That Help was self-sustaining! We are all still volunteers as every dollar raised goes towards the horses and the free programs for children with special needs and at-risk youth.
Please tell us about Horses That Help.
On the bottom of our Horses That Help logo are the numbers 16:14. This stands for 1 Corinthians 16:14 that states “Let all that you do be done in love” and this verse is the foundation of the non-profit.
We absolutely love the children we serve and we are here for their families as well. We have a large “HTH Family” that consists of the families we serve and our volunteers and supporters. Everyone is welcome. Everyone is accepted and we do not judge. Our hearts are pure and the intent is the help and be here for each other.
What also sets us apart is that we try to work with rescued horses mostly because the horses that have been through the most seem to have the greatest connection with people. Our newest rescue is Believer, a thoroughbred that used be in races, that was skin and bones the week before Christmas. He was not abused but neglected and his previous owner did not have the money to keep this hard keeper fed and he dropped to a dangerously low weight. So thin in fact, we weren’t sure he would survive.
His lip tattoo revealed that he was 16 years old and his racing name was Believer’s War and he literally had to fight a war with his mind to choose to live. Believer had to BELIEVE me when I told him he would never go hungry again. Believer had to choose to fight through the pain of his body eating itself and choose to eat the small, meals offered to him no matter how tired he was. Thankfully, he won the war and today Believer is helping others with his story. We also work with teenage girls that have been trafficked and his story hits home with them. They also must choose to fight the war in their minds and meeting this noble horse who survived and overcame his battle gives them hope for their own future and struggles.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I grew up in an apartment in Queens, NY and although I always loved animals I never got to be around them much. So favorite memories, I guess would be every time I got to see or touch an animal.
Perhaps that is why I am so passionate about all children, regardless of financial status, having the opportunity to be with horses and farm animals. As a kid, I would have loved a program like Horses That Help to lift me up, inspire me, and keep me out of trouble so I guess I’m filling a need that my own heart desired many years ago.
Pricing:
- We never want money to stand in the way of a child being with a horse so all our programs are for free
Contact Info:
- Website: www.horsesthathelp.org
- Phone: 561-281-8599
- Email: yvonne@horsesthathelp.org
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/horsesthathelp
Image Credit:
Sandra Effertz Photography and Triple Tree Photography
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