June is Pride Month, and here at SmartPak we’re proud to support all the riders in the communities we serve. As a part of our mission to give back to these communities, we’ve partnered with Nature Heals to donate 5% of all Piper Apparel sales throughout the month of June!
Want to shop Piper to help us support the amazing programs, people, and horses at Nature Heals? Check out all the awesome Piper gear at SmartPak by clicking here!
Want to learn more about what Nature Heals is doing with LGBTQ youth and horses? Read more from Liese Foust Executive Director of Nature Heals in our blog below!
Nature Heals started the Becoming a Herd program back in 2018. We decided to run this program since we have been aware that LGBTQ youth are twice as likely as their straight peers to be physically assaulted or harassed at school. They are four times as likely as their straight peers to attempt suicide. However, for LGBTQ youth with supportive parents or mentors, the suicide rate drops from 57% to 4%. Because of this, we really wanted to be able to help provide an equine therapy group for LGBTQ youth and allies, focusing on building a community, finding support, and encouraging empowerment in a safe and secure environment.
Becoming a Herd started with meeting once a week for six weeks straight to create our teen program. From there, we developed a once a monthly drop-in support group for adults.
“Horses provide a safe space and comforting presence free of judgment. For members of the queer community that are often met with judgment and have to fight to be accepted on their own terms, horses allow each person to exist and be appreciated just as individuals. Horses are a perfect mirror for people learning to craft relationships with others as well as those focusing on their own individual journey.”
— Member of the LGTBQ community
We have always strongly believed that horses are empathic creatures. They don’t judge; they don’t make demands; they don’t show up as anything other than who they inherently are. Because of this, horses only care who you are in the very moment you are with them. This enables them to give unconditional acceptance to anyone who is willing to show up as themselves.
Here at Nature Heals, we have the honor and privilege of partnering with Body n Soul Equestrian. Body n Soul owns the horses and ponies that we have been able to use for our equine therapy programs. Depending on what our goals are for each session we use a wide range of equine partners. Most of the individuals who come through our programs have never been around horses so we are very careful of the horses we use. We tend to start with the small ponies for those who are scared of them and build their confidence on the basic ground manners before branching out into riding. Below I have highlighted some of our therapy horses. These horses also all teach lessons outside of being our equine therapy partners.
“To watch individuals blossom and start coming out of the shells that they have built around themselves is a blessing. The horses allow them to whisper their feelings and still feel heard. Sometimes acceptance is a subtle thing such as a gentle nudge from a pony asking for more scratches.”
— Liese Foust Executive Director of Nature Heals
Our smallest two therapy ponies are Double Stuffed aka Oreo and AC Queen Rosie aka Muffin. Oreo is a wonderful Shetland Cross Pony and Muffin is a Section A Welsh Pony. Both enjoy being groomed but love grass even more. Because of their love of grass they are great ponies that we have our kids and adults work on learning how to maintain and hold boundaries in a safe space though leading them around trying to make sure the ponies don’t become the leaders and go straight to the grass.
From Oreo and Muffin we move up the line to our Connemara ponies. New Songs Raining Blessing aka Bea and her half-sister New Songs Raining Miracle aka Mira. These two sisters are purebred Connemara Ponies. They are the most gentle souls when it comes to children. Both are nearly bomb-proof but have plenty of sass and spunk when they want to. To the delight of our participants, they will fall asleep with their heads in people’s arms or while being groomed. Their personality differences allow individuals to see a contrast clearly between how different each horse can be.
You can’t find more patience in a horse or pony than the two Irish Gates Connemaras that we use on our farm. Irish Gates Secret Notion aka Seamus and Irish Gates Charming Laddie aka Laddie, will take a joke any day of the week and they try their hardest to accomplish any goal you have for them. Whether that’s going through the weird obstacle courses we set up, running around competitions, or simply practicing groundwork, no matter what these two try their best to please.
“During our last queer group, working with the horses opened up my eyes to how horses and their personalities aren’t all that different from our own. To know that horses can be introverted, shy, and still be valued allowed me to feel a kinship with them myself.”
— Member of the LGTBQ community
Our largest horse on property likes to demonstrate that just because you are massive doesn’t mean you can’t be a softy at heart. Little Boy Blue aka Blue, is 18.3 hands and is the BFG of the property. He is a stunning Bay Roan Percheron Thoroughbred Cross and catches the eye either in his stall, field or out at a competition.
Despite being massive, he loves cookies and being groomed. He also allows everyone to know that just because he can gallop down to a training level table without batting an eye doesn’t mean that bunnies and small birds can’t be scary! Everyone has fears they are simply in the eye of the beholder and Blue, when we work with clients, prefers one on one work over five people gathered around him. He is a perfect example as to how we all have different tolerance levels and each have our own fears.
SmartPak supplements are currently helping a majority of the horses on our property by providing some of them with joint support from SmartFlex Ultra Pellets and helping our girthier horses with SmartGut Ultra Pellets. These help keep our horses happier and feeling good for their riding workloads.
To learn more about Nature Heals, please visit:
http://www.nature-heals.org/
To learn more about the Becoming a Herd Program (and other programs offered at Nature Heals, please visit:
http://www.nature-heals.org/therapeutic
To meet the lineup of equine partners from Body N Soul Equestrian please visit:
https://www.bodynsoulequestrian.com/horses
All photos provided by Megan Beyer at Altitude Equine Photography
https://www.facebook.com/altitude.equinephotography/
As a Queer person I am delighted so see this work going on with horses and young people.I’d love to get more involved. Thank you to Smart Pak for your involvement and support
I have shopped SP for years and I am greatly saddened that not only has this movement slipped into school curriculum but into businesses, olympics and now horse care. Goes against everything I stand for so disappointment in smart park for being too weak to stay neutral.
Agree!
I won’t be shopping this month as I don’t celebrate this lifestyle.
I DoNt SuPpOrT tHiS lIfEsTyLe OooO mY oPiNiOnS mAtTeR OoOoO(✧≖‿ゝ≖)
Sure, some people are straight and not celebrating pride month, but nobody is stopping you from not shopping here in fact, smartpak probably doesn’t even know about your existence.
Fvck off
Skipper T, it’s not a lifestyle or a choice, it’s how our Creator made each person. ALL people deserve our acceptance, love and support.
SmartPak continues leading the way toward making sure EVERYONE feels welcome in our sport. Thank you!!!
Well done Smartpak. It’s so nice to see more and more companies doing what is right, versus what some of their more bigoted clients think they should do!
Thank you smart pak for seeing all our riders!! I love you even more.
I don’t support this program. In fact, I’ve emptied my cart and cancelling my autoships.
I am sure a company that grosses $42.89 million in sales a year is really going to miss your $100/month. See you later, bigot.
Well done Smartpak! Thanks for promoting horsemanship for ALL. Love is love!
You are a company that is concerned with horses and horse owners. Why in the world would you embrace LGBT+ into your business? This act is more politically oriented and is totally inappropriate in the context of an equine business. I am not interested in the sexual preferences of the members of your company. So, as much as I have enjoyed doing business with your company over the years, as soon as I find substitutes for your products I will cease my business with you.
How is this politically motivated? The donations are helping other human beings.
Thank you Lisa for sharing your thoughts. I agree with you that it is sad that Smartpak has adopted such a socially divisive ideology. My experience with Smartpak is that they served all their customers equally and with pride. Is there a better way to make people’s lives better?
Unfortunately, I too will find another provider.
Well I guess you arnt a horse owner , because last I checked , owners come in all shapes sizes and orientations.
I see your a DR , its a shame you wouldn’t have a more open opinion considering you see patients of all types.
Agree!
Haters will shoot themselves in the foot for leaving Smartpak. Good luck finding a better place to shop!
Smartpak has the best customer service and will stand up to haters
Love always wins❤️
Being inclusive to all equestrians is not a political bias just like putting Dr. in front of your name means you know what you are talking about.
SmartPak has no competition. However, I, as others on this thread, do not want LGBQ++ shoved in our faces. As I am doing with the other companies that publicly voice their acceptance of the LGBQ++ lifestyle, I will take my business elsewhere.
You will not be missed.
If we so supposedly are shoving lgbtq+ info into your faces.
Maybe something will stick and you’ll learn something and gain compassion for your fellow humans.
Love is love.
Why is it easy to love all horses but not all people? Why is caring about ALL people even political? No one is born hating others. All types of bigotry and prejudice are learned behavior.
Well, I can’t say I’m surprised, but I am disappointed to read that people would put their judgement and prejudice ahead of their horse’s health.
I can offset one of those haters by adding my new horse to auto ship this month in gratitude for your support of LGBTQ+ youth and adults.
I am a person of color and people don’t like me for that! I did not choose my color. Just like LGBTQ people did not choose who they love! And I love my horses the same, as the purple, gray, white, or orange people! As LGBTQ love the horses the same! Too each their own. Respect is just that! Reapect!! Thank You for showing Respect SmartPack! This is not political! This is REALITY!!! Life is what You Make it!
Love is love.
Thank you smartpak for always being inclusive to ALL riders and owners!
#ridewithpride
By Necessity
come, stand a moment
in someone else’s life
find a common humanity
why is the way
so shadowed, so stymied?
after all we must
con spire
to exist —
we breathe together
by necessity
each heartbeat reaching for the next
come, stand a moment
in someone else’s life
let it reveal
all our tribal isms
as nothing more than
phantom walls
that vanish
when exposed to Light
how brilliant
the Great Mother
with or without us