fbpx Skip to content

Agape

A Call to Remember our Veterans

November 11, 2016

“The willingness of America’s veterans to sacrifice for our country, has earned them our lasting gratitude.” ~ Jeff Miller Despite the divide we are experiencing in our country this week, despite how you feel about the results of Tuesday’s election, despite your political ideologies, despite party preferences – today we implore you to pause and remember our veterans with reverence, gratitude, and unity. Without the sacrifice of our veterans who have served, and those who serve today, we would not have the freedom to vote and choose our elected officials. Let us unite in gratitude, unite in reverence, and unite

Read More >

Home of the Brave

July 3, 2016

The Webster Dictionary gives the simple definition, “feeling or showing no fear: not afraid” to the word Brave. I recently heard the quote, “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” It stuck with me so I later looked it up and found out it was by a local Indiana man, Elmer Davis. He was a reporter who made himself famous for his work during WWII. He saw first hand what we so beautifully picture as “brave”. Bravery is something that most Americans will quickly associate with the

Read More >

The Power of a Simple Summer

June 16, 2016

[vc_row type=”in_container” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]SUMMER! It’s simply a season and yet it triggers so many thoughts and emotions in each and every one of us. When you ask most people about their favorite summer memories a strange and consistent thing happens…childhood replays! It’s never a single event or activity. It’s a big picture of our summers as a child. Sun, nature, swimming, vacation, sleeping in, lightening bugs, bare feet, fishing, sprinklers, cookouts, camp, the list goes on and on and let’s not forget about playing with horses of course. If you are anything like me, once you

Read More >

In Memory of Our Beloved Jim

April 30, 2016

“Walk on.” Those two words were so often uttered to our Jim. However, the kind soul inside the the Percheron body didn’t just hear those syllables as a cue to move forward, he heard them as a cue to connect with the person positioned on his back. And connect he certainly did. Jim created moments of confidence in our riders through all of life’s seasons. Summer is when Jim brought confidence to the hearts of our summer campers at Bradford Woods. Jim’s gentleness shined as campers stepped into stirrups and Jim, ever the strong-silent type, stood patiently for his rider

Read More >

How to trust when you don’t understand

July 24, 2015

Today is actually a special day to me as I have had the incredible privilege of leading Agape for 3 years now. Through the ups and the downs, I am deeply passionate about what we do and overwhelmed with gratitude for this wonderful community that loves fiercely and hopes abundantly. I realize that it this post may not be proper etiquette for an Executive Director to write; however, as I am reflecting on the past 3 years, and 2015 so far, I believe that etiquette can take a quiet back seat for a brief moment. So let me just tell

Read More >

Gypsy Dreamin’

June 19, 2015

Did you know Agape is competing to win one of 10 Gypsy Vanner horses?  LexLin Gypsy Ranch, based in eastern Tennessee, has partnered with PATH International to provide 10 Gypsy horses to 10 PATH centers around the country through their Gypsy Gift program.  Much to our excitement, Agape was nominated and selected to compete! The LexLin Gypsy Ranch page describes Gypsy horses as follows: “For hundreds of years, nomadic people known as Gypsies have traveled the roads of the United Kingdom in beautifully carved and decorated living wagons.  To maintain this wandering way of life, they created an extraordinary breed

Read More >

Picture Perfect

May 12, 2015

The morning was beautiful.  Volunteers were buzzing around the barn, braiding the horses’ manes and tails with ribbons and giving them glitter hearts on their hips.  The finishing touches were being put on the arena and observation room, Hopalong Cassidy had arrived,things were just falling into place and the weather!  Put simply, it was heaven-sent. The Mane Event was off to a great start!  As the morning went on, the horses were tacked and warmed up in the arena as students and their families were filing in and the “parking lot” pasture was filling up.  It was going to be

Read More >

Love & Grace at Agape

September 8, 2014

In 2013, Agape served 1,401 riders.  As of the end of July, just halfway through 2014, we served over 1,566 riders and gave 3,687 lessons! WOW!! Expanding to Bradford Woods has been a HUGE success.  We had a crazy busy summer, but it was amazing and recently we took a moment to remember what we do and why. On August 22nd, nearly 100 people came out to Agape South at Bradford woods to eat, play games, watch lessons, and most importantly, take a moment to enjoy and relax.  Volunteer, Bern Lytle, did an amazing job leading us in prayer and reminding us

Read More >

The Therapy Horse

August 15, 2014

“There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man.” – Sir Winston Churchill At Agape we really do see miracles happen every day, and it would not happen without the assistance of Our Horses. Only 3 out of 10 horses have the capacity to be a therapy horse.  Not only does a horse have to be an athlete, but also possess the ability to handle stress and highly emotional situations. These gentle giants can read, reflect and respond to human emotion that we are incapable of communicating ourselves.  This is what makes

Read More >

A Par for the Horse Hole-in-One

June 24, 2014

I know exactly what you are thinking. It’s that question that keeps you up at night. That question that no matter how many sheep you count seems to always be on your mind. You know…that question of what do you get when you combine 22 sponsors, 30 amazing volunteers, and 100 golfers? The answer isn’t exactly clear until you experience Agape’s annual Par for the Horse golf outing for yourself! This year, Agape’s annual Par for the Horse golf outing was June 6th, a day that turned out to be one of the prettiest days of summer so far. With generosity and kindness

Read More >

Cheers to Generosity

May 1, 2014

On April 26th, we raised our ice cream floats in celebration of Agape’s second annual Drive to Ride online fundraiser.  We are very excited to announce that with the hard work of our volunteers, staff, and riders, Agape was able to exceed our goal and raise $27,708!!!  This is equal to 162 lessons!   WOWZERS!   We are so grateful for all of those who donated and our hard working fundraisers.  Agape is so fortunate to have such a strong community! More specifically, the E.A. & Frances Reichart Charitable Foundation generously blessed Agape with a $15,000 Drive to Ride donation!  Additionally,

Read More >