Before giving, the mind of the giver is happy; while giving, the mind of the giver is made peaceful; and having given, the mind of the giver is uplifted – The Buddha.”
For Square Peg, 2018 was a year of unprecedented growth.
In July, we officially opened Square Peg at Cadence Farm in Sonoma, CA. Our own Becca Knopf is at the helm of Square Peg in Cadence Farms making new alliances, bringing in new families and volunteers, training up the horses and bringing that special #TeamQuirky vibe to the California Wine country.
We forged new relationships in our quest to achieve ABA therapy objectives by leading with compassion and support. The results are in – our clients hit all of their milestones well ahead of schedule. Helping us prove that compassion, environment, movement and support and intrinsic motivation – rather than rigid and undignified methods are what make real change.
We said goodbye to Bert – our beautiful Dutch gelding who served families at Square Peg for 11 years and Thair, our beautiful Walker Hound who lived his 17 years on earth with grace and sweetness. We miss them both dearly.
We partnered with Liskennett Farm in County Cork, Ireland to share ideas on how to improve services for families and how to replicate our programs to have greater impact – and we partnered with Farm de Lek in Thailand to bring HorseBoy Method to Asia. We were able to present what is special about Square Peg in Germany, in Louisville Kentucky and we visited our mentors in Lisbon, Portugal to deepen our understanding of Classical Horsemanship Principles.
Truth is, I’ve personally logged more airline miles in 2018 than in the last 20 years of my life combined – and all of it was in the spirit of sharing and mutually improving our services to support autism families and for Off Track Thoroughbreds the world over.
I no longer feel like I’m shouting into the wilderness. I feel connected and supported myself and further challenged to know that every wild dream the Darius and I have ever had for Square Peg is not only possible, but that beautiful and kind people have already paved the way and are willing to help us make these things come true.
I could wax on and on for pages – but if a picture is worth a thousand words, then here is a 1:30 video to tell the story of a very important year.
We need your support to continue to grow and connect and serve.
We PROMISE to make you proud to be a Square Peg supporter.
Please donate today.
In gratitude,
Joell &
#TeamQuirky