By Luke Edwards
The origin story of BNR Stables sounds a little like a Kevin Costner film. However, instead of attracting former baseball stars, they welcome kids in need of a little equine support to their little plot of land.
Run by Brenda and Rob Langendoen, the Fenwick farm is home to Horse Sense for Kids. It’s a free service offered to at-risk kids in the Niagara region, providing mental health and general well being support through horse riding. They’ve been in operation as a non-profit for about a decade, and last month celebrated a grant received through the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
“It’s hard to put into words…(when they meet their horse) the anxiety melts away,” Brenda said.
Over the years the couple have built the farm from scratch. When they bought the property, “it was a corn field,” Rob said.
Now they have a fully functional stable, with indoor and outdoor riding areas. They have 13 horses, nine who are in the Horse Sense for Kids program, as well as a few other animals at the farm. Brenda also operates a fee-for-service program.
However, the free service works in conjunction with local organizations like Pathstone and Big Brothers Big Sisters, who refer children five and up who they think could benefit from heading out to the farming and learning how to handle horses. When they arrive at BNR Stables Rob said there are no preconceived notions. The kids are given a blank slate and allowed to learn and develop at their own pace.
By giving them control of the animal, with the supervised guidance of experts like his wife, Rob said they often see quick improvements.
“Their self esteem goes through the roof,” he said, adding the program helps develop tons of life skills that go well beyond horse riding.
The Trillium funding is through the Resilient Communities Fund Grant stream, and was a 24-month grant totaling $112,000. Brenda said the COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges for them as there were restrictions on what they could offer, but the animals still needed feeding and care all the same. The grant will help as they continue to recover. It also helped with the purchase of an additional horse and to pay for additional staff.
And coming out of the pandemic, she said children are continuing to struggle with their mental health. Fortunately, their program can help.
“The horse just accepts them for who they are,” she said.
Several dignitaries were on hand for a celebration of the Resilient Communities grant.
“They’re volunteering because they care about their community,” said Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff.
Pelham Mayor Marv Junkin said a lot of the time the attention is given to large organizations and the multimillion dollar donations they receive. However, smaller donations and smaller organizations can provide as much bang for their buck or more.
“We recognize what impact a contribution to an organization this size can make,” he said.
The program supports about 300 kids a year. In addition to grants like the one from the Trillium Foundation, it’s funded support through donations and through the annual Wild West Day that runs every summer.
Ziad Hajifazul, from the OTF, said the foundation provides $100 million annually “to build healthy, more vibrant communities across Ontario.
For more information on the Horse Sense for Kids program, follow their Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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