EquiFriends - the inspiration that started it all
EquiFriends, The Beginning
By Evelyn Bredeson, Founder
Personally, my love for horses, my desire to help others, and my belief in the therapeutic value of riding a horse led me to found EquiFriends.
Long before I knew about therapeutic riding (about 30 years ago), when we lived in Whatcom Co., I had my own horse and I also had a dear friend who was disabled living next door. She walked with a walker as her left side was impaired, so moving for her was a chore and was quite jerky. It seemed to me that she might enjoy a smooth walk if I mounted her on my horse. So, I asked her if she wanted to try that. She did and she loved it as I led her around in our yard and on a short trail. I also gave rides to another friend who loved horses and who was dying of cancer. It was therapeutic for both of them.
Then, in 1980, when we moved to Snohomish Co., I heard about therapeutic riding programs in an article written about Little Bit. I signed on as a volunteer. From Arlington, I had to drive 1 hour to get to Little Bit in Woodinville, and thought..."we need a program in Snohomish County". So, when I expressed that idea to other volunteers at Little Bit, I found out that Crish Lydon (the other EF founder) was also thinking the same thing.
So, we got together and founded EquiFriends over prayer and a cup of coffee, starting in 1988. Crish's daughter Jackie was an instructor at Little Bit and she became EquiFriends first instructor. The three of us all had been involved at Little Bit in the '80's. (Crish, a volunteer Coordinator, Jackie as an instructor and I as a volunteer). We worked on most of LB's fund raisers also.
LB served about 150 students then and had about 50 on their waiting list. There was no program of this kind in Snohomish County, so we were passionate about starting one.
When we started EquiFriends, we were individual members of NARHA and went by NARHA standards from the get-go. We got our board members, wrote the business plan, by-laws, applied for the 501 (c) (3) non-profit status, and submitted all the legal documents that incorporated EF in 1989. EquiFriends received our first NARHA accreditation in 1990. In the first several years, we both attended and were actively involved in NARHA regional and national conferences. We received the national Ride-A-Thon award several years in a row.
I also was a junior at WWU during this time... going for a teaching degree with an English/Lit major...I changed to Human Service receiving my BA in '91.
In 1989, for seed money, we helped a program in Tacoma do a R-A-T and the Sno. Co. Western Games Club did a raffle for us. Money was collected at the first Bull Riders Challenge by cowboys passing the hat via Gerry Andal, when we brought a student to do a demonstration. Staff received no pay that first year and about half of our riders were on scholarship. They paid $15 per lesson. Our first session we had 2 horses and six riders. Each session doubled after that as we grew in volunteers, horses and $ support.
In 1990, our first RAT had 150 riders and raised $20,000...on a rainy day! It was a fact then, that Snohomish County had the most horse owners per capita for a county in the US and the horsemen and women of this county really supported EF, as they still do.
Crish and I were lucky to be able to do this with no pay in the beginning. Later, often we would turn our meager paychecks back to the program as needed. For us, it was a passion...we did not start the program to make a salary. We were lucky to get White Swan stable donated for the first couple years...we were fortunate to get Pilchuck Vet to donate their services and shoers to donate services also. We were lucky to know a lot of people in the horse world to gather support.
How did we do it? Pretty much living and breathing EF 24-7. A lot of foot work, a lot of communication, a good relationship with our support base and board, a few grants and a lot of begging for donations. The rewards? Lots of smiles on our riders' faces and watching the achievements of our riders!