Page 7 - Dinuba Sentinel 7-12-18

The Dinuba Sentinel
Community Thursday, July 12, 2018 | A7 Orosi horse ranch is
changing young minds
Mending Fences and Changing Minds was 'built by the community, for the community'
At the ranch the students work together to clean the stalls, paint fences, exercise the horses, feed and groom the horses.
“They learn to work together,” said Alvarez. “They may not hang around together at school but when we get them here they learn to work together and they grow that relationship. And I’m a firm believer that that relationship really helps, because they take that into the streets.”
Those relationships also extend to the horses as well. Lori Gilbreath, who is the volunteer horse trainer on at the ranch has over 50 years of experience in working with horses. Gilbreath is a stickler for grooming when it comes to the horses, as it is a horse’s way of bonding both in the wild and on a ranch.
Said Alvarez, “The brings the horses out and the kids start grooming them and they get to know the horse and the horse gets to know them. And they get into it. They brush them, the braid their hair. And they love it, and the horses love it too. And it works. It’s a different kind of therapy, but it works.”
When the students are not working with the horses Alvarez opens up the ranch to the community. Last Monday and Tuesday young students from the Cutler-Orosi summer program classes got to experience the ranch from a much
See Ranch, Page A8
Photos by Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Mike Alvarez, founder of Mending Fences and Changing Minds, prepares Valeria Davalos for a horse ride at the organization's horse ranch at Davidian Farms. Valeria was one of dozens of children from Palm Elementary School who was able to visit the farm. They were treated to a magic show, an inflatable water slide and an opportunity to ride some of the many horses at the ranch.
The horse stable in the background was built with the help of students from the Cutler-Orosi area.
ABOVE: Horse Trainer Lori Gilbreath takes a young student from Palm Elementary School on a pony ride. Gilbreath has over 50 years of experience with horses and volunteers her time at the Mending Fences and Changing Minds horse ranch.
TOP-RIGHT: Sofia Lua reacts to magic trick by magician Jonathan the Great.
To learn more about Mending Fences and Changing Minds, visit their website at www. mendingfencesandchangingminds.com. You can also like them on Facebook @ changingminds2014.
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
There’s a place on the outskirts of Orosi that’s helping to mold the minds of many youngsters by way of horses. The horse ranch on Davidian Farms on Road 120 is called Mending Fences Changing Minds and was created by retired corrections officer Mike Alvarez in an effort to help redirect at risk youth in the area.
“Two years before I retired this was going through my mind,” said Alvarez. “I wanted to start something for the community and I wanted to work with horses. I had seen horse therapy in TV and I thought this would be a good thing here.”
The organization was founded in 2014 and the recent location has been in operation for almost a year now.
“We’re working with the district and working with the Lovell High students,” said Alvarez. “We work with ten at a time. We want to keep the numbers small. It works out better for us and it works out better for the kids as well.”
The ten students work eight weeks at a time at the ranch, doing various jobs that pertain to running a horse ranch.
“This is a working ranch,” said Alvarez. “When the kids come out here there are no colors. There are no street sets. Here, you’re going to work together.”
By Rick Curiel
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com