- All right, everybody,
we are back and there is something seriously special
and magical about horses.
Not only are they just incredible creatures,
there's so much to learn from them.
And there's a program here in LA that proves just that,
helping underserved girls gain confidence
and courage through the power of working with horses.
Here to tell us more, let's welcome
the Executive Director of Taking The Reins,
Dr. Jane Haven, give it up!
(audience clapping) (audience applauding)
Before we get to how life-changing this can be,
tell us a little about the program and how it works?
- All right. Well, first of all, Kelly,
thank you so much for giving us this chance.
- [Kelly] Absolutely.
- Our program serves girls eight to 18
and from all over Los Angeles,
mostly from urban and underserved communities.
And we have a cowgirl corner with the eight to 10 year olds
and they work with little miniature horses,
and they learn grooming and leading and all of that.
And then we have girls,
mostly middle schools when most kids enter our program.
And as you know, middle school for a young lady
is a- - Oh, my middle school
was hell for me.
- Yeah me too.
- Middle school is hard.
- It is, I think especially as a girl
you're changing so much, you're awkward.
- Puberty, everything takes hold.
- And our founders really founded an all girls program
to kinda address, to provide a safe, no pun intended, haven
for these middle school kids to come in.
So we serve a lot of title one schools and other nonprofits.
They come in, they work with our horses,
we've got 15 horses and they learn how to lead and groom,
and saddle, and ride.
And they are there for six weeks.
And then our final program,
we also have a garden and urban farm program.
- Which is so important. - It is.
- Those life skills
- I mean, so many kids growing up in the city,
unlike me growing up in Western Colorado,
they've never learned to grow a tomato
to actually pick
a vegetable. - Maybe they've
never seen a garden.
- Right exactly. - Yeah.
- And so they get to learn how to plant harvest and eat,
and so we do that.
We have about a quarter of an acre on our two acre facility
that's dedicated to that.
And then our high school,
we have a college program and our high school students
can come on weekends and stay there through
the end of high school.
- It's so magical what you're doing.
I know that you said they learned to lead and ride,
and all those things,
but you learn so many other things emotionally
and mentally when you're working with animals.
And it's so important.
All those side effects that happen whilst
learning how to ride and do all that.
It's so key. - Absolutely.
- But through the program, the girls got back
or sorry, they got the chance to give back
to their communities in a big way when the pandemic hits.
So can you tell us how?
- A lot of our girls got to mentor one-on-one,
but with social distancing.
Younger students to how to work with the horses,
they also in their garden planted and we converted
our garden into a food production garden.
And we ended up feeding about 140 families, garden boxes,
as well as a homeless center.
We delivered produce almost every month
for them to cook with.
And a lot of our girls worked with our nutritionists
and learned how to cook bread.
So they gave, they made loaves of bread to put back
into those boxes.
- That was the thing.
Everyone learned how to make bread
and the pandemic (laughing).
- And how to eat it (laughing).
- Yeah, I was like, I feel like that was the thing,
that was the post, everybody is like,
I made sourdough bread.
It was like, yeah. - And Pies.
- And pies, yeah, I feel like it's an amazing thing
for them to learn those life skills for themselves,
but also it probably helped to their farm
and underserved community.
It probably helped their own families as well.
- Oh, It did.
'cause a lot of our kids are from title one schools
that have breakfast and lunch.
Now they were out
of those meal programs. - School,
I know they didn't have meals.
- So we were providing a lot of meals for them
out of that garden. - That's so cool.
- It was great.
- So joining us now from the ranch are Maria,
Melanie and Lovie, the Arabian mare
who are part of the program right now.
So also dialing in, we've got Melissa, who's a graduate.
So congratulations on that.
Well, Maria, I'm gonna start with you.
Tell us about your experience with Taking the Reins.
- Yeah. So I've been at Taking The Reins for around,
I started in seventh grade
and now I'm a graduating senior, so it's my last year.
And throughout my time at Taking the Reins,
I really developed my confidence in public speaking skills.
And when I first came here, I was very shy,
I got picked on a lot.
I've always been a nerdier kid like into Greek mythology
and stuff like that.
So I was kinda an easy bullying target.
But when I came here,
I really got out of my comfort zone,
put myself out there and became more comfortable
around horses, and other people.
And here, I'm also held leadership positions
like mentoring a foundation class and at school,
I'm also involved in student council
and I'm the speaker of the house.
Additionally,
Taking the Reins has helped me build my confidence.
And I plan on pursuing a career in civil engineering
in the future.
And that's a very male dominated field
as are most STEM fields.
And so you need a lot of confidence to do that as a woman.
- Oh my gosh.
I have to take a minute because here's the thing,
when you started, Dr. Haven saw me react.
First of all, nerds rule the world.
We ended up being the coolest people ever.
And I was a nerd as well,
and I was obsessed with Greek mythology when I was a kid.
'Cause I have Greek background in my family,
and I literally was obsessed to a weird point maybe,
but so you're gonna turn out all right,
or you'll turn out quite normal.
But Melanie, I wanna ask you,
how did you get into the program?
- So my sister, who's my best friend,
she was in the program before me and she would come home
and tell me how it was so fun.
And I told my mom how I wanted it to be in the program,
but due to our age differences, we were separated
and I was put in the younger girls program.
And it really forced me to meet new friends
and build confidence to get out of my comfort zone.
And as much as I love the horses in the barn,
I really love the garden where I can spend time
with the plants and the kitchen.
And it helped me with my math, improved my math,
which is my favorite subject at school.
And it's given me so many opportunities for the future.
- Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
I love how young you are into gardening
and being in the kitchen.
I wish I would have been exposed to that as a kid.
That's so cool that y'all provide that.
And Melissa, I wanna say you graduated from the program.
So what was it like for you?
- So the program
was an absolutely amazing experience for me.
I started when I was around 10,
similar to the other students,
I was also an easy bullying target.
I was also pretty nerdy and enjoyed science.
And I also came from a different cultural
and financial background than the other students
at my school.
And so I just didn't have a great time at school.
And the weekends were the most amazing part of my life
because that's when I got to go to Taking the Reins
and ride the horses, be with my friends.
While I was in the program,
I was able to be a participant of the youth judging
and Hippology team.
And through that program, I gained a lot of knowledge
about animal biology,
specifically horse biology and anatomy.
And that knowledge helped me a lot
at a research assistantship I had at the La Brea Tar Pits
in my undergraduate research career.
And that knowledge in turn helped me a lot
to be a master student.
So I am currently a first-year master's student
in the graduate degree program in Ecology
at Colorado State University.
And the knowledge I gained at Taking the Reins really was
the major stepping stone to making me be
the scientist I am today.
And I hope to one day eventually share that information.
I hope to be a university professor and encourage students
to learn as well.
- Well, the girls each have something to tell Jane.
So wait, you worked hard for that doctor,
so I'm gonna say help Dr. Haven (chuckling)
and that's because they are truly thankful everybody.
(upbeat music)
♪ Thankful ♪
♪ So Thankful ♪
So Maria, why don't you go first?
My Greek mythology sister.
- Yeah. So I'm so thankful for Taking the Reins
and Jane, especially.
And I think Jane is such an inspirational person
and her determinations to the program and the girl
is super inspiring and I'm also really appreciative
that she lets us use Lovie here in the program.
'Cause Lovie has actually help me create a lot of bonds here
because we had to braid her tail,
and washing that's a really long process.
And so through that,
you really bond with the people you do it with.
And I'm so thankful for everything that Jane has done for me
and the other girls.
- Aww. - Thank you.
- All right, Melanie, how about you girl?
- I'm so thankful for Jane and for giving me opportunities
to have a role in leadership and growing a healthy mindset
with gardening and horses.
And it really helped me during
my middle school beginning years
and being more confident in what I say and do.
And I'm so thankful and I'm so excited for the new sessions,
and I can't wait to come back,
and I wanna be here until to come.
- (chuckling) I love you until, 'til they tell me I can't.
All right, Melissa, how about you?
- Jane, I really want to say thank you.
Those two words, I don't think can describe exactly
how grateful I am towards you and the program.
I know I was there just before you started,
but I saw how far you've taken the program.
You are someone who I look up to as a symbol
of professionalism and leadership.
And I can't say thank you enough.
So thank you.
- Oh my gosh. - Melissa, thank you.
- Both of us are like, I know I'm like, I saw you tear up,
but I was like, oh no, that's contagious.
So I was like, oh, that was so beautifully said, ladies.
All right, Jane, when we reached out to ARIAT,
one of the top Western equestrian outdoor
and work brands in the world.
They serve a diverse community of world-class athletes,
Olympians, and people like you.
And they love what Taking the Reins it's about,
so they're gonna give you $10,000 just to help out.
- Holly cow! - How does that sound?
- [Jane] Are you kidding?
- [Kelly] Yes, it's a great brand as well.
- [Jane] Whoa, thank you.
Thank you ARIAT.
- Yeah, thank you ARIAT,
thank you so much. - We all wear ARIAT.
I know, yes, I've been to many of those hunter, jumper,
like all those equestrian events, I see it everywhere.
So thank you guys so much.
Thank you ladies for joining us.
I love that we didn't plan it,
but all of your names start with M it's not lost on me.