Special Episode: What It Means to Be a Red Barn Horse

Today's episode is about Alexis Braswell's chapter in our upcoming book Animal Prints On My Soul.Pre order here: absolutelovepublishing.com/animal-prints-on-my-soul/

For more Divas That Care Network Episodes visit www.divasthatcare.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Hello to all. Welcome to Diva's The Care Network. I am Joyce Benning and I will be your host for this really exciting robust lifestyle show. I would like to first thank each one of our listeners that have tuned in live and the ones that will be listening to the podcast. I am just so very grateful for each one of you. And you are in for a very special treat today because I am interviewing Alexis Braswell, who is an author in Diva's upcoming book, Animal Prince on My Soul. Oh my, this is going to be great. So, Alexis, could you just uh introduce yourself and tell us just a little bit about yourself, please?

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Sure. Um, my name is Alexis Braswell, like you said, and I work at a nonprofit in Leeds, Alabama called the Red Barn, where we work with children and adults with special needs who are in special circumstances and allow them to work with horses. So um I have worked with horses my whole life, ridden horses my whole life, absolutely love them. And I'm just super fortunate that I get to spend every day with wonderful people and wonderful horses. Doesn't get much better than that.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Oh my goodness. No, it doesn't get any better than that. No. And the work that you're doing, knowing that you're helping people too. Oh, what a rewarding career that is, plus loving what you do. Oh, that's a win-win all the way around.

SPEAKER_02 2:05

It really is.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

Well, so your story is titled What It Means to Be a Red Barn Horse. Can you just tell our listeners just a little bit about what your story is about, just enough to really intrigue them?

SPEAKER_02 2:20

Yes. So my story focuses on a specific horse that we had here at the barn named Jessie. I'm actually staring at a picture of her right now, who was just an incredibly special horse in our program. And it um just talks about the special bond that she had with one student in particular, and just the way that she helped shape and change his life and the impact that she made just on my own personal life, just in working with her, but then in watching her impact the lives of others as well.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Oh, wow. Oh. Well, how how you're talking about impacting your life? How has this story about Jesse or Jesse herself impacted your life? Just a little, a little tidbit about how it's been such an impact in your life.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

I think Jesse for me was the first horse that I was responsible kind of on my own for developing into a therapy horse. So for me, not only was it an incredibly humbling experience, but also one I just learned so much and really learned a lot about what it took to get to know a horse kind of from scratch. She had a great start, she'd had a wonderful career before she came to us, but had no idea what we were asking her to do here. So it was a lot about learning how to get her to understand what I was asking and to um follow her rules and her quirks that she had as well. And just a lot about teamwork and trust and just a really she was just a wonderful horse. She really was.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Oh my goodness. Oh, how special. What a special time. You two bonded together. You were each teaching each other something because it sounds to me like she was teaching you that what her life was like, and it's like, okay, now I'm going to adapt to this life, but I need your help. I need to trust you to be able to do it too. So oh, what an incredible bond. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_02 4:33

Every moment. Yeah, she was teaching you something all the time.

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Uh-huh. It sounds like it. Oh, what a very, very special horse. That is awesome. Well, what what is it like for you to always I know you said you enjoy it so much, but what is it like for you to always g go to work and be around horses since you've always loved horses? How what kind of an experience is that for you?

SPEAKER_02 4:58

It is just it's a wonderful experience. I'm so incredibly grateful for it. And um, you know, no two days are ever the same. You're dealing with live animals and with children. I mean, we have some adult clients as well, but primarily children and horses, so there's always something going on, something keeping you on your toes. So you're never going to get bored. Just never. And you just get to be around these wonderful creatures and watch them make a difference in somebody's life every day. So I know there's lots of jobs where you can get burned out very quickly and thankfully there's enough wonderful moments in this job that can help really remind you why you well love what you do and especially why you love the horses. Make sure you're in it for all the right reasons.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Oh, wow. Oh, I can only only imagine. I mean, just I have three of my own and just being around them. They're just m they're magical and they're magnificent animals because they bring so much into your life. And that's that's what I'm hearing from you because how these horses are coming in and not only making your life so pleasurable, but helping with the therapy on children and some adults and doing different things like that. Oh my goodness. Yes, that's absolutely that is just incredible. Well, how many horses do you have that at the red barn there where you work with on a daily basis?

SPEAKER_02 6:32

We have twenty-one horses right now, which is the most we've ever had, definitely. Um keeping ourselves busy. But you know, our gr waiting list keeps growing and we need to be able to have more horses to serve more clients and fill a greater need within our community. And so we um are just really happy with the herd that we have right now. We've got a great group of horses with a variety of personalities and specialties, so we can sort of cover every every option, everything that might happen. We're ready.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

Oh, oh, that's awesome. It kind of sounds like you kind of take the child and the horse and kind of match them together with what the needs are of the child and what you know the horse is that particular horse is capable with in fulfilling those needs for this child. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 7:27

Yes, that's exactly how we do it. You know, you know, just like people, everybody has a different personality, every horse has a different personality, so you find that perfect or as close to a perfect combination as you can get. And then when you find the most perfect, it's a really special thing, and you can see that bond develop, and it really is life-changing for everyone involved.

SPEAKER_01 7:51

Oh, yes, that would be that would be and what how rewarding for you to see see these children that have been struggling to see the glow in their face and in their eyes when they are on this magnificent animal that they are connecting with like that. Wow. I that has got to be one incredible experience for you and the others that work there at the Red Barn and experience that kind of a opportunity where you see all of this happening right in front of you. Wow. Yeah, it it really is. Oh my goodness, that that is just quite something. Well, are the uh do the children like if a listener is listening and going, okay, uh this is something I know I want this book, Animal Prints on My Soul, to learn more about it. But is is the red barn open to all ages of children, or do you kind of specialize in certain ages of children there?

SPEAKER_02 8:54

We are open to all ages. You have to be four years old to start taking lessons with us, um, but we have no maximum age limit. There is no and we would still welcome people out for tours and evaluations and all that sort of stuff so they can go ahead and get on our waiting list. You know, if their child is two or three, they can be ready. And, you know, as soon as they're old enough, we can try and hopefully have a spot available. But we have no maximum age, no limitations within having a specific diagnosis or anything. We are an extremely inclusive and inviting crew. Oh here to help as many people. Yeah, just trying to help as many people as we can.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Now, where is the Red Barn located?

SPEAKER_02 9:49

What uh part We are in Leeds, in Alabama, which is about 20 minutes away from downtown Birmingham. Just right off of I-20, which is the main road that runs between Birmingham and then Atlanta, Georgia.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Oh, how awesome. You are just right right in the heart of the South, as I'm in Kansas, so I would say that's in the heart of the southern part of the US.

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Yes, absolutely. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 10:22

Well, do you have your own horse then, or have you have you always had animals in your life?

SPEAKER_02 10:29

I've always had animals in my life. I got my very first horse for Christmas in the third grade, and I kept him until the day that he died at twenty nine years old. Um, and I have been fortunate enough to have several horses throughout my life, and all of them that have been able, I have retired them to the Red Barn when their show careers have ended, and they have come in and been therapy horses, and I have um three of my personal horses here right now. So that's incredibly special to get to see them in the program and know that they've brought me so much joy in and out of the show ring, but then getting to see them sort of take on this second career is a really special thing.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Oh, wow. Oh, that would be incredible since you retired them from one and yet you're bringing them into a whole new career where they can have so much rewards given back to them through these children that they're helping. I love that. That is beautiful too. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 11:35

So that you that's been a really, a really fun process.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

Oh, I bet. Now the three that are personally yours, were you the one that kind of worked with them and trained them into transitioning from the show ring into a therapy horse?

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Yes. So for two of them, when they left the show ring, took them to a family-friend place to let them learn that we weren't gonna be competing at that level anymore and to help them um just begin that transition and then brought them into the red barn. Both of them came this year, and I have a wonderful team of two others that helped me out. Um, they do all of the horse things with me. So between the three of us, we worked on getting them prepared and ready, and they have both started teaching lessons within the program and are just doing well, and then one of the others just came straight into the program. She didn't need that transition, period. She just jumped right on in.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

Oh, and you knew that. You knew she would be able to do that and didn't need that transition. So you were that connected to 'em that you knew what they would need to make it easier for them to to transition to the stuff. Yes, they'll let you know.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

Uh-huh.

unknown 12:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

They're not shy about letting you know what they need.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

No, they're not. Oh. Oh, I just oh, you have such a beautiful story, Alexis. I I am so excited to read your story and Animal Prince on my soul book. I this is this is just gonna be incredible. Wow. Well, and it sounds like you have such a wonderful team that you are working with too at the Red Barn. But be it with the horses or be it with the humans, it sounds like it's an all-around win-win wonderful team. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

You cannot ask for a better team of people to work with.

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Oh, how beautiful. Well, Alexis, I just want to thank you so much for coming on to my Robust Lifestyle show and sharing this information with our listeners about your upcoming story in our Animal Prince on My Soul book. And I know it's going to intrigue them, and we will put the links below where they can connect with the red barn, and they can some of these listeners will probably be asking for you specifically because they have heard the interview and are reading your story, gonna read your story in our upcoming books. So I want to thank you so much, Alexis, for being here.

SPEAKER_02 14:05

Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

You are thank you for the opportunity. Oh, you are so welcome. I would love to just have you back sometime in the following year, in the coming new year, and just have you share more about some of the experiences that happened there at the Red Barn and some different things, as much as you can share and some of the horses. Our listeners, I know. We can fill an entire book. Oh, oh, I love it. I love it. Well, as you heard, listeners, she will be back on Robust Lifestyles in the coming new year, and we will share more about the Red Barn and the wonderful, magnificent horses that she gets to deal with on a daily basis. And thank you again, Alexis. Have a wonderful rest of your day.

SPEAKER_02 14:50

Thank you, you two.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Thank you. And I want to thank each one of our listeners for tuning in to this wonderful interview with our amazing author, Alexis Braswell, that will be in our upcoming Divas book called Animal Prince on My Soul. It will be released very soon. So be on be looking out for that because you there will be 25 other authors in this book also, along with Alexis sharing wonderful stories about animals. It will it will just be incredible. So please share this show with all your family and friends. Check out all the hosts and their shows on divasatcare.com. Have an absolutely fantastic day. Be kind to all, give your animals that great big extra hug, and share all your love with them. And until we connect again on Robust Lifestyles, stay strong and healthy.