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Your Gift of $25 or more will be matched by The GE Foundation and will help feed rescued horses who provide equine guided therapy programs for at-risk youth.

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Founder's Story

Peaceful Acres Horses, Inc., is a "Sanctuary for Horses and People".  A Not - For Profit 
501 ( c ) (3) Organization.  The horses at Peaceful Acres are rescued from abandonment, neglect, abuse or are retired by their owners to come live in sanctuary at Peaceful Acres. The horses are rehabilitated emotionally and physically to become partners in equine assisted learning and psychotherapy programs for youth, adults, couples and families. The horses become people's guides to healing emotionally, psychologically, physically and spiritually.

 

Peaceful Acres is located on 156 acres in Schenectady County, Town of Pattersonville, New York, approximately 35 minutes from Albany and Saratoga Springs. The farm sits in a picturesque area surrounded by pastures and mountains. The name says it all; when you're at Peaceful Acres the pressures of life just seem to slip away.

 

When Nanci Beyerl first moved to Peaceful Acres, her life was anything but at peace, yet according to Nanci, when she sat in the yard facing the barn and indoor arena, "a feeling of calm came over me, and the name just seemed to fit." At the time Nanci was unsure of what purpose the farm would have although she knew it would make a wonderful boarding, lesson and training facility.
After about four months, Nanci was searching the web and found an equine web site that opened her mind and heart to the incredible purpose that horses paired with counseling professionals have on people in need. That site was EAGALA.org, Equine Assisted Growth And Learning Association. EAGALA aims to promote  professionalism in the field of equine assisted learning and psychotherapy (equine assisted counseling). EAP is not a "horse-back riding lesson program", it is a valid and effective approach in experiential learning which helps clinicians assist their clients reach their goals and objectives. EAP/L benefits those in the equine fields by opening up greater possibilities for doing what they love, namely working with horses. This benefits those in the clinical and human development fields by providing a powerful, effective, interesting, fun and therapeutic alternative.  

Nanci decided to take a leap and travel to Phoenix, Arizona, where she received Certification in EAP. Nanci then entered Graduate School at Adelphi University, where she earned her Masters Degree in Social Work (BSW from Siena College).

Peaceful Acres works in collaboration with other organizations serving youth and families on a referral basis to help individuals, couples, families and children to reach their goals and improve their quality of life. Clients served included; schools and youth organizations, children and adults with developmental disabilities (PDD - Aspergers), individuals diagnosed with PTSD, Adjustment Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Depression, ADD, ADHD, women and children victims of domestic violence, at risk youth (PINS) and families in need (divorce and separation - grief and loss).

Peaceful Acres program’s have expanded services to help secure a safe and empowerment based location for after school alternatives for youth in middle and high school. Women’s programs have also become a growing portion of the mission to serve and include equine assisted experiential learning for women recovering from breast cancer and other emotional and physical hurtles.

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