Dundee is an 21-year old Connemara pony. She is our smallest equine partner but has the largest personality – maybe a little TOO MUCH personality! However, we give her a little grace because she is like a fine Swiss watch. We can ‘fine tune’ her gaits to the needs of the rider. Sometimes we need a slow motion walk and other times we need a nice bouncy trot! She is the boss of all the horses and she enjoys her time on the dry lot in the time out pen because she can’t be trusted to play nicely with the other horses – especially if she is ‘hangry’!

Nellie is a Gypsy Vanner mare and is the daughter of Pearlie Queen! She is the youngest of all the horses and at 16-years old is quite young for a therapy horse. Normally you need an older, quiet, scare- proof horse that has to be able to handle all the different therapeutic positions of the rider – forward, sideways, backwards and hands & knees), all the toys – some quiet and some not so quiet! -, and 3 people (instructor, side-walker and horse handler) plus the rider!, crowding around her. Many horses cannot tolerate ‘the crowd’ and can get a little claustrophobic! Not Nellie! She enjoys the attention, brushing and of course, treats! She is very quiet and mellow and enjoys her students. She also has the most playful nature and has the most toys in her run!

Pearlie Queen is a 26-year old Gypsy Vanner mare. She is Nellie’s mom! She spent the early years of her life having beautiful babies – 7 babies! Her second career after no more babies is a therapy horse. It was a difficult transition for her as she was used to being in a herd of horses and really didn’t have a lot of experience bonding to people or trusting them. When she came here to Reins of Grace, she was extremely frightened of pretty much everything and everyone, but because of her big heart and great mothering instincts she soon realized that her little riders were ‘fragile babies’ and needed to be taken care of. She has the most amazing ‘motherly, protective radar’ and can literally sniff out a fragile child who needs her.