North Star EAL

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09/16/2026

During this session a couple weeks ago, we went through one of my favorite lesson plans on the topic of discipleship.

When you start learning to ride, there are many different “disciplines” to choose from — Western, English, and many variations of these and others.

So during the lesson, we set up several different saddles and allowed the students to try each one to see what they liked best. We talked about the differences and why you might choose one discipline or another.

During this particular lesson, we also asked our older student to teach his younger brother in what he had already learned about the horses in previous weeks.

To study a discipline is to practice it, learn more and more about it, and to keep pressing forward in the pursuit of perfecting it.

Jesus also calls us to make disciples of people. So how can we study Him, learn more about Him, and step out in faith to follow Him today? How can we teach others what we have learned? Some food for thought!

Curious for more? Visit www.northstareal.org for more information and set up your visit to the barn!

09/13/2026

We had so much fun with the 20 ladies who experienced Equine-Assisted Learning during this SBR Women’s Retreat!

The theme for the weekend focused on having “Endurance” as we walk with God. So for our horse activities, we focused on the fact that God is always with us, in everything we experience.

With every group, we always spend time building a connection with the horses — brushing them, petting them, loving on and talking to them so that they are relaxed and comfortable working with us.

Then the ladies learned to lead the horses. We compared how the horses stay beside us to how God, who is also powerful, protective, safe, and trustworthy is always right beside us.

Then we had them navigate an obstacle course as teams. The obstacles represented things that we endure in each of our lives. We had the ladies take turns closing their eyes and depending on their horse and a partner to give them directions through. We talked about listening to God’s voice, being able to depend on Him even when we can’t see the whole story, because He has His eyes open and He has a plan.

Finally, we played “the island game” which has been a favorite around here all summer long. The premise is that you’re stranded on an island and must get all the supplies you need, plus your horse, onto the island without touching the ground. The question we always ask at the end is: “What was the most important thing to get on your island and why?” While some groups prioritize gathering the objects around the arena, the most important piece is the relationship with the horse. Just like in the things we endure, our relationship with God is the most important piece. When we have His peace, promises, faithfulness, and hope of eternity — we can be confident that He’ll be with us no matter the circumstances.

So, THANK YOU to these ladies and our horses for making it a great day! We will run these sessions again for the second SBR Women’s Retreat next weekend. Hope to see you there!

09/11/2026

We’re so excited to welcome our first SBR Women’s Retreat campers this afternoon!

If you’re a part of this retreat, we will have opportunities tomorrow to experience the horses up close and personal through Equine-Assisted Learning. Stay tuned tonight as there will be an announcement made at chapel about how to participate.

We hope to see you at the barn!

09/10/2026

Do you remember the first time you experienced a horse up close? Perhaps you noticed for the first time how big horses are. Maybe you noticed how soft their coats are, how their ears and eyes followed you as you walked around them, or how they swished their tail and stomped at flies. Maybe you noticed their markings or all the colors in their coats.

Whatever your first experience with a horse may have been, something needed to happen first. You had to get up close to the horse – whether through taking riding lessons, going on a trail ride at camp, knowing someone who has horses. etc. It is not an opportunity everyone gets.

For some of the clients who come to the barn, the chance to work with horses is life-changing. But some of these clients would not have the chance to be here without some extra support. So for those who may not know, North Star Equine-Assisted Learning is a provider of certain Children’s and Adult services funded through Medicaid. These currently include:

- The Children’s Long-Term Support program (CLTS)
- Adult Long-Term Care programming through Lakeland Care (While this is our only currently contracted MCO, we are working to add more in the future.)

If you are a part of CLTS or the Lakeland Care Adult LTC programs, I’d encourage you to reach out to your social worker or care team, as they may be able to authorize Equine-Assisted Learning as part of your plan.

Some clients also receive funding through their school to attend extra-curricular activities like riding lessons. We also work with certain public school students who have IEP needs to provide them with Equine-Assisted Learning. We’d encourage you to speak to your local teachers and administration to see if we can introduce the EAL program to your child’s school.

Are there other ways we can partner with you to bring horses into your life or the life of someone you know? Reach out today, we’re always happy to answer questions and explore new ideas.

[email protected] | (715) 484-2742 ext. 250

09/08/2026

Sometimes you just need a safe space to breathe, and horses (or in this case, the donkeys) are amazing at providing that safe space. It’s so fun to watch these kids play with their equine partners, problem solve through different scenarios we give them, and just plain have fun. I think the donkeys, Sméagol and Sam, love it as much as the kids do too.

There are still spaces for both kids and adults to join us this fall! We also will be offering a few Equine-Assisted Learning spots during the upcoming SBR Women’s retreats. More details to come!

09/03/2026

The rain didn’t stop us from doing some fun horseback riding lessons this afternoon! Spots are starting to fill up for the fall, but there is still room if you’d like to join us at the barn, rain or shine, for riding lessons or Equine-Assisted Learning. Contact us today to get started or visit www.northstareal.org for more info about the program.

09/01/2026

What makes a good friend? When asked this today, this student listed many important qualities: a friend is someone who is there for you, who will listen, who you can talk to. Someone who is kind, patient, and gentle, and who wants to spend time with you. We talked about how these things apply to our friendships with the horses, and that friendships are two-sided. If we expect a horse to want to be near us, we must show them we are safe, gentle, kind, patient, etc.

If we could sum up a good friendship in a phrase, it is simply this: to be “known”.

For discussion today, we explored Psalm 139. We visit this chapter often with EAL clients, for good reason. It is full of comfort and promise and amazing, wonderful things about our God.

Today we looked at it for another reason: we noted how many times this chapter mentions something that God “knows” about us. There are many things, and furthermore, God is always with us through everything. He has all the qualities of a good and dear friend who loves us immensely and has had a plan for our lives since before we were born.

Finally, we looked at how many times this chapter mentions us humans “knowing” something. There is only one mention in verse 14, “Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well.”

So how should we live, in light of these things?

Here are Jesus’ words in Jn 15:12-17: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

08/25/2026

We had a lot of fun with our Tuesday morning sessions today. Fun fact about both of these students — they both were baptized at their church on Sunday, making a public declaration of their faith! Join us in celebrating with them! ❤️

08/21/2026

Happy Friday! One of the verses we talked about today in our Equine-Assisted Learning session was Isaiah 40:13, so I’ll share it here as well. “...but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

The horse-related challenge to accompany this verse was to “teach your horse how to fly”. I’ve done this challenge once before with another group, and the initial reaction was the same...

“That’s impossible!” they either tell me or their faces say it all. Then, they proceed to tackle the challenge anyway and realize it may not be as impossible as it seems. The first group I facilitated this activity with taught their horse how to go over a jump. Our student today said that when she trotted on her horse, it felt like she was flying. Or perhaps when she convinced the donkey to walk at a faster pace than usual after her. So maybe it all depends on your definition of “flying”.

Ok, so maybe our equine partners will never grow wings and fly. But you know what’s not impossible? The fact that God takes care of and comforts His people, and sometimes we all need that little reminder that nothing is too big or too small for Him, and that He’s there and He’s got us no matter what. ❤️

08/19/2026

The courage and confidence of this student are shining through more and more during every week at the barn, and we love to see it!

A couple weeks ago during her lesson, she told me she wanted to try riding a different horse than usual, and had a new goal to eventually try working with each horse at the barn. This was all a pleasant surprise to me, as up till now she’s had a few favorite horses that she feels safest with and prefers to work with. So over the last few weeks she’s tried out a few different horses, and I’m so proud of her for initiating those steps out of her comfort zone to try something new (and succeed at it) all on her own! This is an example of precisely the skills that the EAL model and our riding lessons aim to build in these kids.

This past week she came with a more specific request: she wanted to ride Lucy. Lucy was one of the first horses this student connected with several months ago, and after watching her ride the last several weeks, I told her I thought she was ready to start doing some trot work with her horse (so long as she was comfortable with that). She excitedly took on this new challenge, and did beautifully with Lucy! I can’t wait to see how else this girl continues to grow, surrounded by encouragement and of course, with her friends the horses at her side.

This week I’m starting to put together the schedule for the fall with our school-based programs starting back up again soon. There are still openings throughout the week to join us. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions! [email protected].

Address

N6120 Sawyer Lake Road
White Lake, WI
54491

Telephone

+17154842742

Website

http://northstareal.org/

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