Horses 4 Hope

04/10/2024

Raffle tickets will be coming early next week, the delay was on me , I never approved the design🤦🏼
We will be contacting everyone to make arrangements to get tickets to you and the drawing is set for Nov 23rd but we have already sold 200 of the 500 tickets in less than a week . Hopefully we can get the rest sold with your help in the next couple weeks and have the drawing before Halloween!!!!
Thanks again everyone and any questions feel free to DM me !

27/09/2024

hey gang!

Tickets for the cash raffle are being printed up and should be done in the next few days! they will be numbered 1-500 etc

I am also going to have some posters printed up to display at local shops etc around town to help bring awareness to what we are trying to do over here at Stepback Ranch and Horses for Hope :)
Thanks again to everyone for always supporting me in this endeavor. My intentions when I started was to help my old teammates who were struggling mentally and I never realized how many people , adults and children , really need our help!

Thanks again!

24/09/2024

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the slight delay in responding to all the inquiries about the fundraising cash raffle we are having here at the barn to help with the horses :) I had to double check eligibility for certain people, Example none of my direct family can be involved , IE brothers or sisters or children etc, no one on the Board of Directors or their direct family members can purchase tickets etc
so after going over everyone's responses , we have decided to go with $100 tickets . A lot of you said sell $100 so you can sell more etc, WE ARE ONLY SELLING 500 tickets , once we hit 500 we are stopping. Kind of the point, Yes we want to raise money and we will BUT we also want to give some cash to a family that can use it hopefully. First prize will $10,000 dollars and second prize will be $5,000. Betha Wood I may be taking you up on your offer to help me organize this thing lol
We also had significant interest in $500 a ticket with $100K first prize and $50 K second prize but it would have meant cutting out A LOT of PEOPLE who have been here helping out all along and that just isn't how I or the staff over here roll. Isn't to say I wont do another where the tickets are $500 etc just not now. So again thank you for all your input and I will be announcing where and when and how you can purchase tickets for the raffle in very near future. JUST to POINT , based on the answers, at least 200 of you have already said you want a ticket which is awesome but that means only 300 more will be sold. I want whoever buys a ticket to have a pretty good chance at winning $10k or $5K . we will be holding the drawing at the Ranch during a party with details to come shortly also
AGAIN FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART , Thanks to everyone helping me and the horses as we try to help people who feel they have no other options sometimes.. Believe it or not , WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE in people's lives!

14/09/2024

Hey Folks,

Serious question here,
As many of you know, I run an Equine Therapy Farm called for Horses for Hope , Horses4hope.org.
Funding this venture falls squarely on my shoulders and I promised myself NO PERSON would ever pay to come here and feel better. The LAST thing I want is for some person who is struggling mentally to feel like they can't come because they don't have a $25 admission fee etc. LIfe is hard enough! I started this as a way for my former teammates who were struggling with life after hockey to deal with the emotional stress and despair that comes with life after sports. If you have never played at that level then you do not understand. I hear people say " F**k him, he made all that money and I am gonna feel bad for him ?" or " what does he have to feel badly about" etc , TO be CLEAR, I never played for money, I never turned pro, I played D1 college and cup of coffee with the National Team and I struggled. I had family who supported me and I was fortunate to have a degree and a career to fall back on and Quite honestly , If you KNOW ME, Hockey was never that important to me, believe it or not. I was FORCED into playing and it just BECAME who I was, BUT NEVER who I wanted to be. NOW IMAGINE that is all you ever wanted to be and you did NOTHING but that your whole life and its over at 30 years old. Yeah you made some money but agents and taxes and EX WIVES and child support and dishonest money managers , it goes quickly and then what ? You are 30 years old and no idea what you are going to do and your "FRIENDS" all disappear and the ladies that loved you , yeah they are all gone as well.. its only you and your thoughts and A LOT of guys can not handle that . MENTAL HEALTH is VERY REAL folks ..
THey feel worthless and see their only relief is a gunshot to the head or a needle in their arm . I am trying to change that for them .
Well in the process of all this I found that it isnt just my old teammates who struggle, It is kids in school who are being bullied relentlessly, It is that single parent working two jobs just to keep the lights on, the woman who is too ashamed to admit that her coward husband or boyfriend beats her , or the man so in love he cant walk away from a woman who constantly cheats and disrespects him publicly. It is our hero men and women who fight crime and fires who battle UNIMAGINABLE DEMONS from what they see and experience in the line of duty. It is our NURSES AND DOCTORS who struggle with losing a 4 year old child to senseless gun violence. I could go on and on with the things and people I see at the barn but I think you can imagine what it is like.
The cost to run this place is well over $15k per month between taxes and vet bills and feed and farrier and barn supplies etc and general maintenance of the barn and the indoor riding arena. To give you an idea, My electric bill last month was over $1900 , for one month! lol We have 6 AMAZING animals here but they are horses, if there is a way to generate a vet bill , they will find it ! lol
I am fortunate to have a career where I can cover these bills but BARELY and as much as I would like to believe I will live forever the fact is I have horses here who will outlive me , I have taken measures to ensure that this place will ALWAYS be a Therapy Horse farm. It CAN NEVER be sold or developed even after I am gone. The horses and the people who come here will ALWAYS have a home and a place to feel better when they are feeling depressed.
Having said all that ! lol . As a Registered 501 (c) (3) Non Profit with both the State of RI and IRS, I am allowed to run a cash raffle to raise funds if I choose to, AFTER getting approval in writing from the RISP and The Cranston Municipal Police Dept. There is much more that goes into it which I wont bore you with here , It wasnt just get a 501 C 3 and run a raffle, you have to meet ALL the criteria which we took great pains to achieve .. lol so my question to all of you after that novelette, lol is this:

How much would you be willing to spend on a raffle ticket if first prize was $100K and 2nd prize was $50K and amount of tickets sold was limited to 500. Would you spend $500 for a ticket for a 500-1 shot to win $100k and 499-1 shot to win $50K
top prize is $100K and Second prize is $50K.

or spend $100 for a ticket for a chance to win $10K first prize and $5k second prize. same odds 500-1 only 500 tickets will be sold. It is just something , among other things, I am kicking around in my head as ways to raise money for Horses 4 Hope and keep everything free for everyone who comes to feel better and see the boys and now our lone girl DAKOTA! Right now I fund this myself and while I enjoy Ramen noodles , I would rather not eat them exclusively for the rest of my life!
thanks everyone !

20/11/2023

Hey Everyone!!
Horses for Hope is throwing a Christmas party for kids in need this holiday season.

Our friends at Roots Hair Salon in Cranston, RI puts together an annual toy drive and this year they have graciously agreed to team up with us to help make our Christmas party possible.

Around 150 kids ages 10 and under will be coming to receive their gift in person at the ranch. On top of receiving a toy, they will also get a Christmas experience with their families they otherwise may not be able to have. There will be some festive treats, a huge tree with lots of colorful lights 🎄 and a visit from Santa Claus 🎅🏽!!

We are asking anyone who is able to donate to drop off a new, unwrapped toy at Roots Hair Salon by December 16th. A big thank you to everyone for helping Horses for Hope and Roots Hair Salon spread joy and smiles to some kids this Christmas.

06/11/2023

A beautiful boy in-front of a beautiful tree 🍁
The fall views at the ranch are absolutely gorgeous. Just breathing in the crisp air, taking in the views and watching/interacting with our boys can help release so much tension. Truly some of the best medicine there is!

Come visit during the fall season!! An unbeatable New England site to see 🥰

30/10/2023

24/10/2023

Chris says he “is a lucky man” to feed this horse. 💚

Chris has a disability and meets with therapy horses every week. 🐴

He says he likes to pet the horses and fill up barrels of hay.

He is one of the dozens of people visiting Horses 4 Hope every week.

More on this coming soon. 👀

11/09/2023

The boys love a good meet and greet ☺️🐴!! Check out our website or PM us on social media to book an appointment and see how incredible these boys are!!

04/09/2023

When you’re lying in bed sick for the last 3 days and people show up no questions asked and take care of the horses and fix gates and give the boys a cool down and feed and turn out and turn in and yoy don’t even know till it’s all done….
That’s when you know your circle is tight ..
Crystal Sirois Dan Sirois Robin Macari Franco Dellaposta John Ahearn Regina Dellaposta
Can not begin to tell you how much it means to me . Horses don’t have a day off and I love it ! But when you’re sick .. you still gotta feed and muck stalls and do what needs to be done .. I’m fortunate I got to sleep in the last 3 days and I owe it all to them !!
Back to bed …
Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend everyone !