I’ve been riding and volunteering at Tranquility Farm for about the past year. The riding came first, after a visit to the Farm my wife, Michelle Mannering, and I made as part of the Frederick County Farm Tour several years ago.

I started lessons very late in life — mid-60s — and thought I was living out a childhood wish to be like Roy Rogers or Gene Autry, or Kit Carson. Lately, though, I think it has to do with putting things together — either again or for the first time.

When I was very young my right eye turned out and I had an operation to straighten the muscle. To make me use the eye, the doctors covered my left eye for a long time. When they took the patch off, my left eye had turned out.

Rather than another surgery, the doctors decided to put me through eye exercises. The one I remember most was looking through a machine like a giant set of binoculars. My left eye saw a cowboy and my right eye saw a horse. I was supposed to move the muscle of my left eye to put the rider on the horse.

Of course, I never did.

I’ve grown up and old pretty much seeing out of one eye or, when I’m tired, seeing double. When I’m not tired my mind suppresses the image from my left eye so I only see half of things most of the time.

I think, now, that I came to Tranquility Farm to put the rider on the horse and see things whole.

And that takes me to the volunteering. I’m getting a lot from learning to ride – a profound respect for PJ’s patience and intelligence, for one thing. But if I only get, then I’m not seeing and doing things whole. So, my volunteering is also part of putting the rider on the horse, this time of getting the balance between getting and giving right.

I make my living writing and thinking strategically with my clients about the way they connect with the people whose lives they touch. It’s a good way to make a living for me and the transaction is pretty straight forward. I provide them what I know and can do; they pay my fees (mostly on time).

Using what I know as a volunteer at the Farm provides something else, a place that engages my heart as well as my mind. So, for whatever I’ve been able to do as a volunteer – setting up a Face Book site for the Farm, raising money for the horses – it’s been a happier bargain than I usually enter into. And I’m still getting more than I’m giving, so I’ve got a long way to go to balance the books.
Bob Cornet

When: October 17, 10 am – 4 pm & October 18, 12 pm – 4 pm

Where: Tranquility Farm Equestrian

When: Saturday, August 29, 2009, 5:30 pm, Prior to Frederick Keys vs. Myrtle Beach Pelicans Baseball Game

Where: Harry Grove Stadium

Frederick, MD (August 24, 2009) — Sarah Transeau, founder and President of Tranquility Farm Equestrian, and members of the Farm board of directors will be special guests of the Frederick Keys baseball team this Saturday night for a pre-game check presentation ceremony at 5:30 pm at Harry Grove Stadium, prior to the game between the Keys and Myrtle Beach Pelicans.

The Keys’ Joel A Stephens Memorial Fund will present a check to the Community Foundation of Frederick County from the proceeds of the Keys annual Charity Golf Classic and the Wendy’s “K for Kids” program. Those funds are then administered by the Community First Foundation to benefit non-profit organizations in the County.

Tranquility Farm Equestrian is one of the current beneficiaries of the generosity of the Community First Foundation and the Joel Stephens Fund. Money from the Fund paid for a “Special Needs” saddle for children two years old to 12 years old who participate in the therapeutic riding program at Tranquility Farm Equestrian. The saddle will be on display at the game.

The mission of Tranquility Farm Equestrian, located in Thumount, MD, is to help physically and emotionally injured and handicapped people regain their confidence, build trust in self and others and totally renew their lives through an individualized therapeutic program that puts at their service highly qualified practitioners and rescued horses.

WHO: Saddle will be accepted by Sarah Transeau, founder of Tranquility Farm Equestrian and Gail Transeau, Executive Director. Community Foundation of Frederick County will be represented by Robert Mount, a trustee. Michael Stokes is a certified master saddler from Great Britain who came to this country and founded Centaur Saddlery in 1980.

WHERE: Tranquility Farm Equestrian, 11819 Whates Lane, Thurmont, Maryland 21788.

WHEN: 1 p.m., Saturday, April 18, 2009

WHY: The specially constructed saddle will enable children with physical disabilities to experience the healing that comes from riding the rescued horses of Tranquility Farm.