Hands-On at the Jacob Beachy Sensory Trail

Since 2008, Jacob's Fund, the U.S. program of The Red Thread Promise, has been giving disabled kids hippotherapy at McKenna Farms in Dallas, Georgia. Now, on our first mission trip to the farm, we'll get physical with our efforts. Individuals and families will travel from several states to the farm in Georgia to work the weekend of November 4, 5, and 6.

The original farmhouse, which normally houses McKenna Farm's offices and therapy rooms, will be transformed again, this time into temporary sleeping quarters for the individuals and families who'll mend broken fences and care for the Jacob Beachy Sensory Trail.

Part of the sensory trail

This sensory trail consists of multiple stations, each of which stimulates one of the child's senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. Children ride their therapy horses from one station to the next around the circuit, interacting with brightly colored shapes, chimes, natural textures, and other stimuli.

During our visit, we'll begin planning a future mission blitz: erecting a viewing room along one end of the covered arena. The viewing room will be equipped with a one-way window that will allow parents to observe their child while undergoing hippotherapy, avoiding any distractions that may interfere with the child's session. The Red Thread Promise recently donated the funds so that the foundation for the room can be poured in preparation for the building project. McKenna Farms is actively raising the additional capital needed to purchase the supplies that our team will need to complete the structure, which is targeted for spring 2012.