Dear Southern Reins Family,

We hope everyone has been enjoying the warmer temperatures and May sunshine! With our Spring Session wrapping up soon, we are rolling right into our Summer Session beginning June 17, and we look forward to welcoming new and returning participants and volunteers to the farm in what is anticipated to be our largest Summer Session since our inception in 2015!

This has been a busy month for Southern Reins with the celebration of our 9th Annual Jockeys & Juleps Derby Party. We would like to share our immense appreciation and gratitude to our wonderful event sponsors, donors, and guests who helped raise more than $315,000 to support our mission outreach. We also had the support of amazing work groups from Valero, Monogram Foods, and Memphis University School who helped with preparing the farm before and after the Party of the Year. We are so grateful for their incredible hard work and dedication to our mission. Lastly, we are ecstatic to welcome back our friends from Alpha Omega Veterans Services who are returning to participate in our PATH Intl. Equine Services for Heroes program. We cannot wait to see all they accomplish this summer.

From all of us at the farm, THANK YOU for joining us to change lives . . . one ride at a time. Here are just a few of our May highlights sharing all of the great things happening at the farm.

On Saturday, May 4, 2024, the 9th Annual Jockeys & Juleps Derby Party took center stage. Benefiting Southern Reins Center for Equine Therapy, this flagship event raised crucial program funding while heightening awareness about the transformative services offered to help individuals living with physical, cognitive, and emotional challenges. Presented by First Horizon Advisors, this year's Jockeys & Juleps Derby Party was a spectacular Southern affair. From an electrifying silent and live auction to the bluegrass tunes from The River Bluff Clan, guests came dressed in their Derby best to support and celebrate the life-changing opportunities made possible through the healing power of horses.

The excitement of the event reached its peak with a live broadcast of the historic 150th Annual Kentucky Derby, where the thrill of victory and the heartbeat of competition captivated everyone in attendance. Honorary Event Chairs Michael and Leslie Bisignano, along with their son Michael Bisignano Jr., a participant in Southern Reins' Adaptive Horseback Riding and HorsePOWER Work-Based Learning programs, generously shared their story in support of the spirit of empowerment and inclusivity championed by the organization.

This year’s Jockeys & Juleps Derby Party raised more than $315,000 to sustain and grow our program services. Thank you for your incredible generosity, and for joining us to celebrate the Run for the Roses . . . Memphis style!

Southern Reins' 6-Week Summer Session officially begins on

Monday, June 17!

While our Spring Session is well underway, we are looking forward to our 6-week Summer Session beginning on June 17 and ending on August 3! This Summer Session is anticipated to be our largest one yet with participants in Adaptive Riding, Occupational Therapy incorporating Hippotherapy, PATH Intl. Equine Services for Heroes, Pony Pals and Silver Stirrups programs. We are excited to see so many returning faces and welcome new ones as we continue to expand our reach and impact.

Together, we are making strides towards a brighter future!

We had a great time shooting our new Southern Reins video that premiered during the 9th Annual Jockeys & Juleps Derby Party! The video highlights the deep bonds between volunteers, participants, and therapy horses. We love witnessing the incredible connections made between horse and human every day here at the farm.

Special thanks to University of Memphis Film & Production Graduate Students for their amazing work on this project, as well as the feature of parents and Jockeys & Juleps Honorary Event Chairs, Michael and Leslie Bisignano. We would also like to recognize our amazing volunteers for being a part of our new video - thank you Julie, Dave, Paul, Bailey, and Amanda!

Southern Reins is so honored to welcome back Alpha Omega Veterans Services to the farm!

Alpha Omega's unwavering dedication to supporting our nation's veterans allows us to create a powerful partnership that fosters healing, growth, and connection for those who have served our country. We look forward to an amazing and impactful PATH Intl. Equine Services for Heroes Summer Session to share the power of horses with our local veterans.

Southern Reins' PATH Intl. Equine Services for Heroes program supports active, reserve, and retired military personnel and first responders who have been physically or mentally injured in the line of duty. The program is offered at no cost to participants in honor of their service and sacrifice.

Thank you Valero Work Group!

Southern Reins would like to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to the amazing team from Valero who visited our farm this month and helped us prepare for our 9th Annual Jockeys & Juleps Derby Party! Their dedication and hard work truly made it the Party of the Year, and we are so incredibly grateful for their help with various work projects, ensuring that our grounds looked their very best for Derby Day. We appreciate you!

Monogram Foods Meets "Gram"!

We would like to extend a huge thank you to our friends at Monogram Foods for their ongoing support of Southern Reins! This month, several incredible members of their team joined us at the farm to assist with cleanup after our 9th Annual Jockeys & Juleps Derby Party. Not only were they fantastic helpers, but they also had the opportunity to meet "Gram," an Equicizer funded by the Monogram Foods Loves Kids Foundation. Originally created to aid jockeys in rehabilitation from injuries, Equicizers are now widely used by programs like ours to help participants experience the movement of a horse before starting our program. "Gram" is also invaluable to support individuals who may be unable to physically sit on a horse, or are looking for a unique and interactive way to ride.

THANK YOU, Monogram Foods, for your generosity! Because of you, we are changing lives . . . one ride at a time.

Southern Reins Horse Trailer Receives a Makeover!

Our new Shadow horse trailer received a makeover this month with the amazing addition of our TEACH Program information and sponsor logos. Thanks to Urban Child Institute, FedEx Freight, Carnival Memphis, and First Horizon Advisors, we are able to incorporate equine-facilitated learning in our community to improve literacy and learning readiness while also contributing to children's social and emotional health.

We are so grateful to these incredible sponsors for their generous support of Southern Reins and our TEACH Program initiative!

MUS Students Prep for

Jockeys & Juleps!

Students from Memphis University School were a tremendous help this month at the farm spreading mulch and helping us prep for our Jockeys & Juleps Derby Party! We cannot thank them enough for helping Southern Reins in such an impactful way and we hope to see them back at the farm again soon!