OUR STORY IS ONE OF HOPE
Our story is one of fresh hope, second chances and barrel-loads of love. Hope Reins is a place where rescued horses (and other animals) find a home. It’s a place where young people and adults find out they belong … and learn they can make a difference. Hope Reins is a place where people and animals matter, a place where miracles happen … often.
At Hope Reins rescued animals and young people and adults who need something to care about, get acquainted. Together, with the help of our team of amazing, life-giving volunteers, they find a sense of purpose. They work hard, laugh lots and play a part in helping our rescued animals become healthy and whole.
They learn to feel good about themselves.
THE THREE R’s
At Hope Reins we believe in the three r’s … with a difference.
Rescue … Hope Reins rescues horses (and other animals) that need healing. With lots of tender lovin’ care, they become healthy and happy members of our farm.
Restore … We run programs for young people and adults who need some space and a place where they can do something that counts. Caring for rescued animals makes them feel good – about themselves and about life. They discover they have good, strong hearts underneath the confusion they’re experiencing. As they help restore the animals to health, they often find restoration.
Recreate … It’s not all about work, at Hope Reins we major in recreation. And we re-create… lives, futures, and hope.
BE PART OF THE MIRACLE…
We would love you to browse our website and find out more about what we do at Hope Reins, and why. We hope our stories encourage you. If you would like to be part of the miracle of Hope Reins there are lots of ways you can help – you can donate, help with fundraising, find out about becoming a volunteer, pray for our work, or simply encourage us.
WHAT WE DO
At Hope Reins we rescue horses in need and offer them a safe and loving home. But what we do goes much further than that … We also use our horses to work with people from all backgrounds and walks of life. We facilitate that quiet, beautiful connection between horse and human, to help make our people (and our horses) feel whole again, as well as loved, connected, worthwhile and accepted.
People come to Hope Reins for all sorts of reasons. They may lack confidence or have a fear of horses; some are suffering stress or anxiety; others are battling with depression and/or thoughts of suicide; some are overcoming trauma; and some are dealing with self-harm. Whatever the reason, they find the time and space to heal.
Most of our horses have stories of rescue or recovery. Whilst the size of our property means we can’t responsibly accept all horses, we do try and help or refer people who have a horse for rehoming. Some of our horses are ready for adoption, so please enquire by sending us an email.
OUR VISION
Hope Reins is a faith-based relationship program that assists people of all ages in the Gympie Region who live disadvantaged lives, develop living skills that will encourage them to reach their full potential.
Horses and Humans Healing Together
Mission:
Rescue the Equine, Restore Trust and Hope, Recreate encouraging whole-person wellbeing.
Values:
Compassion
Hope
Relationships
Integrity
Safety
Teamwork
OUR PROGRAMS
We design our programs around the individual needs of our horses and our participants. At Hope Reins, there is definitely no one-size-fits-all approach. Our programs are flexible and tailor-made to have the most impact possible.
Programs include –
- C5
- P.A.K.
- Youth Mentoring and Leadership
- Short-term Volunteers
- Volunteering
- Farm Tours
- Pot Hope
- Brave On
Programs can run for up to eight weeks and provide lots of one-on-one interaction. One leader and one participant are teamed up for sessions in horse handling and care, and also horse riding. There is lots of time and focus on participants and horses getting to know and trust each other. This process is never rushed.
Participants usually come away with –
Most importantly, they realise they have an important contribution to make to life.
OUR FOUNDERS
Kylie and Ruth are the founders and heartbeat behind Hope Reins.
Meet Kylie
Kylie Read has been riding horses since she was just three! Born in rural New South Wales, she has enjoyed a lifelong passion for rescuing lost and hurt animals, especially horses.
Kylie has always been a hands-on person and trained as a carpenter in her earlier years. She took her skills to Peru on a short mission’s trip where the people had never encountered a female carpenter – they made up a title especially for her!
Her heart for the disadvantaged had been fanned and on her return she attended Sydney Mission Bible College to complete Diploma in Theology and Mission. Kylie found work with Wesley Mission’s Homeless Persons Services as a handyperson. Following college she became a welfare worker and then a community support worker.
She met Ruth in 1984 and following a successful project together in Sydney they bought a small property in Gympie with the dream of operating some sort of Christian ministry
And so Hope Reins was born; a perfect fit for Kylie’s love for animals and her desire to help hurting people.
Meet Ruth
Ruth Polley is a born and bred Queenslander and spent much of her childhood in the Gympie area.
Ruth trained as a teacher and taught for a number of years in Clermont. She spent a year in London before returning to Australia to study Drama at the Wesley Institute. During this time she began working for the Wesley Mission Homeless Persons Services – a job she would hold for the next 17 years.
After meeting and working with Kylie in Sydney, the ladies bought a property in Gympie and called it Chelem (Kay’lem), which means a dream of healing and restoration. This was always the vision!
In 2007, Ruth and Kylie’s desire to help animals and people, led them to look into the work of Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch in Oregon. They soon found that their model for helping troubled young people could be replicated in Australia.
Ruth and Kylie shared their ideas with friends and in 2009 and their dream became one step closer as they embarked on a trip to the United States to attend the Crystal Peaks clinic. It was here that the name for their project first came to them – ‘Hope Reins’
Hope Reins was incorporated at the beginning of 2010 and the first participants arrived in April of that year.
Ruth loves her work on the farm helping horses and humans. Her days are long and very busy but there is nothing she would rather be doing.
