Published in the Canstar Headliner and Metro December 2021
I’ve always felt that strong community organizations are at the core of a happy, connected, and vibrant community. As the MLA for the constituency of Roblin, I’ve had the honour over the years of connecting with so many impactful community organizations. One such organization is Urban Stable. Urban Stable’s mission is to empower youth to engage in their education and community and achieve personal success through hands-on learning experiences with horses. Growing up around horses in my home town of Benito, Manitoba, I know how impactful their presence can be.
Recently, one of the pillars in the Urban Stable community announced her retirement from Urban Stable. Wendy MacDonald, Co-Founder and Executive Director announced that after 20 years she will now retire. I want to say thank you to Wendy for all her hard work over these past two decades. Her dedication to community has positively affected the lives of so many youth- over 700 youth and their families, in fact.
Urban Stable was co-founded by Wendy in 2001 as a way to provide programming for young people in Winnipeg and the surrounding area. Working with horses has been shown to help people in many ways including building confidence and leadership skills. These are skills that benefit people of all ages, and especially in the development of young people. Urban stable has grown over the years and now serves over 70 students annually.
Urban Stable’s programing includes a school program in which students get to work with horses through grooming, tacking, leading, horsemanship, ground exercise and riding. These students are typically in grades 5-8 and spend time really learning how to connect with the horse and with the other students in their cohort.
Urban Stable’s Alumni Leadership program is for students in higher grades who have participated in the school program. Here, students get to practice their teamwork, leadership, and communications skills.
Another great program is their Leaders in Training program that enables former students to gain valuable work experience at the barn.
Additionally, Urban Stable offers summer programming for youth and leadership development programing for workplace teams.
This organization has grown into an incredibly special, impactful community pillar. I want to thank Urban Stable for all that they do and a very special thank you to Wendy MacDonald for her tireless work over the past 20 years.
For more information on this fantastic organization, check out urbanstable.ca!