10-24 REELLIFE digital - Flipbook - Page 28
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A VERY SPECIAL PLACE By John Kruse
A friend of mine suggested
I do a story about the
Alatheia Therapeutic Riding
Center near Wenatchee
and I’m so glad she did.
I visited there this past
week and met with the cofounder of this very special
place, Nancy Grette.
Nancy and her husband
Glenn started this nonprofit organization at their
home on Sleepy Hollow
Heights in 2011. The two
had purchased several
horses they kept on their
property but their children
had grown and left home
and they were pondering
what to do. That’s when a
five-year-old girl who was
physically disabled came
out for a ride for her fifth
birthday on one of their
horses.
The ride was an amazing
experience for the child and
Nancy said she knew what
she was meant to do for the
rest of her life.
After that Nancy and Glenn
started offering weekly
rides to disabled children
and adults as a means of
emotional and physical
therapy. The word Alatheia
is a Greek word from
the New Testament that
means “disclosed truth.”
It specifically comes from
Ephesians 4:15 where the
Apostle Paul exhorts all to
speak the truth (alatheia) in
love to one another.
In Nancy’s words, “It is a
way of living, and the riding
center is how we choose to
speak truth.”
The Alatheia Riding
Center provides some 108
individuals the opportunity
to spend an hour or more
with and on their horses
every week. This includes
not only physically and
mentally disabled children
and adults but also combat
veterans suffering from
Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder. The rides take
place on their 12 Norwegian
Fjord horses, a small,
stout, and ancient breed
known for their gentle
temperament and surefootedness. Nancy says
these horses are very
empathetic and reflect the
feelings of individuals they
come in contact with. She
also explained the weekly
rides offer therapeutic
benefits for their riders in
a physical, emotional, and
mental way.
