Sarah Williams, Executive Director of Dusty’s Riders, invited 10 of our 5th grade students from 99th St. Elementary, located in Watts-Los Angeles, to attend their ranch in Sunland CA and interact with her horses, “Dusty” and “Luke.” Sarah taught our Dreamers how to groom a horse and how to properly take care of a horse (e.g. how to walk, brush, clean, feed, and mount a horse). She also taught our students about the different parts of the horse and what their main functions are. After learning the essentials on how to take care of a horse, we headed to Griffith Park, where each student rode their own horse for an hour on a trail. The day ended with some good pizza and mojos at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor. What a day!!

Dusty’s Riders posted 41 (!) photos on their Facebook from their day with us and wrote:

What fun we had today with the kids from I Have a Dream Foundation LA! This was this group’s first time at Dusty’s Riders, and we are so happy to have them join our family! They have [multiple locations in Los Angeles including] Watts-Willowbrook and Inglewood…these kids were from Watts-Willowbrook. Rafael had ridden a couple times with his cousins, but it would be the first horse experience for Andrew, Aracely, Dessery, Jesus, Kanija, Luis, Osvaldo, Ruby & Victor. They loved meeting Dusty and Luke and six of them were game to help us put kids all around Luke. We started with one kid and then kept adding on either side until six kids were petting him. As expected, he was a perfect angel. He’ll be a huge part of the day before we know it. When we asked them about the day, these were some of the responses: Rafael, 10, liked “riding the horses in Griffith Park, and I liked meeting Dusty. Dusty was nice and when you feed him, he does not bite you. Luke was also nice. He let us feed and pet him. In Griffith Park, we rode a horse for one hour! I was scared, but I just cowboy’d up.” Aracely, 10, also liked “that we got a chance to ride the horses. It was fun! At first, it was scary, but after a little while, I got used to it. We also got to meet Dusty & Luke. We walked and touched Dusty. We also fed Luke some carrots. I cowgirl’d up.” Ruby, 10, said her favorite part was “when we were with Luke and Dusty. They were both kind horses. Also when we were riding the horses. They were a little hard to ride, but it was worth the try. Thank you for treating us like family. You guys made my day of learning of horses. Thank you for everything you did for us today. I love the place. I hope to come again. P.S…Cowgirl up!” Jesus, 10, summed up the day with “It was the best thing ever.” We agree whole heartedly! Thanks to Michelle, Brittany and Aneliese for helping out two weeks in a row!

Thank you so much to Dusty’s Riders!
You can like their Facebook page here.

You can learn more about them on their website DustysRiders.org.

Dusty’s Riders provided valuable cultural enrichment to the students in this fifth grade IHADLA Dreamers class. Cultural enrichment is part of a well-rounded path out of poverty.