Mini Acres Trot-About Riding School

10/09/2024

When you can't wait to meet your new neighbors and it looks like they want to meet you too! City living has magical moments too!

08/28/2024

Surgery went really well on Tuesday and they sent me home on Wednesday evening until my sister, Deborah Ritchie and Jeff Mandels had to bring me to the Emergency room in Olympia when I spiked a fever on Friday evening. I have been here at Swedish since they transferred me here Sat. moring... Chris Eickhoff brought me a hat and shirt I have been waiting to wear!! Battle on Crazy Cat Ladies!

08/03/2024

My cancer is shrinking! I meet with my surgeon on Monday to learn his plans to continue kicking cancer to the curb! I feel so blessed and so thankful and every single person who has sent me their heartfelt support and powers for healing has helped me on this journey and I thank you beyond words... 💙💛💚🕊🌿🪷

08/03/2024

Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Full … Chretienne Menetto needs your support for Help Fric and Frac at Full Circle Center

06/27/2024

Happy Birthday to my beautiful mom! I miss you every day.

06/26/2024

An amazing family who works tirelessly to help support Full Circle Equine Rehabilitation Center has started a fundraiser for two of the horses in Sanctuary at our rescue. The outpouring of help we are receiving, as I navigate my treatment plan in a determined effort to kick cancer to the curb, is providing much needed support as we continue to provide for both the rescue horses, my retired teaching partners and my current team of equine teachers and healers is truly Full Circle at work. Hope does grow here.

Want to join me in making a difference? I'm raising money to benefit Full … Chretienne Menetto needs your support for Help Fric and Frac at Full Circle Center

06/22/2024

Hello there! Life is full... it is just over two months since I learned that my world was no longer going to be the same as I thought it could be. A little over 30 days after learning I have cancer I received my first chemo treatment and 3 weeks later my sister went with me to shave off what was left of my hair the night before my second treatment. The next day at my second infusion I had a severe allergic reaction to the first of the two chemos I am receiving, my chemo nurses had me, reversed the reaction and when I was able started infusing the second type which my body accepted... that was scary yet what was even scarier was being afraid I wouldn't get the chemo that is helping me fight for my life. The next day I learned that the first rd of chemo knocked my cancer marker from 708 down to 472! Which is a good indicator that I am responding well to treatment :) go me!
Over the weekend my father took a soft fall when his 91 year old legs stopped cooperating with the rest of his weakening body and on Monday I finally got him to agree to go to the VA Emergency. He is admitted at the VA and improving a little each day... my peonea gifted me with some beautiful blooms and our refrigerator keeps on producing delicious soups, and my horses and other animals are as patient and kind to me as my family and friends. It is not possible for me to thank the people helping at the farm and my family and friends for all they are doing as much as I want to or mean to. Yesterday a very kind woman walked up to me at the grocery store and said I have been where you are, going thru cancer treatment (the shaved head and head coverings feel like wearing a neon sign) and you've go this! We talked for a while and exchanged phone numbers. I have been a part of many different communities over the years, full of people with some type of commonality and or passion that drew us together. A horseperson, a Veteran, a mother, an animal rescuer, a teacher, an Activist, a creative, a party girl, a dirt worshipper, a caregiver, a beach lover, a collector, a book lover and now a cancer patient and if I have my way a cancer survivor in remission. My next round of chemo starts July 3rd and this time it will be weekly as they have decided on the type to replace the one I can no longer receive.
Bite it cancer.

06/11/2024

Weekend visitors leaving some magic ❤️🐎🐱🐓🪿🐦‍⬛🌿

06/08/2024

Today I started working on a sign to hang in the arena next to the amazing art work others have made to share their thoughts about the horses and other animals at our home. Today I am filled with gratitude. Today I am filled with hope. Today I spent time in the arena with Bucky, his grandmother Minnie June came into my world when I was 11 and she was 2. 50 years later I introduced him to a group of people who, like me, thought he was beautiful.
Today was beautiful.
I hope your day was beautiful too.

06/05/2024

https://gofund.me/d03d5316
Thank you very much to everyone donating to and sharing this fundraiser started by my friends. My go to answer when needing to fill the barn with hay for the next year has always been "work more" and right now that is impossible and for the first time in my life there is absolutely nothing I can do to change that. I am a five year plan person. I evaluate my situation and determine where I want to be five years down the road. Several years ago I switched my focus from teaching lessons to students who could afford them and boarding horses for students and families interested in taking lessons and competing in shows to providing opportunities for people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to share space with horses and reap all the benefits that I witness when horses and humans come together. A big part of this decision was because as my horses and I aged I felt we still had a lot to offer, even if our bodies were tired we still had a lot to offer our students. While I truly loved taking my students to competitions I never did enjoy watching the stress it caused or the pressure or desire to win that caused riders to make demands of horses who were having the least amount of fun of all of us... sorry I meant to say thank you for helping me care for the horses and I guess I an trying to explain why it is so important and why they have more than earned being safe and ok... everyone is worth caring for, everyone deserves to feel safe. I have spent most of my life taking in animals that for more reasons than anyone could ever begin to imagine found themselves needing somewhere to be. I chose to take them, they became my responsibility, no one else's... Your help, as my family, my animals, myself and all those who love Mini Acres navigate this unexpected and oneway path, there is no turn back, there is no do over, wherever it may lead, is very much appreciated... Love, the Mini Acre Many

Hello Dear Friends, I have someone very special who could use… Traci Benstine needs your support for Your help is appreciated for my friend and her horse rescue.

05/23/2024

When you have your first day of chemo for 7.5 hours and your sister Deborah Ritchie flies in from Yelm to go with you and your friends Collista Bejjani , Rachel Hasbrouck and Sylvia Miller, bring you gifts to help you get thru it, and your newly cleaned fridge thank you, Andrea Espinoza , keeps magically filling with food you didn't prepare, you receive prayers and we'll wishes throughout the day, and your partner for life, Chris Eickhoff , holds down the fort and manages to go to work, and your students step up and take your place and teach your students, and your friends from Compassionate Addiction Treatment continue to come twice a week and work hard for the horses with or without you, and your friends from your recovery groups who spend time with the horses offer to volunteer to help around the farm, and your friend Kris Hankel offers to drop everything to give you a ride and sit with you when you are terrified to be on this path, you know you are blessed...beyond words, and you want to do your very best with your amazing team of Dr's to fight your way back to a life you have worked so hard to build...so that you have an opportunity to spend more time in the company of all and everyone that you love... I could have just said Thank You, but that is not how I roll! Oh and rumor has it I might be feeling a little under the weather in a few days before I feel better... my advise to get to Treatment Week One " we will call you within the next week or two" is the wrong answer. Keep pushing and calling and maybe put yourself face to face with another human and let them know you need their help and you will find the people who will reach out on your behalf and get you to the help you need. Self advocate for yourself, you are not a number, you are You! And ladies, if you feel tired and aren't motivated to any more than you have to do, if your belly feels full, and you have to p*e like a race horse when you drink a glass of water Go see your doctor! And when your doc says all those things are normal for ladies as they age ask him or her about the symptoms of Ovarian Cancer ask why you couldn't have Ovarian Cancer, only 20% of Ovarian Cancers are found in early stages, most are found, like mine, when the cancer is spread, to other parts of your body ... learn about what to look for, listen to your body, if you have a family history with loved ones with cancer ask your Doc what that means for you... if someone I know, reads this post, avoids the path I am on and goes out in the world and does something good then writing all this out was a good idea and good ideas help everyone win!