🧡 What Forty-Two People Built Together 🧡
One-minute time-lapse video of our nine-hour day: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hLLgTBc5qXDGAfou5
Look at that sky! We were lucky for this August day with lots of overcast. A storm was rolling in just as the day was ending!
I am still trying to take in everything that happened at Cheyne Ranch today.
For months, the arena has existed in plans, measurements, fundraising goals, and conversations about what our students and horses need. Today, it began to look like the space we have been dreaming of.
Twelve Team Depot Volunteers Built the Arena Fence
Twelve Team Depot volunteers from our local Oviedo Home Depot spent the day building approximately 250 linear feet of four-board arena fencing. That meant digging around thirty deep post holes, setting and aligning the posts, and lifting and securing row after row of heavy 2-by-6 boards in the summer heat.
It was incredibly hard physical work, but the difficulty went far beyond the lifting and digging. They had to navigate underground pipes, work around an auger that was too short for some of the holes, rethink post placement when the marked layout did not match the reality of the ground, and angle fence boards where the shape of the arena required it. Again and again, they adjusted the plan, found a solution, and kept moving.
They measured, carried, lifted, leveled, recalculated, adjusted, and worked for hours. Watching the arena take shape, post by post and board by board, was extraordinary.
Why This Fence Matters
Until now, our adaptive riding lessons took place in the pasture behind the barn, a multipurpose horsey space where the other horses also rested, played, and moved freely. That worked when Cheyne Ranch was smaller. As the program grew, we needed a space built specifically for lessons.
After months of planning, fundraising, and investing in the ground and footing, the new arena was ready for its fence. It was the final piece, turning a prepared space into a working arena.
Many of our students are still building the balance, coordination, and confidence it takes to guide a horse independently. Clear, visible boundaries help support that learning. They help the horse understand where the work is happening, rather than drifting back toward the barn or toward whatever else has caught its attention, and they give instructors a more contained and predictable space in which to teach.
Because of The Home Depot Foundation and Team Depot, students, horses, instructors, and volunteers now have a dedicated place to work together with greater focus, clarity, and safety. Cheyne Ranch serves about 100 students each week, and this arena will now be where our adaptive riding students learn, grow, and build confidence. They completed in one day what will serve this community for years.
The Home Depot Foundation and Team Depot Made This Possible
Through a $4,500 grant from The Home Depot Foundation, Cheyne Ranch received the materials needed to build the arena fence. Team Depot, The Home Depot’s associate volunteer force, then brought twelve volunteers from the Oviedo store to complete the project.
Their support provided more than fencing materials and a day of labor. It completed the dedicated riding arena our students and horses needed, making possible a safer, more focused, and more predictable place for adaptive riding lessons.
Special Thanks to Michael and Natalie
I am especially grateful to Michael Smith, who led the Team Depot project and helped make the entire day possible. From the planning through the work itself, Michael carried an enormous amount of responsibility for bringing this project together. His leadership, coordination, and willingness to invest in Cheyne Ranch meant so much to us.
I am also deeply grateful to Natalie Zarnowski, a Pro Desk professional at our local Oviedo Home Depot. Natalie was the person who first connected me with Michael, and that introduction opened the door to everything that followed. She helped with so many details along the way and was consistently kind, personable, encouraging, and generous with her time. Natalie made the entire process feel personal from the very beginning, and I am so thankful for the care she showed me and Cheyne Ranch.
I wish I had caught the name of every Team Depot volunteer who came to help. Each one deserves to be recognized. I may not know every name, but I will remember their kindness, their determination, and the sight of them continuing to dig, lift, measure, and build through such a hot day.
Thirty Incredible People from Cheyne Ranch
We had asked our Cheyne Ranch volunteers to give the Team Depot crew the room they needed to work safely and efficiently. They did that while staying nearby, supporting the day, and continually noticing where else they could help.
They kept ice, cold water, cooling towels, and Gatorade slushies ready for the Team Depot volunteers. They brought tools, helped carry supplies, answered questions, offered tours, introduced our guests to the animals, and shared why this place and this project matter.
Throughout the rest of the property, they were also carrying the daily life of Cheyne Ranch. Our group ranged from young children to adults, and every person added something important to the day. It was long, busy, and very hot, but they stayed involved, helped wherever they could, and worked alongside one another with so much enthusiasm and care.
The People Who Helped Feed Everyone
A day this large also required a significant amount of food and drinks, and several generous people helped make that possible by sponsoring different parts of the day.
Coach Kelly Live sponsored breakfast.
Valerie and Skip Kohlmyer sponsored lunch.
Erica Hall, LMHC sponsored snacks and treats.
MaryBeth McAdam sponsored drinks and hydration supplies.
Their support helped cover the cost of feeding and hydrating more than forty people throughout a long, hot volunteer day. Because of their generosity, everyone had food, cold drinks, and a place to pause and recharge before returning to the work.
I am so grateful to each of them for helping make that possible. 💛
Caring for the Animals and the Barn
Even with a major construction project underway, the daily life of the barn continued.
Every stall still needed to be cleaned. Every animal still needed food, water, attention, and care. Water buckets and pasture troughs needed to be scrubbed, grain needed to be made, hay needed to be cleared, and because it was such a hot summer day, several of the horses needed to be rinsed, cooled, walked, or given a little extra attention.
Our volunteers handled all of it.
Paisley received a medicated bath. Pearl, Lujen, and Edward were rinsed. Eva made mash for Lujen, children added ice to the animals’ water, and Pearl and Honey had their manes braided to help them stay cooler. Other volunteers walked Edward and Princess and made sure the animals remained comfortable while all the activity continued around them.
Everyone was so busy cleaning the only photos available are from our cameras!!
At the same time, the barn received a level of cleaning I am still trying to take in. The walls were brushed from top to bottom, and stall fronts, pipes, shelves, trunks, fans, doors, cubbies, and the wash stall were cleaned. Things were pulled away from walls so packed-in dirt and grime could finally be reached. The barn was swept again and again, and nearly an entire spreader was filled with debris from the walls, corners, and places where the walls meet the floor.
This was detailed, physical work, and much of it was done without anyone needing to be asked. They looked around, saw what needed attention, and began. They pulled weeds, made small areas safer for the horses, organized supplies, cared for the animals, and kept finding one more thing they could do.
A barn is always full of work, and the immediate needs of the animals have to come first, so deeper cleaning often waits. To have so many people notice those neglected corners and give them their time and care felt overwhelming in the best possible way.
They were caring for the animals, the people, the building, and the daily life of Cheyne Ranch all at once.
Twenty Beautiful Ground Poles
The Cheyne Ranch volunteers also painted twenty ground poles for the new arena, and they are beautiful.
These poles will become part of everyday lessons. Students will ride over them, around them, and between them as they practice steering, balance, focus, and communication with their horses.
While Team Depot built the structure of the arena, our volunteers created some of the pieces that will bring it to life.
Look at all this incredible hard work!
Two People Who Help Carry Cheyne Ranch
Ms. Katie and Erin are two of the people who normally help carry so much of the daily work at Cheyne Ranch, and on this day they gave even more.
Ms. Katie came on Sunday to help me think through the details and prepare for such a large day. Then she arrived before sunrise on Monday and stayed for eleven hours. She is a true right hand to me, someone who helps me plan, notice what I may be missing, and keep moving when there is a lot to carry. She also brings her incredible veterinary technician skills to the care of our animals, which gives me so much confidence and peace of mind. I am so deeply grateful for her steady presence and everything she gave to the day.
Erin worked incredibly hard from beginning to end. She brings so much willingness and enthusiasm to everything she does, including the tough, physically demanding work. She kept noticing what needed attention, helped make sure every volunteer had a meaningful way to contribute, and treated people with so much kindness and patience throughout the day. She is good to everyone and especially wonderful with the kids, keeping them involved and part of the real work. Her energy, kindness, and wholehearted willingness to help are such a gift to Cheyne Ranch, and I am deeply grateful for her.
Forty-Two People, Working Toward One Purpose
By the end of the day, Team Depot had completed an extraordinary amount of difficult construction work.
Around them, the Cheyne Ranch volunteers had cared for the animals, welcomed our guests, painted twenty beautiful ground poles, kept everyone cool and hydrated, guided the younger volunteers, and transformed the barn.
There were forty-two of us here, including me, and every part of the day mattered. The Team Depot volunteers built the fence that will surround our new arena, while the Cheyne Ranch volunteers cared for everything that gives the arena its purpose.
What We Will Remember
I am so deeply grateful to Michael, Natalie, every Team Depot volunteer, The Home Depot Foundation, and every Cheyne Ranch volunteer who gave their time, energy, care, and heart to this day.
In the days ahead, students will ride inside this fence, horses will walk over these ground poles, and volunteers will move through this beautifully cleaned barn. The care that went into this day will still be here, woven into the way this space is used and loved.
We will remember the heat, the tools, the cold drinks, the paint, the dust, the tired faces, and the way so many people came together to make Cheyne Ranch better.
Thank you for building this with us. 💛
Our Cheyne Ranch Volunteers
It was such an incredible day, and I am deeply grateful to each of you.
Abby, Aine, Amelia R., Anna, Chandra, Christi J., Christie R., Christopher S., Cole, Emily M., Emily P., Emma, Erin, Eva, Evan, Grace, Jason, Joseph, Juliet, Katie, Katelynn, Kayla, London, Olivia, Oliver, Rosie, Sophia, Talyn, and Zinn.
