☀️ We Did It! Eight Incredible Weeks of Summer!
Hello Cheyne Ranch families!
Today was the LAST DAY of our eight-week summer session, and what an incredible summer it has been! 🎉🐴
Over the past eight weeks, Cheyne Ranch served more than 200 children, teens, and adults through Summer Camp, Friday Nature Club, riding lessons, PALS, Family Visits, and other opportunities to learn, connect, and belong.
Our students cared for animals, rode horses, tried new things, made friends, worked through challenges, played hard, got dirty, and created so many wonderful memories.
📸 Summer Memories!
We captured so many wonderful moments during our Summer Camps and Friday Nature Club! You can view photos from the full summer album here: Summer Camps & Nature Club Photo Album.
We also have a separate album filled with highlights from our amazing 4th of July Pony Parade. We hope you enjoy looking back on all the fun, friendships, animals, and adventures! 🐴☀️
Behind every experience was an amazing group of instructors, staff members, helpers, volunteers, families, donors, and friends who made this summer possible.
Thank you. We are so grateful. 💛
💛 Making Our Programs More Accessible
This summer, Cheyne Ranch provided $8,500 in scholarships, equal to nearly 15% of our total summer program fees.
That is especially meaningful because our programs are already priced below market rate. Generous donations of time, labor, supplies, professional services, animal care, equipment, and funding help us keep our regular fees accessible while also providing scholarships to families who need additional support.
Thank you to every donor, volunteer, sponsor, and supporter who makes this possible.
Photo credit: Breana Skiles
💛 A Very Special Thank You to Our Summer Helpers
From our Summer Helper Kickoff through the final day of our eight-week session, our helpers were incredible.
They showed up early, stayed late, walked beside riders, cared for animals, prepared activities, encouraged students, solved problems, and stepped in wherever they were needed.
Summer at Cheyne Ranch is full, active, joyful, and always an adventure. Our helpers met every busy day with teamwork, patience, kindness, and an amazing willingness to work.
Experienced helpers welcomed and guided newer team members. People noticed what needed to be done and helped without always being asked. They supported our instructors, cared for our students, and looked out for one another.
Cheyne Ranch could not have served more than 200 people this summer without them.
26 helpers in this Summer of 2026:
Abby A., Abby F., Amelia S, Anna, Cole, Drake, Emily M., Emily P., Erin, Eva, Evan, Grace, Harrison, Hudson, Joseph, Julia, Juliet, Kaitlyn, Katelynn, Katie, London, Miranda, Nathin, Nora, Owen, Riley, Rosie, Sophia, Sydney, Talyn ← 26 individuals who gave us your time, energy, care, and heart: thank you. We saw how hard you worked, and we are incredibly grateful for you. 🐴☀️💛
**If I forgot anyone - please tell me (and I’m so sorry!) And thank you to all the moms, dads, grand parents who helped so much.
Each of you helped make this summer safer, stronger, happier, and more meaningful. You helped create a place where people could learn, belong, build confidence, and do hard things.
🐴 Scheduled Break: July 26–August 13
Cheyne Ranch is on a scheduled break from July 26 through August 13. Regular lessons, PALS, camps, and clubs will not meet during this time.
There are two exceptions:
Makeup Opportunities: Riding Lesson and PALS makeups will be offered this Wednesday and Friday, July 29 and 31.
Please text Sally at 407-205-7744 if your student still needs a makeup.
Nature Club and Summer Camp do not include makeup days.
Volunteering and Animal Care: Volunteer and work opportunities will continue during the break because... this work doesn't actually stop. Ever. Ha! 🐴🐐🐓 And there is also our BIG Volunteer work day on August 3rd (see further below).
Photo credit: Breana Skiles
🍂 Our Fall Semester Begins August 14!
Our 16-week fall semester begins Friday, August 14, just three short weeks from now!
I am currently working on the giant Rubik’s cube that is the Cheyne Ranch lesson calendar. 😊
Current families, please watch for scheduling information as I match students, instructors, horses, groups, and available times.
We are excited to welcome everyone back after a short break for the horses and humans!
🤠🐴 Horse of the Year Is in Full Swing!
We officially have one week left of Horse of the Year!
For the past two weeks, the horses have been gathering votes, moving around the leaderboard, and inspiring some surprisingly strong team loyalty. There is still plenty of time for the race to change!
Every $5 donation equals one vote. Put all your votes behind one favorite, divide them among several horses.
Vote and see the live leaderboard:
Voting closes Monday, August 3 at 8:00 PM, following our big Volunteer Work Day with Team Depot. Our Team Depot friends will have a chance to meet the horses, choose their favorites, and join the fun too! 🐴
HOTY is meant to be fun, but the reason behind it matters. Program fees do not fully cover the cost of caring for our horses, maintaining the property, providing scholarships, and keeping our programs accessible.
Every vote helps care for the entire herd and supports the students who learn alongside them. One horse will win the title, but every team is helping Cheyne Ranch. 💛
🧡 Join Us for a Big Cheyne Ranch Volunteer Work Day!
On Monday, August 3, Team Depot volunteers from our Oviedo Home Depot store will join Cheyne Ranch families, volunteers, donors, staff, and other established community members for one of the largest workdays we have ever hosted.
Our new arena is getting a fence! 🎉
The materials are being generously provided through The Home Depot Foundation, and Team Depot volunteers are donating their time and labor to build it.
Together, we will also:
🐴 Build and repair fencing
🎨 Paint ground poles for the arena activities
🧹 Clean and organize the barn
🌿 Work on landscaping and property projects
🐐 Keep up with the daily animal care that still needs to happen, even on a very busy day
There will be jobs for different ages and ability levels, and volunteers do not need to stay for the entire day. Please bring work gloves if possible and wear closed-toe shoes.
📅 Monday, August 3
⏰ 7:00 AM–4:00 PM
📍 Cheyne Ranch
Because the day will involve construction, tools, animals, and many moving parts, participation is limited to people who are already connected to Cheyne Ranch.
All volunteer food and beverages are covered!
🥯 Breakfast: Coach Kelly LIVE, owned by our friend Kelly Mawhinney
🥪 Lunch: Valerie and Skip Kohlmyer, parents of our amazing volunteer Emma
💧 Bottled water and Gatorade: The McAdam family, parents of our amazing volunteer Emily
Within about 12 hours of asking, our community made sure every volunteer would be fed and hydrated. That is amazing. Thank you so much! 💛
Learn more and RSVP to join us:
I love a little alliteration. ☁️🐴✨
🐴 Horse Care Spotlight: The Kloud
Our horses work hard caring for our students, and we are always looking for thoughtful ways to care for them in return.
Our friend Nova Schaffnit with The Kloud has been generously providing PEMF sessions for members of the Cheyne Ranch herd.
PEMF stands for pulsed electromagnetic field. It is a non-invasive form of supportive horse care often used as part of a broader wellness and recovery routine, with the goal of supporting circulation, relaxation, comfort, and recovery.
Many of our horses appear to thoroughly enjoy the sessions and extra attention. We have loved watching their responses and have taken plenty of photos! 🥰
PEMF does not replace veterinary or farrier care. It is one more supportive tool we can use to help keep our horses comfortable and feeling their best.
Thank you, Nova and The Kloud, for sharing your time, equipment, knowledge, and kindness with our herd!
📚 A Special Thank You to Coach Kelly LIVE
We are especially grateful to our good friend Coach Kelly, who is providing breakfast for our entire Volunteer Day team!
My own children have benefited tremendously from Coach Kelly and her team, and many Cheyne Ranch families have too. Her coaches are knowledgeable, encouraging, creative, and genuinely invested in their students.
Coach Kelly LIVE offers individual support in almost every subject imaginable, along with wonderful enrichment classes too, including crochet!
With students heading back to school soon, this is a great time to explore everything Coach Kelly LIVE offers.
Thank you, Kelly, for feeding our volunteers and for the many ways you support children and families in the Cheyne Ranch community. We appreciate you so much! 💛
💛 Thank You for an Incredible Summer
Cheyne Ranch is more than programs on a calendar.
It is students learning they can do hard things.
It is helpers discovering that their work matters.
It is families finding a place where their children are welcomed and understood.
It is instructors bringing safety, creativity, patience, and expertise to every day.
It is horses helping people grow, and a community coming together to care for those horses in return.
I can’t wait to see everyone at our BIG Volunteer Day August 3rd and for our Fall semester! ☀️🐴💛
One last thing 🤠 We have a google album link with our fun videos:
Sally Ann Cheyne
Founder and President
🐴 CHEYNE RANCH, INC. 🌟
Teaching Animal Care & Connection
📬 1963 Genova Drive, Oviedo, FL 32765
📞 Call/Text: (407) 205-7744 | 📧 Email | 🌐 Website | 📘Facebook | 📸 Instagram
💙 Cheyne Ranch is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Consider donating: chra.us/give
Our mission: We teach animal care and connection in a safe, inclusive, and accessible community where people of all abilities grow in confidence, develop life skills, and form meaningful relationships.
