We rehabilitated wildlife. Caring for the uncared for. Trying to be a voice for those without one in our culture. We learned that mankind was the only problem for these wild people. We also taught nature classes. Classes on tracking, classes on wild edibles and medicinals and classes on reconnecting people the Earth. We helped 10’s of 1000’s of animals and we taught 100’s of people. A favorite memory is of a student calling us a couple of months after a class she took. She was extremely excited. She told us about seeing a bobcat that she pointed out to her husband. She 100% attributed her sighting to what she learned in one of our classes on awareness. She termed it a once in a lifetime experience.

There is a lot of senseless death in wildlife rehab and after 20 years we decided to change course.

What could we do to help?

Following our vision, we decided to help baby horses. We had both grown up with horses and now Archway would accept foals 0-6 months and commit to 4-5 years of training and care. Over the next 10 years Archway produced fine, healthy, well trained horses. As part of our commitment to our community all horses, male and female, were sterilized helping stem the over abundance of unwanted horses. Horses, especially youngsters, are a rough bunch. After 20 horses and 10 years I had been stompled good and Annette had broken her tailbone twice riding these broncs. We were getting older so it was time for a change. A favorite story is being contacted by a lady, a mom, whose son was struggling with life. Fighting depression and having experienced jailtime, her son wanted to try and get into roping at rodeos. He was an experienced bull fighter (rodeo clown) and so his mom brought him to choose a horse. When he and Mariah met it was love at first sight. As it turns out quite a while later his mom sent us a letter saying that he and Mariah had come out on top in roping at 5 different rodeos winning a saddle at one! And still we continued teaching nature studies with one of our students going on to create his own nature school. Archway was honored to help 20 horses move on to forever homes.

This brings us to the present. Following our vision, how can we help?

After several tragic deaths in our family and receiving an inheritance, we were finally able to get our own facility. We decided to focus on creating a space where people can feel safe while connecting through gathering for gardening and animal husbandry or picnicking. Teaching classes on creating a smaller footprint and self sufficiency and of course nature studies. All helping people to regain a sense of control over their lives and gain self confidence. We are an oasis in a sea of agricultural and gas and oil industry. We are a place to be creative, to meditate and to learn. We began work on this phase of Archway right at the beginning of the pandemic. Classes and public interaction took a nose dive. We decided to work on our space instead.

A story about our current situation: A man drove into the parking area at the facility. Luckily I noticed him and went out to greet him. My first impression was that this guy was really stressed! He was unprepared to even get out of his car but I convinced him to take a tour. We talked about some of the ideas we were considering trying and I showed him the picnic and community gathering area. We looked at a massive raised bed garden we built that will become a veritable mixed multitude of fruit producing trees and bushes where the public can come and harvest right off the plant. We then walked to the meditation garden where people come to meditate. We looked at the little house where we foster kittens (another service Archway has always offered) and the coops where chickens and turkeys are raised for teaching. We looked at our big classroom and then we went to meet our longtime ambassadors Guido and Poquito the miniature donkeys who have entertained children and adults at everything from farmers markets to a trip in an office elevator to a fourth floor office party! When we got back to his car his energy was so much lighter. He was smiling and destressed and I hope his day was better afterwards. After 25 years Archway Adventures is still doing its job and following our vision of reconnecting people to our beautiful world.