February 2025: Mary Brunton
Mary Brunton
This month we’re happy to celebrate Mary Brunton as our Volunteer of the Month! While driving on Lawrenceville Highway one day, Mary saw the Little Creek horses out in the pasture and wanted to know more. She did some research online and found Stride Ahead. That was in the spring of 2022 and by that summer Mary was volunteering with Stride Ahead. The timing was perfect since her two daughters were growing up, giving her a little free time for other projects.
In her first year, Mary did all she could to learn more about horse care and connecting with the horses. Her first experience was with Scout and learning how to earn his trust, which set the stage for working with other horses.
Since Mary started volunteering with Stride Ahead, she has done just about every job involved in keeping Stride Ahead going: lessons, bagging cubes, mash making, meds, grooming, rainy day walking, health checks and horse bring-in. She’s also learning the Masterson Method of horse relaxation through a clinic with seven other Stride Ahead folks, who meet for monthly practices.
Mary loves being around the horses and simply being at the barn, which is something unique in her daily routine. She says it gives her time for herself and time to care about the horses’ well-being.
Mary works in healthcare, so when she learned about therapeutic riding she believed in it from the start. “Since having my experience with Stride Ahead, I can say that participation in the program can positively impact a rider’s life in many more ways than just the physical component. I believe what is learned from therapeutic riding experience will help them in other life endeavors and with other relationships in their life, which in turn positively impacts the community.”
On a personal note, Mary has been married to Don for the past 31 years (congratulations, Mary and Don!). She loves to travel, hike, go to the beach and have family dinner night. Her hobby is gardening, which she is still learning, and she hopes to get very good at growing dahlias in addition to greens for salad and herbs. She just started a compost bin and hopes that will help in these efforts.
Thank you, Mary! Stride Ahead is grateful to have such a dedicated volunteer.
Thank you, Mary!
If you would like to make a donation in honor of Mary and all of our wonderful volunteers who make Stride happen, thank you.
