Spilyay Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon
A ugust 30, 2 0 0 7
Page 7
Kah-Nee-Ta stables employ 15 youth workers
B y L e slie M itts
Spilyay Tymoo
f For Whitley Ruiz, working at
Ikiutan Stables this summer pro
vides an opportunity to enjoy
something she already knows
plenty about: working w ith
horses.
, Ruiz, a recent graduate of
Madras High School, is one o f
several youth working at the
stables this summer.
I “It’s exciting,” she said o f the
job. “it’s fun.”
Ruiz, 18, works as a guide
along with Atcitty Begay, 17, and
varibtis other local youth.
”, She and Begay both have ex
tensive experience with horses
that they bring to the job.
“I’ve been.around horses my
whole life,” Begay said.
; Both of them described the
same aspect as their favorite part
o f the job: meeting new people
and interacting with customers
from a variety of locations. 1
Chris Buller, president o f
Sanctuary and Faith Trails- is
overseeing the management of
the stables, this summerin. conr
junction'with Kah-Nee-Ta.
Because they ”w ork in con
junction w ith K ah-N ee-T a,
Buller said, they are able to em
ploys local youth through the
W ED P rogram and H igher
Education.
“We can actually employ a lot
more kids than if we were just a
'business,” Buller explained.
This summer 15 local youth«* *
are employed at the stables. The
total includes less experienced
youth employed as hands, those
employed as guides, and even
.^ttidents in college working as
mahajgers ‘ whb help" w ith the'
administrative and financial as
Leslie Mitts/Spilyay
Whitley Ruiz is one of several youth working at the Kah-Nee-Ta stable this summer.
pect of the business.
In order to work as a guide,
Buller said, the .youth have to
meet.several requirements.
• “Thçre’s. a certain level o f
maturity you nave to have to do
that too,” he added.
In addition to working on
their skills with horses, he said,
the youth have gotten a chance^
to interact with alT different
types of-people.
“Every one of my guides, and
even tfie hands and ‘staff ©ut
So f a r this summer
they have led over
1,000 rides:f
people,” Buller said.
• They’ve had plenty o f oppor
tunities to inaprove upon their
people skills in addition to many
other skills this summer— so far
Buller said they .have led over
1^,000. rides,., -
K efê^av#”% bfteri^n«‘édibry7 ' ' Buller added th '^w o rk tn g
good at advocating for their with youth is part of 'their suc
Madras
X)&>ign
Centex
cess.
“We’ve been lucky that we’ve
just had phenom enal young
people to work with,” he said.,
Though some of the youth
w orkers already know a lot
about w orking w ith horses,
Buller said, others have to be
taught certain aspects.
“It’s a blend,” he explained.
“Even the ones thiat know a lot
will know a lot in a certain area.”
Because o f that, Buller said,
th u v o jith o fte n ,teach each
ptfietf^-uor instance,1 pe ¡saicif
they’ve explored different op
tions for starting horses that
they might not have known be
The deadline for sub
fore;
m ission to’ the Tribal
^Puller said they are also striv
Member Art Exhibit at the
ing to use the. stable to interact
Museum at Warm Springs
more with the local community.
is Friday, Sept. 21. The ex
t h e y ’ve h o stted ' several
hibit will run from Oct. 4
barbeques this summer, and of
through Jan.’6.
fered free horseback rides,to
Applicants must be 18
veterans on. veteran’s day. Of-
yejtrs of age or older and
: ten local people will stop by to
enrolled in the Confeder
visit’as well, Buller said.
a te d Tribes) o f W arm
Several changes are notable
Springs. Applicants may
at the stables since Sanctuary
submit up to five items
and Faith Trails begap working
along with application be
in conjunction with Kah-Nee-
fore the deadline. All en
Ta: for example, they now offer
tries m ust be n o more
the opportunity for tourists to
than five years, old and
lease a pen and bring their-own
have not been exhibited in
horse onto the reservation.
any other exhibits at the
People can then hire a>guide and
Museum at Warm Springs.
ride their own horse in the area.
y Submitted works must
Recently, Buller said, they
remain on display through
began offering a horse sale in
ibe qntire deration o f the
May while working with college
exhibit dates. Applications
students or high'school seniors.
are now- available at the
,ko start horse(s, ,
museum. Contact Natalie
.The student then keeps a
M oody at the museum*
portion o f the proceeds Tor
553-3^3V est. 412 V
spending money while purstiing
higher education;—an opportu-
nity that doesn’t ,come often,
Buller said, when many schol
arships apply only to tuition and
other related expenses.
There will be a 30 and over
Many o f their horses are
horses that . have been saved basketball tournament on Oct.
. from slaughter or been donated, 26-28. First place winners in the
and guides working with the men’s and women’s competition
. stables can even bring their own receive eight leather sleeve jack
horses to work with throughout ets. Second place, eight hooded
sw ëatshirts. T h ird , :i.qight
the summer, Buller added., •
The stables offer one-hour sweatshirts. There will be one
rides, 4two-hour rides, half-day MVP and 10 all-stars, men’s and
women’s, ¿Contact the Tulalip
rides and full-day rides, i
Buller said they plan to re Recreation Department for in
main open throughout the year, fo rm a tio n , (360) 651-4389.
Çheckç^
le ¿gÉggj ¡Tulajip
, egp^cija^j^y a p p o in tn i® |^
‘wy r W p e information” Call Tribes, Recreation Department,
54,1) 553-1112 ext 3375.
6700 Totem Beach Rd., Tulalip,
WA 98271. Entry fee is $300.
Hoops tourney
Oct. 26-28
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