Celebrating 12 Years: A Journey of Faith & Following God
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Our Mission: To honor and glorify God utilizing the resources He has provided to help children move confidently in this world, knowing they are loved by Him. Our Vision: To help hurting hearts of children be transformed into hearts full of joy through the caring hands of God and be comforted by a horse's gentle touch. |
Sol's Legacy is a dream come true for founder and executive director Tonya Wells. As a child, Tonya loved horses from the moment she received her first pony at age 2. As a teen she experienced the calm, healing power a horse can provide while coping with her parents' divorce and the usual teen stresses. Throughout her life, Tonya has always loved to learn, especially about horses and how to work with them. As a teacher, she saw children dealing with so much in today's world and started to pray about how her horses could help children walk through life the way they helped her.
In 2011, Tonya asked a small group of friends to pray about her dream. The following year one child came to the barn to enjoy the peaceful environment and learn about horses. She continued to share her dream and passion with others. Another child started to come, and then two students turned into four. Four students lead to the start of a amazing journey.
In 2014 Sol's Legacy Ministries officially became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Over the years, the board of directors has prayerfully worked to develop a vision and mission for Sol's, and manage it faithfully. Without prayer and direction from God leading every step, we would not be where we are today.
Today we look to the future. We are excited about our upcoming season, as well as planning for tomorrow.
In 2011, Tonya asked a small group of friends to pray about her dream. The following year one child came to the barn to enjoy the peaceful environment and learn about horses. She continued to share her dream and passion with others. Another child started to come, and then two students turned into four. Four students lead to the start of a amazing journey.
In 2014 Sol's Legacy Ministries officially became a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Over the years, the board of directors has prayerfully worked to develop a vision and mission for Sol's, and manage it faithfully. Without prayer and direction from God leading every step, we would not be where we are today.
Today we look to the future. We are excited about our upcoming season, as well as planning for tomorrow.
Meet our Board of Directors
President
Kelan Wells |
Vice President
Karyn Carton |
Secretary
Amy Roberts |
Treasurer
Jeff Hulsbrink |
Board Member Laura Endress |
Meet our Staff
Tonya Wells
Executive Director, Lead Mentor & Founder of Sol's Legacy Ministries
Tonya believes God has given her a passion for everything related to horses and has a strong desire to share that passion with others. She has been a teacher at heart from childhood; received a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Education from Illinois State University; and taught at Princeton High School. She started showing horses in 4-H as a child and continued to show at local shows. Tonya has trained horses and given riding lessons for over 25 years. In 2014 she became a certified therapeutic riding instructor through PATH Intl.
Executive Director, Lead Mentor & Founder of Sol's Legacy Ministries
Tonya believes God has given her a passion for everything related to horses and has a strong desire to share that passion with others. She has been a teacher at heart from childhood; received a Bachelor’s Degree in Agriculture Education from Illinois State University; and taught at Princeton High School. She started showing horses in 4-H as a child and continued to show at local shows. Tonya has trained horses and given riding lessons for over 25 years. In 2014 she became a certified therapeutic riding instructor through PATH Intl.
Katie Lewis
Administrative Assistant
Meet our Administrative Assistant, Katie! She will be helping with everything office related! To help you get to know her, we thought we'd share a bit about her. She is a Jesus lover and a nurse who also helps her husband farm. Her spare time is spent with their granddaughter, their dog, her two pet chickens and a rug loom! She also loves spending time with family and friends. Katie is excited to be a part of Sol's Legacy Ministries!
Administrative Assistant
Meet our Administrative Assistant, Katie! She will be helping with everything office related! To help you get to know her, we thought we'd share a bit about her. She is a Jesus lover and a nurse who also helps her husband farm. Her spare time is spent with their granddaughter, their dog, her two pet chickens and a rug loom! She also loves spending time with family and friends. Katie is excited to be a part of Sol's Legacy Ministries!
Meet our Horses
"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."
Psalm 150:6
The horses at Sol's Legacy Ministries are trained by Tonya Wells and loved by our staff and volunteers. We have been blessed to have just the right horse enter our ministry at just the right time.
The ministry is named after Tonya's "heart horse", a beautiful Arabian, Fable El Sol. Tonya was able to purchase El Sol when she was 14 years old. This horse was a confidence builder and a comfort during her high school years. The ministry is named Sol's Legacy for two reasons:
Sol provided great comfort. Tonya felt led by God to use her horses to bless children in the community in a similar manner.
At 14, Tonya did not have much knowledge or horse training tools. As she looks back, she wishes she would have known how to care for El Sol better. In the years since, she has been zealously learning better methods to partner with the majestic horses God has blessed the ministry with.
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Angel
Throughout 2015 we prayed and even wrote a grant to be able to purchase a Haflinger to add to our program. In November of 2015, Julie Graves generously donated Angel to Sol's Legacy. Angel certainly lives up to her name. She loves kids and even gives hugs! HORSE FACTS: Name: Angel Breed: Haflinger Color: Palomino Gender: Mare Markings: Blaze, Socks Height: 12 hands 3 inches Birth year: 2002 |
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Betty
This POA is helping our younger students gain confidence with her smaller stature. Betty joined our team in 2017, It has been amazing to watch some of our advanced students invest time in her training while growing in their horsemanship skills. As a result, we have seen Betty gain trust in our students. HORSE FACTS: Name: Betty Breed: Pony of the Americas Color: Bay Gender: Mare Markings: Star, Snowflake Pattern on Back, Brand on Right Shoulder Height: 12 hands 1 inch Birth date: May 28, 2009 |
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Shammi
She may be small, but since she joined our team in 2018, Shammi is making a huge impact on all of us. Shammi was generously donated by Rachel Kaufman to be the star of our Horse Powered Reading Program and Community Outreach Events. Everyone loves to check out the "baby" horse who is close to 30 years old. HORSE FACTS: Name: Shammi Breed: Miniature Horse Color: Buckskin Gender: Mare Markings: Star, Snip Height: 8 hands 2 inches Birth date: July 30, 1998 |
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Amigo
Our fun colored, paint horse joined the herd in 2019. Amigo loves to have his head rubbed and will yawn and make funny faces at us in the arena. He is beautiful to look at and we all enjoy him greatly. HORSE FACTS: Name: Amigo Breed: Paint Color: Bay Tobiano Gender: Gelding Markings: Blaze Height: 13 hands 1 inch Birth date: April 29, 2005 |
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Misty
We were able to purchase Misty when she was just 6 months old. Her breeder knew she was the right horse for the job when we told her what we were looking for. Misty has been a fun addition to our Horse Powered Reading Program and you may have seen her out and about at various Community Events. She is very curious and likes to know what is going on! HORSE FACTS: Name: Misty Breed: Miniature Horse Color: Grey Pinto Gender: Mare Height: 8 hands 2 inches Birth date: June 5, 2021 |
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Jair
Jair's breeder told Tonya when he was born, "I have what you ordered!" This was because Tonya had been a great fan of Jair's sire, Rock Star, and his three older sisters. She went to visit him for the first time when he was one week old and bought him then. Don't tell the other horses, but he may be her favorite! Jair always has his head over the fence wanting to be loved on when you come to visit the barn. HORSE FACTS: Name: Jair Breed: Arabian Color: Chestnut Gender: Gelding Markings: Star, Snip, Strip, both hind socks Height: 14 hands 3 inches Birth date: May 22, 2015 |
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