Let’s face it: charities have a hard time raising funds to help support their good work. There are cute little girls selling cookies, 50/50 draws, people plunging into cold water as if they’re a polar bear, and even people shaving their heads, embracing baldness as if it was a new fashion statement. You name it and people have done it – all in the name
of charity.
So, when Daina Duce and Julie Grgurich, owner and developer of Townline Equestrian Centre, wanted to come up with an idea to gain financial support for their farm and help other charities, they knew they needed something that would grab the public’s attention. And seeing that their focus is on helping animals, it seemed only natural that a goat yoga event would do the job just fine.
“We came up with the idea of goat yoga as a fundraiser to get people to enjoy the animals while supporting us,” Daina Duce says. “We love sharing our farm and all of our animals and we thought using our goats was the perfect way to have people come and enjoy a unique farm experience.”
Although it takes many volunteers to run the event, everyone is happy to pitch in, especially the goats! Scampering around, getting pets from nice people and perhaps the occasional bum rub – what’s not to love if you’re a goat! Add a miniature horse to the greeting committee and the happiness metre goes to the rafters on the arena roof!
“We’ve been lucky with all of the amazing ways things have just come together,” Daina adds. “We have no shortage of people wanting to volunteer and everyone is so kind.” The groups are grateful to have Shay from Ananda Studios as their main yoga instructor and are always looking to add yoga instructors to their team. They also book team-building events and love working with new exciting fundraisers such as school trips and graduations and they thoroughly enjoy visiting retirement homes. They can also accommodate private groups during the week. “The future of goat yoga has no limits!” Daina says with a grin.
The groups run their events year-round in Daina and Julie’s heated arena. Several charities including Murillo Mutts and ThunderBird Raptor Rescue have partnered with the farm and held awesome goat yoga sessions to fundraise for their charities.
Daina and Julie run events year-round and with all the new spring and summer baby animal arrivals the visits are always unique. They hope that in the near future they’ll become a destination place for families to visit their farm.
“We’ve heard nothing but positive heartwarming comments,” Daina says. “It’s wonderful to see people leaving with lots of pictures and lots of laughs.”
The farm hosts other events like their Hallowe’en at the Farm in October and the Arabian Horse Discovery farm programs in July where the public can meet their Arabian horses and their foals. They teach riding lessons and horsemanship programs to all ages as well. To find out about upcoming events, go to the Townline Equestrian Centre’s Facebook page or email them at thunderranch@tbaytel.net
