Our first Indiegogo crowdfunder has now ended after raising $3,230.  We are immensely grateful to each and every one of our donors. You collectively have us well launched on this marvelous journey.

Unfortunately, we fell about $6000 short of our expenses and still have the last portion of our trip to complete.  We have been covering expenses out of our pocket, but our own savings are now exhausted. Consequently, we have launched a second Indiegogo campaign to cover this shortfall.  We are still hoping to raise enough to be able to donate to the Shriners if donations exceed expenses. Please help spread the word and share this blog so your friends can see the joy we are spreading amongst so many special needs people across the country!

Our Indiegogo page is here.

We have had so much fun at the Des Moines Gigi's Playhouse that we couldn't resist a stop at the Twin Cities Playhouse.  This playhouse serves families of people with Down's syndrome throughout the Minneapolis and St. Louis area.  An open play time was scheduled and  Vlad informed us that he simply HAD to go and play with the children and their families. We can't have an upset unicorn on our hands so we headed on over and were treated to a warm welcome by the staff and clents. We even got Kristen, the Director, in on the fun.

We are over the moon that we have been able to add an extra stop to our itinerary. We had so much fun at the Des Moines Gigi's Playhouse that we stopped by the Twin Cities Gigi's Playhouse and asked if we could rock for them at their open house tomorrow. To our delight, the director said yes!

Come on by and see what the playhouse is all about,bring anyone you know who has been touched with the gift of knowing someone with Down's Syndrome, and enjoy a free unicorn ride! We will be rocking in the morning starting at 10 am.

The Minneapolis Ronald McDonald House is HUGE. It is also a bright, cheery and extremely lively home away from home for families from all over the world when their child needs lengthy medical treatment. This particular house has the longest average stay of any of the Ronald McDonald houses worldwide. The nearby children's hospital provides top notch treatment for some critically ill children and having family near by is an important part of the healing process.

Some children were there as patients who no longer had to stay in the hospital, others were siblings of children who still required acute hospital care. Memorial blocks ringing the gardens were bittersweet reminders of children who are no longer with us, and hopefully, of children who recovered and have returned home after recovering. Everyone who wanted a ride got one, and quite a few children rode repeatedly until a strong thunderstorm called an end after three hours of fun. Our ears were treated to giggles and squeals, plus plenty of loud screams of delight. One charming young lady from Saudi Arabia told us that she loves to scream--she was telling the truth, and she does it VERY well! Screams of delight like hers are always music to our ears. We also met children and their families from all over the US and from Argentina, Honduras and numerous other countries. Watching them play together was pure delight, and we were also struck by how they all took care of each other. Braver children offered to ride with the more timid, and all of them provided encouragement to each of the others. We can learn life lessons from these children, because they truly treat each other as family, are patient and kind and look after each other. Their courage and bravery are utterly inspiring.

At 2 am, after three hours of sleep, we arrived in Des Moines at Gigi's Playhouse, a Down's Syndrome Awareness and Education facility that does fabulous work with these special people. Each person develops skills to the best of their abilities, and they have a great time in the process. The playhouse is so inviting that we wanted to play in it! Many of today's play activities were unicorn themed, and we were delighted to see quite a few of our uniquestrians wearing horns they had decorated just for the occasion.

We unloaded Vlad and set him up outside the front door, then were tickled pink by the ear to ear grins on big and little faces as the kids arrived. Some of the kids were bouncing in their seats and the excitement was contagious. Each ride we gave was tailored to the needs of the rider. Some kids barreled up the stairs, while others needed to be lifted up or gentle and patient encouragement as they realized just how tall Vlad is. Some of my (Katlinel, the Rockinghorsegal) favourite memories of the trip will be of the more timid riders and the glow of self confidence they exude after overcoming their fear and making it all the way up onto that TALL unicorn. We never tire of the grins, giggles and squeals from our precious riders.

Anyone who wanted a ride was welcome, and we gave rides to siblings, parents, the staff of the playhouse, and even to one of the Chicago staff who just happened to arrive for a training session after the summer celebration. Every stop we make leaves us wanting to come back and do this again. These kids are even more magical than Vlad!

You can see even more videos from Des Moines on our Rocking for Charity YouTube Channel.

After 600 miles  of quality road time, we arrived at the Conestoga Mall in Grand Island and were given a very warm welcome by the mall staff. They literally opened their doors wide and rolled out the carpet for us so we could rock for the Grand Island Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

We arrived a bit early (as usual) so we set up and started giving rides and collecting donations for Big Brothers/Big Sisters. For six hours we gave rides to everyone who wanted one, and were impressed with the big hearts and generosity of the local community. In addition to our unicorn rides, there was also a bounce house, face painting, games and of course, the opportunity to sign up to be a big brother or sister. There was even a newly matched big and little brother pair out on their very first afternoon outing, and they both had a blast, not to mention getting off to a great start together. Several now grown former Littles even showed up for rides. At the end of the evening we gave all the tips we had collected to Amy Brezenski, the firecracker  new director of this branch of Big Brothers/Big Sisters in order to further their work. Our children are our future, and this special form of nurturing can literally change lives.

Weary but happy, we then went to the Grand Island Travelodge who generously donated a hotel room for the night so we could be well rested for the next leg of the trip. Thank you to everyone who made this such a memorable tour stop!

Hoofbeats to Healing has been providing therapeutic rides to special needs children and adults for seventeen years. They specialize in  hippotherapy for children and adults with autism and other disabilities. Each ride is specialized to the rider's needs and abilities. We also consider the special needs of each of our riders and will ride with them as human seatbelts if they lack the strength or muscle tone to hold themselves on Vlad.

This was Vlad's first time in a paddock. He was right in the middle of the paddock and the horses and their precious riders circled around him as he gave rides. One of the horses, Peaches, wasn't sure what this strange creature was in her paddock and was initially quite anxious.We stopped rocking and let her slowly come up and introduce herself to Vlad, eventually sniffing his muzzle and deciding he was safe. In this case, the therapy was equine as well as human!

We had a grand time giving rides. One of our first riders of the day spent almost all of her ride on her cell phone...calling friends and telling them that she was riding a unicorn! Kids rode, parents rode, horses got to bond with a unicorn, and it was a truly delightful day. Many thanks to Hoofbeats to Healing for hosting us!

On a warm and sunny Sunday the Sippee's clothing store and the Happy Happy Joy Joy toy store were invaded by one enormous unicorn and a rollicking crew of pirates. This motley crew stayed for most of the afternoon, rocking all comers and even pressganging some passers by into the ride of their lives.
Everyone was delighted with the surprise influx of fun. The Pirates of Reno all pitched in to make the afternoon spectacular. This particular band of pirates, gruff and rowdy as they may be, all have hearts of pure gold. They work closely with the We Care Volunteers and provide meals to Reno area homeless shelters four days a week. We donated a portion of the doubloons raised to this worthy charity and had such a great time that we are planning an even bigger even for the return back through Reno next month.

On our way to Reno to rock at Sippee's, we had the most surprising donation ever. We were driving on I-80 and had a car pull alongside the trailer to take photos of Vlad going down the road. We are used to this, and it's always fun to see the reactions as folks see him for the first time. What we did not expect was to then have the car pull up alongside the truck and the passenger lean way out the window to hand us a donation. A donation at 55 MPH is a definite first! It was VERY cool, and we thank you, anonymous Sir.

Thankfully it was on a straight away. Safety first folks!