E.L.L.A. Equine Learning and Literacy Advocates Mini horse sanctuary and equine learning and literacy advocates

About Us

About Us

Theresa Fleming and MistyTheresa’s love for horses began at a very early age because of a grandmother who had friends that bred and raised Shetland ponies. Theresa visited this ranch often and she especially loved the springtime when the new crop of foals arrived.

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Call 303-690-3506 or email us at BlessingWayMinis@aol.com

At age eight her family moved to some acreage so she could have a horse of her own — a dream come true. Theresa’s first horse was a little pinto mare who, unknown to Theresa’s family when they bought her, had laminitus (a common and serious disease of the hoof). With a vet’s help and a strict diet the little mare was able to be ridden and live normally. Theresa renamed the little mare Misty, in honor of her favorite book Misty of Chincoteague by Marguerite Henry. Theresa’s Misty not only became a dear friend but also was used as an equine 4-H project even through breeding and having a foal (a tiny little sorrel filly named Tina).

Another horse came into Theresa’s life as a teenager, a much taller pinto mare named Dixie. Dixie had been used as a "cow pony" and severely abused by the various men who had ridden her. It took Theresa a long while to gain Dixie’s trust which developed over time by grooming/brushing her, touching her and talking softly to her for hours. They then became inseparable and Dixie stayed with the family until her death at age 24.

Marguerite HenryWith the advent of marriage and children, horses were no longer a part of Theresa’s life until Valentine’s Day 2002. On that special day, with money given to her by the same grandmother who started it all with the visits to the Shetland ranch when Theresa was a little girl, a two year old strawberry roan miniature mare named Dream Acres Gin Shiloh was purchased. Shortly after purchasing Shiloh, Cricket’s Lullaby, a bay pinto mare and a yearling sorrel colt named Simon Says were added to the Fleming family. All three miniatures are related by having the same sire and thus began Blessing Way Miniatures.

Misty of ChincoteagueThrough the years more little horse and donkey family units have come to live with the Flemings. Giving the little equines a purpose as book ambassadors and storytellers came about because of the names that many of the horses already had (example: Little Sure Shot Annie, a nickname given to Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show star, Annie Oakley) and the fact that Theresa was and still is an avid reader, book collector and Old West History buff. A house fire on August 22, 2008 not only destroyed the Flemings’ home and shattered their lives, but all children books and literacy program supplies were lost. The decision was then made to restructure in order to apply for grants and receive financial help for the replacement of books/supplies and to help with the feed cost and care of the horses.

The restructuring of Blessing Way Miniatures to E.L.L.A. Equine Learning and Literacy Advocates became a reality in January 2010.

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