By Susan Wenner
Herald Publisher/People Editor
Linda Vataha and her husband, John, began their 501c3, non-profit Mobile Minis & Friends about a decade ago.
They consider their work a ministry and hold to their mission statement of 1 Peter 4:10 that, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.”
She shared that as co-founder with her husband, she is blessed to wear many hats such as rescuing, caring for, daily feedings, barn cleaning, scheduling, social media posts, public relations, training minis, training volunteers, transporting the minis, scheduling vet and farrier appointments, medical maintenance and more. “Yes, it seems like a lot of work, but not to me,” she said. “It is a labor of love. I am blessed to do this full time and grateful to have such a wonderful volunteer family to help facilitate the magic and help with the care of the minis. They share their gifts and talents helping me with almost all aspects of running the non-profit.”
In respect to family, Vataha has been married to her husband, for 19 years. They have three grown children, Jennifer - 33, Jessica - 33 and Joseph - 32. Born in Fort Lauderdale, she spent her early 20’s in Florida and then the family moved to Pennsylvania for about 20 years. Later, she and her husband moved to Arizona for 5 and a half years after they became empty-nesters. It was then and there that Mobile Minis was launched.
“Our eldest daughter was married and we had our first grandchild on the way so we moved back to Pennsylvania to be closer to family,” she said. “We brought our mini family with us. A few years into the Pennsylvania winters in my 50’s, my body didn’t like to be out in the snow caring for the minis. There was too much fruit being produced by the ministry. We knew it wasn’t time to end, so we moved with our mini family down to Central Florida three and a half years ago.”
The non-profit is blessed to have a great volunteer family: Bonnie, K.J., Linda R., Marcia, Michelle, Sandy, Amy, Terry and Nancy! “I love getting to know, volunteer alongside and become family with all of these wonderful ladies, “said Vataha.
Vataha cited that Mobile Minis serves through the miniature equine therapy outreach efforts for children, adults, veterans and seniors, ages five to 105, in the community. They visit assisted living facilities, schools, homes, memory care centers, churches, hospitals and more in the local area. The joy, smiles and cuddles we bring to the community through our furry family bring so much enjoyment to everyone.”
Also sharing statistics and information about the minis, she added that one-on-one or group interactions with the minis is scientifically proven to help to decrease loneliness and boredom, reduce depression through the release of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, improve social and communication skills, lower stress, lower high blood pressure and reduce your heart rate.
When they are not out on visits they have barn days for the community. Barn visits are 1 ½ hours long, scheduled by appointment through their website. The community can take advantage of the Mini Tales literacy program. Kids ages 5-105 can come and read to and play with the minis. The Mini Tales program promotes literacy and makes reading fun! Every child will leave with a book bag, bookmark and some books of their choice. While at the barn you will also learn safety, learn about miniature horses, walk them through an obstacle course, brush and take lots of pictures with your favorite minis named Minnie, Skye, Lucky, Faith, Baxter and Skyla. We have fun and free barn sessions. Space is limited. We keep our groups to 6 participants or less. You must reserve your spot in advance. No drop-ins please. We want to make sure everyone has their own miniature horse to play with. Closed toed shoes are required to participate. All interactions with the horses are on the ground (no riding).”
“Fun fact about our furry family, in the past decade, Mobile Minis has been blessed to rescue and rehabilitate, adopt in or giving them their happily ever after, a total of 33 equine,” she said. One more fun fact is that no matter how long you take to groom them and make them perfectly clean and beautiful, the moment they go back to the pasture they are going to roll.”
For more information go to www.mobileminis.net or call 407-474-1748. They are located at 315 North Orange Avenue in Sanford.
