Gift Horses A second $10,000 donation in a year’s time from Grammy Award-nominated 3 Doors Down’s Better Life Foundation will continue to benefit MTSU students and faculty working in equine therapy with veterans from the Murfreesboro-based Veterans Recovery Center. The money is earmarked for an outdoor training area and meeting space needed for the program, which began in 2013. The Mississippi rock band’s foundation also gave a $10,000 donation in 2017. The Center of Equine Recovery for Veterans (CERV) is a partnership between the Veterans Recovery Center (VRC), a psychosocial rehabilitation center, and MTSU Horse Science. CERV offers military veterans from the VRC an opportunity to ride and benefit from interacting with horses, while MTSU students gain valuable experience in helping facilitate the sessions.
Living Legend Longtime MTSU equestrian team coach Anne Brzezicki knew all about a retirement celebration dinner planned for her in the James Union Building. She was totally unaware, however, that friends planned a surprise that remained a secret for weeks and months: The large Horse Science Center indoor facility would bear her name—the Anne Brzezicki Arena. MTSU alumni Lanas and Julie Smith, of Boulder, Colorado, who are longtime friends of both the program and Brzezicki, retained the naming rights for the indoor arena through their generous gift to the MTSU Foundation to enclose the area. When Brzezicki retired earlier this year after a successful 35-year career, there was only one individual’s name the Smiths wanted on the building.
“We are so grateful for another donation,” said Andrea Rego, an MTSU Horse Science instructor. “We hope to build a fantastic permanent outdoor trail obstacle course, along with a meeting area for goal sessions. We believe this will enhance the veterans’ time at Horse Science.” Rego said one of the veterans told her he was “in my own little bubble that I couldn’t get out of. This (therapy) has rocked my world, and I can’t thank everyone enough.” Along with veterans in the program, among those attending the recent donation luncheon at the MTSU Foundation House were 3 Doors Down singer Brad Arnold; his wife, Jen Arnold, a noted barrel race competitor; Brian McSpadden, recreation therapist with the Tennessee Valley Healthcare System’s Alvin C. York Veterans Affairs campus; and MTSU Horse Science faculty members Holly Spooner, Rhonda Hoffman, Ariel Herrin, and Rego. The gathering also included MTSU graduate students and Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies class students.
Anne Brzezicki teaching a riding class
“After all the years of putting my heart and soul into the program, a permanent piece of me is now there—and that means a lot,” Brzezicki said. Jared Bryson, development director for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, said there’s an opportunity in Brzezicki’s retirement for the public “to support the work she holds dear” by giving to the Anne Brzezicki Equestrian Endowment. Donors can complete giving online at mtsu.edu/supportag, then direct their gifts to the Brzezicki endowment in the comments section. “The funds will support broader student experiences through the purchase of critical new equipment and enable travel to competitions across the country,” Bryson added. “In order to stay on the forefront of equestrian education and produce graduates that are highly competitive, we need the ability to secure student learning experiences and enhance existing facilities.”
Equestrian Team rider Patricia Wingate bathing Izzie
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