Hearts & Horses show power of equine healing
Other therapeutic riding facilities in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska
Colorado
Boots and Saddles Therapeutic Riding Center
7193 S Hwy 83
Franktown, CO 80116-8316
(303) 688-1388
Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center, Inc. 11968 Mineral Rd Longmont, CO 80504-8402 (303) 652-9131
Footprints Equestrian Center 970 O St. Penrose, CO 81240 (719) 784-7722
Freedom Hooves Therapeutic Riding PO Box 963 Craig, CO 81626 (970) 701-9085
Front Range Exceptional Equestrians PO Box 272452 Fort Collins, CO 80527-2452 (970) 221-0646
Golden Eagles 3450 Hay Creek Rd Colorado Springs, CO 80921-2368 (719) 481-3126
Hooves for the Heart, LLC 14503 Colo River Rd. Gypsum, CO 81637 (970) 524-8724
Horsepower, Inc. 5027 Garton Rd Castle Rock, CO 80104 (303) 260-9155
Medicine Horse Center PO Box 1074 Mancos, CO 81328 (970) 533-7403
Mountain HOPE Foundation 86 Gold Hill Rd Breckenridge, CO 80424 (970) 453-1137
Mule Creek Therapeutic Riding Center 43454 County Rd 10 Roggen, CO 80652 (303) 849-5357
Pikes Peak Therapeutic Riding Center 13620 Halleluiah Trl Elbert, CO 80106-9020 (719) 495-3908
Promise Ranch Therapeutic Riding 10272 Democrat Rd Parker, CO 80134 (720) 236-5079
Reflections Therapeutic Riding (970) 690-1049
Riding Institute for Disabled Equestrians 2804 County Rd 250 Silt, CO 81652-9522 (970) 876-2987
Rocky Mountain Riding Therapy PO Box 909 Louisville, CO 80027-0909 (303) 494-1299
Sopris Therapy Services PO Box 2080 Carbondale, CO 81623-5080 (970) 948-1002
Steamboat Adaptive Recreational Sports 2200 Village Inn Ct Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 (970) 870-1950
The Right Step, Inc. 7990 S Santa Fe Drive Littleton, CO 80120-4333 (303) 731-9057
Wyoming Children, Horses & Adults in PartnerShip PMB 201 Sheridan, WY 82801 (307) 673-6161
Horse Warriors/CIREQUUS PO Box 602 Jackson, WY 83001-0602 (307) 733-7464
Jackson Hole Therapeutic Riding Association Jackson Hole, WY
M.E.S.A.Therapeutic" target="_blank">text">M.E.S.A.Therapeutic Horsemanship Inc PO Box 516 Pinedale, WY 82941 (307) 749-3979
One Step At A Time 117 Sunset Rim Cody, WY 82414 (307) 899-0194
http://www.1stepatatime-cody.org Reach 4A Star Riding Academy 4250 N 6 Mile Rd Casper, WY 82604-1939 (307) 472-7827
Nebraska Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy HETRA 10130 S. 222nd Street Gretna, NE 68028 (402) 359-8830
Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy HETRA 10130 S. 222nd Street Gretna, NE 68028 (402) 359-8830
Sunrise EquiTherapy, Inc. 2115 S 214Th St Eagle, NE 68347-1993 (402) 430-0765
Victory Riding Academy 4534 Madison St Omaha, NE 68117 (402) 201-1798
victoryride.org" target="_blank">text">victoryride.org/ Source: http://www.pathintl.org ••• To volunteer Hearts and Horses always needs volunteers and donations to make their valuable programs available to as many individuals as possible. To learn specifics, visit http://www.heartsandhorses.org,
Horses are proven healers and entirely honest in their acceptance of people regardless of a person’s physical, emotional or social abilities. They possess uncanny instinct and patience with troubled or disabled children. Social skills and emotional well-being improve when proper interaction occurs between human and horse; there’s no fear of judgmental dynamics often involved in human-on-human relationships.
Riders must continuously adjust posture to maintain balance. Muscle tone, range of motion and flexibility are enhanced. Mainstream horsemanship instruction is designed to generate equestrians, whereas equine assisted therapy’s primary goal is to improve the client’s quality of life through interaction with equines. People deemed by society or medical professionals as beyond help often exhibit marked improvement through equine-assisted therapy. This extensive evidence has resulted in numerous equine-assisted therapy programs throughout the U.S.
Hearts & Horses is a non-profit therapeutic riding facility located in Loveland, Colo. A group of volunteers organized the program that works with individuals with disabilities and at-risk youth. Classes began in August 1997 on leased facilities at Ellis Ranch, but a long-range plan to obtain capital for its own land and riding facility was soon implemented. On June 8, 1999, Hearts & Horses did indeed meet that goal when it moved to its present location at 163 North CR 29 in Loveland.
Volunteers from the community donated time to renovate the site. Classes resumed on Sept. 20, 1999. From 98 clients in 1999, numbers steadily increased. Presently, 180 riders participate in summer classes and 120-130 over winter, said Amy Tripson, office manager.
All instructors are trained and certified by PATH Intl., the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International. Hearts & Horses is a PATH Intl. Premier Accredited Center, the highest level of accreditation possible, and is a highly regarded training facility for therapeutic riding instructors.
Program horses include leased or donated animals. Each undergoes a 90-day trial period during which trainers ascertain strengths, weaknesses and overall adaptability. Horses leery of wheelchairs or mounting ramps can still be used, for example, in “Changing Leads”.
Individuals with physical or learning disabilities advance in amazing ways during the course of their involvement with Hearts & Horses. Some who initially require side-walkers eventually ride unassisted. Those initially lacking confidence or social skills on their own two feet find them atop a horse.
Volunteers serving as leaders or side-walkers run the gamut of ages and equestrian experience. Depending on the program, clients as young as age two or as old as into their 80s take part in the fun-based, mounted learning. Likewise, session lengths hinge on varying factors within each particular curriculum. Not surprisingly, many Hearts & Horses “graduates” continue on with horses after their session concludes.
Tripson recalled one youngster’s victory over insecurity. Amy was one of the child’s side-walkers. The girl, age six or seven, wasn’t very verbal. She used the singular phrase “Uh, oh!” and a huge smile to request help in any and all situations. If the little girl’s foot slipped out of the stirrup, or her helmet strap came loose from fiddling with it, it was “Uh, oh!” with no effort on her part to make necessary adjustments. By the 8-week session’s conclusion, Tripson said, the child had learned to resolve these and other minor problems on her own. Although still quite needy in some ways, she’d become independent in others.
Another example of a rider making a long leap from down to up was a 10-year-old boy whose phraseology was a bit perplexing. At the end of one particular ride he proudly declared, “I over-feared!” Through a bit of clarification, Tripson happily learned he meant that he had overcome his fears.
“Changing Leads”, an equine-assisted learning program, has been added to Hearts & Horses’ lineup of classes to introduce at-risk youth to horses. Children learn socially appropriate behaviors and build confidence by conquering challenges. Tripson said the emotional and social skills program works with children ages seven through high school who have been referred by parents, schools or providers like Namaqua Center in Loveland, which works with children in foster care or living in tenuous family situations. Based on curriculum developed by a Hearts & Horses instructor, each “Changing Leads” 8-week session teaches children appropriate interaction with horses. This new way of dealing with challenges encourages youngsters to do likewise in interpersonal situations.
Tripson stressed that Hearts & Horses definitely changes lives.
“We strive to help as many people as we can through some facet of our programs that they can excel at and grow from,” she said.
Hearts & Horses’ funding depends on donations and fundraising events held throughout the year. The October Gala, the group’s primary annual revenue-generating activity, includes a live and silent auction, dinner, and a Casino Night, which involves no betting, but rather a collection of points through which players vie for prizes.
Another fun way the 501(c)3 non-profit generates funds is through its summer camps. These are open to able-bodied youth, including children and grandchildren of volunteers. The 7-week program runs Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., in week-long sessions. Although limited to 12-15 day campers per week, the horse-oriented activities are open to all qualifying children.