Covers for Charity: Horses for Healing A one-on-one approach to community

From Biz2Biz NWA  / October 2009 issue

By Janie Pritchett-Clark

It’s not high tech, it’s high tack. It’s a barn full of creaky leather saddles and colorful wool blankets on sure-footed horses. These horses give their days to the children of Northwest Arkansas who have physical, emotional and mental disabilities. At Horses for Healing (HFH), a 75-acre ranch on the outskirts of Bentonville, a small team with big hearts work to make strides in children’s lives.

Why use a horse for physical therapy when you can use a high-tech machine?

You can see the answer in the faces of the 300 special needs children who currently participate in the program. There is joy in riding. There is power in motion. Up and down, side to side, forward to back–research shows the rhythm of riding a horse has a therapeutic benefit to both body and brain.

Just the act of sitting astride a horse engages coordination and stability. For some of these children, the thrill of getting out of their wheelchair and onto a horse is therapy all on its own. For them, the physical empowerment and freedom is significant.

These children form unique relationships with the therapy horses, says Linda Brown, HFH’s executive director. Their involvement helps them gain self-confidence, acquire a sense of achievement, and improve their social interactions. The results are often profound.

“Children with a wide variety of disabilities gain strength, balance and coordination while on horseback. Some take their first halting steps or speak their first words after therapy at Horses for Healing. Better yet, for children who face immense challenges, their time at Horses for Healing is not only productive, it is joyful,” says Brown.

It benefits the volunteers, too.

Leroy Schuetts is president of the non-profit’s board of directors, and volunteers at the ranch. “Horses for Healing is about like-minded people who are dedicated to the high standards of what I call ‘intelligent compassion’ coming together for this special needs resource that works–equine assisted therapeutic riding,” he says. “I find tremendous gratification in this declaration. I have personally witnessed a rider improving balance and building muscle tone while smiling from ear to ear; a non-verbal child sounding out the command ‘walk-on’; a child in a wheelchair who has never before shown joy, but who is laughing the entire time he is riding.”

While rewarding, the business of therapeutic riding is costly. There are more than 10,000 special needs children in Northwest Arkansas. If the board of directors and staff at Horses for Healing could have their way, they would be serving every one of them.

Unfortunately, there is a waiting list.

It takes about $50,000 a month to run the farm–an average 1,000-pound horse eats one to three percent of its weight a day. There are 20 horses in the therapy program. The program requires about 130 volunteers a week, along with seven full-time staff.  Without volunteers, the organization would have to pony up an additional $75,000 in payroll.

The money to run HFH comes from many sources. And like, many non-profit’s in today’s climate, there’s not enough to go around. Not a penny comes from state aid or Medicare support, and most of the riders receive scholarships and discounts. A small portion comes from private riding lessons and equine boarding available to the public. The majority of funding comes from donations from the community and fundraising events like the Horse Jump planned for October.

The private-pay Sports Riding Program is managed by Amy Walsh, a life-long enthusiast who rode in the National Championship at Lexington, and now provides Hunter/Jumper instruction for HFH’s able-bodied riders and independent special needs students. Amy heads up the Jump Show. (see sidebar)

Horses for Healing is a 501c(3) non-profit organization accredited by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARAH). It was the first therapeutic riding center in Arkansas, and is one of only two Premier Accredited facilities in the state. In operation since 1991, Horses for Healing currently partners with Bentonville and Rogers school systems to provide riding programs for children with emotional or mental disabilities.

To donate money, sponsor an event, or volunteer, call the barn at 479-795-0570 or visit http://horsesforhealingnwa.org/

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