True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship

Our mission " To help humans and horses find the therapeutic benefits of horsemanship and promote the ethical use of equines." True Hope was created in January of 2018 by a group of women who came together with a common goal in mind. All of us have worked with horses at some point in our lives and many have volunteered or worked at Miracles in Motion, a therapeutic riding program that closed in September of 2017. We knew that with the closing of Miracles in Motion, there was a large need for this type of program in our area. We believed creating an environment where our horses are treated well and used ethically would help our horses be therapeutic for our riders. As we enter year three of our non-profit we are planning on exploring a first responders program. physical disabilities and challenges, emotional challenges, and abuse victims.

We provide therapeutic horsemanship lessons to individuals living with one or more physical, cognitive, emotional, social or behavioral challenges. We promote the ethical use of equines, especially lesson horses through transparency of our program and educating others. Our lessons are supported by volunteers who assist by leading and side-walking in our lessons, assist with fundraisers and events, and help advocate for our mission. Lessons can be mounted or unmounted depending on the goals of the participant. Leaders are responsible for the horses in our lessons and lead for participants who are not quite able to. Side walkers can either be shadow side walkers who walk beside the horse to help if the participant needs it, or active where they assist the rider staying in the saddle and balanced. Our program follows PATH International standards and all of our instructors are required to hold a PATH certification. In early 2020 we will be reaching out to first responders in the area to share our program and the benefits of therapeutic horsemanship. We are currently working with a local housing program who provides riders each session for children living in housing. We also have reached out to area agencies who work with children struggling with these challenges and the local schools.