Overview- More than 250 veterans, active duty service members, and their families come to StableStrides each year to work with horses. While grooming, learning ground skills, riding, and interacting with the horses, members of the military are learning ways to overcome the struggles of everyday civilian life and heal from emotional and physical scars. Our therapists and instructors are trained in military culture and understand that veterans, service members, and their families have a different set of needs than the civilians we serve. Our programs are structured specifically to serve those needs.

 

Therapeutic Riding- Therapeutic Riding is an activity on horseback that positively contributes to the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social well-being of individuals with adaptive needs. It provides benefit in the areas of therapy, educational sport, recreation, and leisure.  A disability does not have to limit a person’s ability to ride horses. In fact, experiencing the motion of a horse can be very therapeutic.

 

 

Equine Assisted Mental Health Services- StableStrides is a national leader in Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy (EFP) methods. This is a unique and groundbreaking therapeutic model, used around the world as a dynamic, powerful tool in mental health therapy. It offers unique opportunities to support individuals or families’ mental or behavioral health needs through the partnership of a horse. Our mental health services are not focused on horsemanship or horseback riding, but rather on giving clients a safe place to engage in activities with a horse or horses. The horse helps client’s process feelings, thoughts, and reactions while serving as an emotional mirror.

 

Hippotherapy- A licensed and specially trained Physical (PT), Occupational (OT), or Speech Therapist (ST) conducts our Hippotherapy services, in combination with a certified PATH Intl Therapeutic Riding Instructor. During a treatment session, the movement of the horse, position of the client, equipment, and types of activities used are monitored, analyzed, and modified by the therapist to promote the best functional outcomes. Horse movement may be one of many treatment strategies used by the treating therapist.