The mission of Prancing Horse is to enhance the lives of individuals by providing a safe environment for therapeutic horsemanship.
The therapeutic horsemanship program caters to individuals with special needs diagnoses. Participants must be at least 4 years of age, with no upper age limit. While some diagnoses might prevent riding, alternatives like grooming, leading, tacking, and other educational activities are available. These interactions foster horsemanship skills and enhance physical, social, and emotional well-being.
Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructors (CTRI) set goals with participants’ parents, guardians, or caregivers. They tailor lesson plans to individual needs, pair participants with suitable horses, and train volunteers as sidewalkers and leaders. Sidewalkers assist riders based on their support needs, while horse leaders monitor horse behavior, follow the lesson plan, and provide observations to CTRIs for student progress planning.
Freedom Reins at Prancing Horse is a Veterans program based on natural horsemanship methods and building relationships with our equine partners. During lessons, veterans learn to recognize horse behaviors through grooming, ground work in the round pen, and leading and long line work in the arena. Participants learn that horses are constantly communicating with us through their body language, and in return, we can communicate with them through our body language and emotions. As our participants progress through the lessons, they demonstrate reduced anxiety not only while they are working with the horses, but also in everyday life. Freedom Reins sessions provide an alternative to traditional clinical therapies used to address some of the stress resulting from service in the line of duty.