At Healing Horses Therapeutic Riding Center we believe with appropriate individualized services, support, therapy and information, children with special needs will grow learn and flourish.  We will be utilizing a multi-prong therapeutic approach that will produce positive changes in critical areas of development including but not limited to core muscle strength, improved balance, speech and vocalizations, positive behavior, self esteem, visual motor and spatial skills.  The goal is to maximize the child's functioning in their homes, schools and communities by increasing their language, reducing negative behaviors, increasing core muscle strength, improving relationships with peers, parents, teachers and caregivers, peer play, joint attention, self care and overall self esteem and independence.  We are committed to being an inspiration and educational resource of the Therapeutic Riding profession.  Our vision is a community where people, regardless of ability, can achieve their fullest potential.

Riding therapy was introduced in Scandinavia in 1946 after two devastating outbreaks of poliomyelitis.  Lis Hartel, an accomplished horsewoman, was stricken with the disease.  Although surgery and physiotherapy helped her to walk again with the aid of crutches, she was determined to ride independently again and began daily supervised riding sessions to improve her muscle strength and coordination.  Lis Hartel brought attention to riding for the disabled  when she won the silver medal for Dressage at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games.  She and Ulla Harpoth, a physical therapist from Copenhagen, went on to use horses as therapy for their patients.  Therapeutic Horseback Riding came to both the United States and Canada in 1960, with the formation of the Community Association of Riding of the Disabled.  In the United States, riding for the disabled developed as a form of recreation and as a means of motivation for education, as well for its therapeutic benefits.  In 1969 the Cheff Center for the Handicapped was established in Michigan and remains the oldest center specifically for people with disabilities in the United States.  The North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) was founded in 1969 to serve as an advisory body to the various riding for the disabled groups across the United States and its neighboring countries.  NARHA provides safety guidelines and training, certifies therapeutic riding instructors, accredits therapeutic riding centers according to its own high standards, disseminates information, and offers low-cost insurance to its member organizations.  Today, disabled riders demonstrate their remarkable accomplishments in national and international sport riding competitions.  Hippotherapy (physical therapy on horseback, using the horse as the therapist) has developed as a medical field recognized by most major countries.  Equine Facilitated Mental Health, Equine Experiential Learning and other forms of therapy involving horses are gaining in popularity.  Medical doctors, psychiatrists, physical and occupational therapists, speech therapists, and the teachers all refer patients and students to riding programs for the disabled.  Therapeutic Riding has become a well recognized and acclaimed method of improving the lives of those who refuse to let their disabilities limit them.