Our Mission
To help humans and horses find the therapeutic benefits of horsemanship and promote the ethical use of equines.
Story of True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship
True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship was created by a group of women who came together with a common goal in mind in January of 2018. All of us have worked with horses at some point in our lives and many of us have volunteered or worked at Miracles in Motion, a therapeutic riding program that closed in September of 2017. We were approached by Chelsea Reeves, the barn manager from Miracles In Motion, about starting a new therapeutic horsemanship program in the greater Keene, NH area; we all agreed the need for such a program was great. We believed creating an environment where our horses are treated well and used ethically would help our horses be therapeutic for our riders. And so, our mission was created, “To help humans and horses find the therapeutic benefits of horsemanship by providing therapeutic horsemanship lessons and promoting the ethical use of equines.”
Horses can be very therapeutic for humans. Physically, the rhythmic motion of a horse’s gait can mimic the natural human gait and can improve muscle strength, balance, coordination, and flexibility. Cognitively, therapeutic horsemanship is shown to improve focus, memory, planning, judgement ability, and problem-solving skills. Emotionally, the interaction and connection between a horse and a human can help to develop a sense of empathy, a sense of empowerment, increasing sense of trust, and increase in self-confidence and self-esteem. Horses are cognitive and sentient beings which help to create unique bonds with the people who work with them.
For horses, human interaction can also be very rewarding because we believe that this interaction can give a horse a sense of fulfillment. The relationship with a human helps a horse fulfill the need to be social and communicate. Physically, a human can keep the horse safe and give the horse a sense of security; as well as helping them to expend energy and improve their physical well-being. Humans not only can provide horses with food, water, shelter and other basic care and comforts, but can also help them improve muscle strength, balance, coordination, and flexibility enriching their lives as well.
We have all seen many horses working in conditions where horses were pushed to work through pain, working in jobs they were not prepared for and accidents that resulted because of these conditions. We all have experienced moments when there were happy riders despite the horse not being in a good shape for lessons, and when riders were upset because a lesson horse did something that either scared them or hurt them because they were working in pain or they just had enough.
The True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship mission is to run a therapeutic horsemanship program that helps our participants create and achieve their goals while making sure our program horses are well taken care of. Our goal to fulfill the need to provide therapeutic horsemanship lessons to participants who are living with one or more of physical, cognitive, emotional, social, or behavioral challenges. We also advocate for the ethical uses of equines, focusing on our lesson horses, with the transparency of our own program.
With great support from the community, our program is growing. We want to say thank you for their support in True Hope and our mission. We hope that you will join us in our mission.
Thank you,
True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship
Board of Directors
Horses can be very therapeutic for humans. Physically, the rhythmic motion of a horse’s gait can mimic the natural human gait and can improve muscle strength, balance, coordination, and flexibility. Cognitively, therapeutic horsemanship is shown to improve focus, memory, planning, judgement ability, and problem-solving skills. Emotionally, the interaction and connection between a horse and a human can help to develop a sense of empathy, a sense of empowerment, increasing sense of trust, and increase in self-confidence and self-esteem. Horses are cognitive and sentient beings which help to create unique bonds with the people who work with them.
For horses, human interaction can also be very rewarding because we believe that this interaction can give a horse a sense of fulfillment. The relationship with a human helps a horse fulfill the need to be social and communicate. Physically, a human can keep the horse safe and give the horse a sense of security; as well as helping them to expend energy and improve their physical well-being. Humans not only can provide horses with food, water, shelter and other basic care and comforts, but can also help them improve muscle strength, balance, coordination, and flexibility enriching their lives as well.
We have all seen many horses working in conditions where horses were pushed to work through pain, working in jobs they were not prepared for and accidents that resulted because of these conditions. We all have experienced moments when there were happy riders despite the horse not being in a good shape for lessons, and when riders were upset because a lesson horse did something that either scared them or hurt them because they were working in pain or they just had enough.
The True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship mission is to run a therapeutic horsemanship program that helps our participants create and achieve their goals while making sure our program horses are well taken care of. Our goal to fulfill the need to provide therapeutic horsemanship lessons to participants who are living with one or more of physical, cognitive, emotional, social, or behavioral challenges. We also advocate for the ethical uses of equines, focusing on our lesson horses, with the transparency of our own program.
With great support from the community, our program is growing. We want to say thank you for their support in True Hope and our mission. We hope that you will join us in our mission.
Thank you,
True Hope Therapeutic Horsemanship
Board of Directors