Adviser Winter 2019-20 LeadingAge New York Adviser LeadingAge NewYork Winter 2019-20 | Page 34
Feature
Heritage Gallops into 2020 with
New Equine Therapy Program at
Homestead Stables
O
ne year after the opening of Heritage
Ministries’ Homestead Stables, a full-
service equestrian center in Gerry, staff are
saddling up to provide a new service to the
community in 2020: therapeutic riding.
“We are excited to
offer this new type
of equine therapy
at Homestead
Stables,” said David
Smeltzer, Heritage
president and CEO.
“Since announcing
the development of
the stables, we have
consistently been
asked if this service
would be provided.
We consider it a
privilege to offer
this service to the
greater Chautauqua
County community.
In addition to
those who will
benefit directly
from the therapy, this new program will
provide many rewarding opportunities for
volunteers to become involved in working
with horses and those we will be serving.”
The new Homestead Stables therapeutic
riding program, officially launched in
November 2019, is led by Scott Limberg,
a certified therapeutic riding instructor
through the Professional Association of
Therapeutic Horsemanship International
“We have been looking forward to adding therapeutic riding
to our list of services that we offer and couldn’t be more
excited to begin this wonderful new program....”
Heather Payne, manager
Homestead Stables
Homestead Stables
BOARDING | TRAINING | LESSONS
(PATH Intl.). Instructors and participants
in the program will work to enrich the
lives of members of the differently-abled
community. Individuals of all ages can
benefit from this therapeutic process,
including recovering veterans and those
with physical disabilities, congenital birth
defects, neurological issues, traumatic and
acquired brain injuries, autism and more.
Heather Payne, Homestead Stables
manager, added, “We have been looking
forward to adding therapeutic riding to our
list of services that we offer and couldn’t
be more excited to begin this wonderful
new program. Through carefully planned
lessons, riders learn balance, coordination
and self-assurance, as well as improve
social skills and sensory stimulation. The
benefits of therapeutic riding have been
acknowledged for a long time; working
with horses can have a major physical and
emotional impact on people.”
No stranger to horses as therapeutic tools,
Homestead Stables began offering non-
riding-based Equine Assisted Therapy
in late 2018 through a partnership with
Dawn Samuelson and the N.E.I.G.H.
(National Equine Institute of Growth
through Healing) program. N.E.I.G.H.
works to empower individuals by equipping
them with the tools necessary to improve
communication, confidence, respect
and goal setting, using the emotional
relationship between horses and humans
as a tool in instruction in working with
issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD) and emotional trauma.
(See Heritage Gallops Into 2020 on page 34)
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Adviser a publication of LeadingAge New York | Winter 2019-20