Hope Horses: Living up To Its Name

BY JESSIE SHOOK

Hope Horses, of Cullman, Alabama, has been restoring hope to individuals with special needs since its beginning in 2014. “The goal was to have a place within our community to serve individuals with special needs where they would not only have fun but also find hope,” said Kelsey Scott, Executive Director of Hope Horses, Inc.

Scott explained that the mission of Hope Horses is to provide therapeutic riding lessons to children and adults with physical, cognitive, social and emotional needs. “We have come to realize that there are many individuals in the community that can benefit from Hope,” Scott said.

Therapeutic riding is much more than someone with a physical disability receiving benefits from riding a horse. Therapeutic riding is beneficial to individuals in need of cognitive and emotional support as well. “When it comes to someone with a physical disability, proper riding position will help their body tremendously,” Scott said. “Whereas someone with social, emotional or a cognitive disability will learn different ways to communicate with the horse.”

Scott gave the example of a nonverbal student – they will not be able to tell the horse to “walk-on.” These students will have to physically communicate to the horse for movement. “We call it ‘bump-bump,’ which is simply squeezing their legs asking the horse to move,” Scott explained. “Students are getting a lot of benefits just from the riding portion of the program, such as building fine motor skills, core strength, gross motor skills, while also building confidence.”

Besides the riding portion of the program, students are also responsible for the care of their horse, including the opportunity for barn chores. “We tell our students that this is their horse and they need to take responsibility for it,” Scott said. “When our students come for a lesson, they have to groom their horse, tack-up their horse and then they ride, so they are learning responsibility, too.”

When it comes to lessons, each student has individual goals and lesson plans. “We take the parents’ and the students’ goals and expectations of the program, and we work toward those goals,” Scott said. “All of our students have different needs and we accommodate them to help accomplish their goals.”

Executive Director Kelsey Scott has been with Hope Horses since 2015. She said that she originally planned to just volunteer, but the Lord had a different plan for her.

As a nonprofit, Hope relies heavily on their volunteers. (L to R) Volunteers Abbey Stivender, Mallory Walker, Meagan Writesman, Instructor Lauren Koller, Executive Director Kelsey Scott, Instructor Mariah Miles, and Volunteers Gabby Brown, Allison Oden, Ashleigh Oden.

Students of Hope also learn problem-solving skills through activities on horseback, such as an obstacle course. “We incorporate games and activities that will reinforce the skills we are trying to teach,” Scott said. “These are skills they can apply in their everyday lives.”

Hope also has days for ground lessons. These lessons consist of teaching the anatomy of the horse, parts of the saddle and grooming. “We partnered with Wallace State Occupational Therapy Assistant Program and one of our interns created a classroom that is tailored specifically to ground lessons,” Scott said.

Students are receiving much more than riding lessons with Hope Horses. The program runs much deeper than what meets the eye. “Recently we have seen an increase in participants with emotional needs who are struggling with issues such as bullying,” Scott said. “Having a place like Hope Horses that students can come to, with an animal that is their teammate and that is there for them, really gives those students who are struggling hope.”

Scott explained how important this connection to the horse is and how rewarding it is to step back and see it all come together. “Our horses don’t see your child or family member the way the outside world does,” Scott said. “They just see their teammate.”

Other than their riding program, Hope Horses partners with others in the community, such as other nonprofit organizations, service groups and North Alabama schools’ special needs programs. Hope also hosts field trips and camps – none of which would be possible without the volunteers of Hope Horses. “As a nonprofit, we really rely on our volunteers,” Scott said. “We have between 30 to 40 volunteers weekly.”

When you volunteer at Hope Horses, you are going to get as much out of the volunteer program as the students do from lessons. Scott explained that when a volunteer assists a student for an extended period of time, the volunteer gets to witness the growth and accomplishments with their student. As Scott said, “It’s definitely a multiservice organization because we are not only impacting our students but also the individuals that make our mission possible.”

Students also participate in ground lesson where they learn about the anatomy of a horse and parts of a saddle. An intern from the Wallace State Occupational Therapy Assistant Program created a classroom tailored to ground lessons.

Student Calista Mitchell is building fine motor skills, gross motor skills and core strength while taking her therapeutic riding lesson on Gray.

Hope has future plans to expand by adding more areas for lessons, new trails and growing their name in the community.

From lessons to barn work, and working around the facility, there is always something for volunteers to do. Volunteer Ashleigh Oden expressed how it makes her day when a student gives her a hug goodbye at the end of a lesson. “It’s so rewarding because of the students we work with,” Oden said. “They are always so happy to be here.”

There are many ways that the public can support Hope Horses and their mission. Some of those include donating your time, sponsoring students or horses, monetary donations and attending one of their fundraising events.

Hope Horses also finds support through their local Co-op. Scott said, “Both the Cullman and Marshall Farmers Co-op has given Hope Horses great support through horse care and horse feed, but most importantly, friendly, supportive service.”

The future is bright for Hope Horses as plans to expand are coming. “We are looking forward to the future of Hope because we have plans to expand our services to the public and plans to expand our therapeutic riding program,” Scott said. “We just finished adding more stalls onto our barn which allows us to bring in more horses to serve more individuals.”

The “Grow Hope Campaign” was created to help accomplish the goals of Hope Horses. “We want to add more areas for lessons, new trails and expand our name in the community,” Scott said.

Hope relies heavily on general donations, grants and fundraising events to keep their program going. If you are interested in supporting Hope Horses or learning more about their therapeutic riding program, you can find more information on their website www. hopehorsesinc.com, follow them on Facebook and Instagram, @HopeHorsesInc, or give them a call at 256- 841-6290.

Student Calista Mitchell grooms her horse Gray before and after her lesson.

Hope Horses has a sensory trail that includes different activities to complete.