Horses with Hope Bring Therapeutic Riding to Gilfillan Farm

Tim Gagne

On a chilly, but clear Saturday morning last November, Anne Davis and a team of volunteers—two holding the leads of halters—formed a circle outside the Bethel Park facility of Horses with Hope, joined hands, and offered a prayer for a successful day ahead, as well as for the recent partnership with the Historical Society of Upper St. Clair (HSUSC) that will bring their therapeutic riding program to HSUSC’s Gilfillan Farm this spring. Shortly after this heartfelt huddle, two young riders arrived and, with assistance, mounted therapy horses, Rex and Rein, for their 40-minute-long riding lessons. Horses with Hope is a discovery, growth, and learning center that employs the power of equine therapy to improve the physical, mental, emotional, and social quality of life for Pittsburgh and Washington County area youth and adults with physical and behavioral health challenges. Carefully designed riding lessons help each participant reach their full potential, assisting them to expand their abilities through various exercises, but more importantly by the relationship developed with the horses. “It’s deeply gratifying to see our riders grow and develop through their partnership with the horses,” said Anne. “There is a spark that ignites when a horse and rider work together that gives the animal a purpose and the rider a way to reach beyond their current abilities. It’s like watching little miracles every day.” In 2007, Anne left a 20-year career in the airline industry to start Walking along the wood-chipped trail at Gilfillan Farm Horses with Hope, inspired by her daughter, Jamie Lynn—now 17—who was born with Down Syndrome. The program began in Washington County with three students and quickly grew to capacity, serving 27 clients per week with more than 75 volunteers. In 2013, Horses with Hope incorporated as a non-profit organization, bought four horses, and moved the program to the South Hills of Pittsburgh. This expansion enabled the program to nearly double the number of individuals it served. This growth is largely attributable to the group’s growing reputation and outreach efforts to underserved groups, including group homes for the physically and developmentally disabled, a psychiatric hospital, Pittsburgh Public Schools, and Allegheny Intermediate Unit schools. By 2014, Horses with Hope had expanded to 100 clients per week when school is in session, offering both therapeutic riding and equine-assisted learning sessions. The organization’s volunteer corps has swelled to more than 100, and includes teenagers engaged in service learning and university students completing internships.

The therapeutic benefits of working with horses has been recorded and studied for more than two millennia. However, it wasn’t until Liz Hartel of Denmark won a silver medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games that equine therapy really caught Gilfillan Farm cleanup the attention of medical

Left to right: Anne and Jamie Davis and equine professionals. (Hartel had suffered some paralysis from polio and had used horse riding to strengthen her leg muscles.) Now, organizations, including the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) and the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA), accredit hundreds of therapeutic riding programs in North America alone, and therapeutic riding is known to benefit individuals with a wide range of physical and mental conditions. Affiliated with both PATH and EAGALA, Horses with Hope began conversations with the HSUSC last summer that will result in a move by Horses with Hope to Gilfillan Farm, a 15-acre historical property in Upper

St. Clair along Route 19 (Washington Road). The move will provide great facilities and increased visibility for Horses with Hope. The group also plans to add new programming that will include gardening, animal care education, and more. Horses with Hope will house its horses in Gilfillan’s big red barn, using free-standing stalls that both work for the horses and preserve the integrity of the historic structure. Now, as residents enjoy a walk on the wood-chipped surface of the 1.25 mile perimeter trail at Gilfillan, they’ll also be greeted by Rex, Rein, and the other Horses with Hope “therapists,” grazing in the same fields where the Gilfillan family’s animals grazed for generations. Gilfillan Farm will also become home to Horses with Hope’s donkeys and goats, and the group also plans to add more goats (likely “fainting” goats), as well as sheep, once they’ve settled into their new home in Upper St. Clair.

Rachel Carlson, HSUSC president, is excited about animals returning to Gilfillan Farm. “The partnership with Horses with Hope helps us to fulfill Margaret Gilfillan’s wishes for the property... that it continue as an operational farm, as well as a historical, cultural, and educational resource for the community,” she said. “Plus,” she added, “we’re thrilled for what Horses with Hope will bring to the community.”

Horses with Hope volunteers have already held several working days at Gilfillan Farm, preparing the buildings it will use, as well as clearing fence lines of decades of overgrowth so that the fields will be safer and better for the animals. The group also built a new “sensory trail,” an outdoor, circuitous path filled with objects and activities where the therapeutic riding lessons take place. The trail was completed as an Eagle Scout project of Michael Walsh of Bethel Park. But, additional grounds work needs to be completed in time for when the lessons resume this April, and additional money is needed to complete the work. If you would like to donate in any capacity, visit the Horses with Hope website for further information.

So, when residents of and visitors to Upper St. Clair walk the Gilfillan Trail this coming spring, they’ll have some new sights to see... goats, sheep, donkeys and, of course, horses... horses with hope. n

A view of the barn where the horses will be housed; photo by Alison Payne

You can learn more about Gilfillan Farm by visiting http://gilfillanfarm.org/ or phoning 412-835-2050 and Horses with Hope by visiting www.horseswithhope.org/. Is it Time...to cash in on your Equity. We are experiencing the most active sellers market in the history of Pittsburgh Real Estate.

In the coming months, equine therapy horses will graze the fields of Gilfillan Farm, along with other farm animals. One beautiful horse you might see as you walk or drive by is Sven.

Gentle, kind, and hardworking, Sven is a favorite with both the kids and the volunteers. His dual-colored mane, a characteristic of the Norwegian Fjord breed, makes him easy to recognize. While Sven has since been retired from the riding program, he is flourishing in the unmounted programs.

A recurring feature new to the magazine, Horses with Hope will Sven, one of the horses making its profile another wonderful home at Gilfillan Farm animal making its home at Gilfillan Farm in TODAY’s upcoming summer edition. n