The Carriage Barn Equine Adaptive Therapy Program< Inc.

My experience with the Carriage Barn Equestrian Center Therapeutic Riding Program, Inc. began in July, 2013 when Ann Miles began a Beginner Senior Carriage Driving class. It was to be a Sunday morning class for 4 weeks. It was so successful it has continued and has morphed into a weekly senior driving program continuing to this day. Members come and go, new members join, but it remains.
After a few years Ann helped me to purchase my own driving pony, cart, harness and provides boarding for the pony, and lessons twice a week, besides the Sunday Senior Driving Program which I also still attend.
I have witnessed her efforts with her many clients, providing lessons and therapy to handicapped children and adults. She ran a successful summer suicide prevention program for troubled middle and high school students and some of those students still come and help out at the Carriage Barn on weekends and during the summer. She has clients who are partially or mostly paralyzed driving or riding horses. The feelings of freedom and independence this gives them is evident on their faces. She has taken children who were not speaking, and gently introduced them to her horses and had them talking to the horses. Some of the things that happen are so amazing it is beyond description.
I am now a member of Ann Miles' advisor board and I hereby highly recommend the Carriage Barn Equestrian Center Therapeutic Riding Program, Inc. for inclusion as one of the Top-Rated Nonprofits for 2019.
Thank you very much.
Susan J. Greenberg

I was a volunteer for the summer, this year, at the Carriage Barn in Kensington. I knew about this wonderful place from having taken an adult ed course there on caring for horses. I always knew I wanted to be a part of the place since then. I finally had the time to help out and I'm so glad I did. I got to be around the horses, but especially around the people who come in and benefit from the therapy that Ann Miles provides with horse riding and carriage driving. I'm especially grateful for a chance to be around the young men and women who come there and who once suffered from suicidal thoughts and who found the Carriage Barn to be a place that accepts and loves them for who they are. To say that the Carriage Barn literally saves lives is not an exaggeration.

I have been volunteering at Carriage Barn for three years. As a senior citizen who never worked around horses this has been a terrific learning experience. I have had fun, learned about the personalities of the wonderful animals plus am taking riding lessons. I witnessed the healing power of horses when I help clients with special needs. I have fun working with the young folks who come to ride and work. I always feel happier after spending time at The Carriage Barn.

My daughter and I have volunteered at the Carriage Barn for just over a year now. We weren't sure what to expect on that first day, but found that we loved it from that start. Everyone we have met there has been welcoming and helpful. They have also been extremely grateful for our help and let us know that they are each time we come. We have helped out in a variety of ways there including mucking stalls, grooming horses and helping with lessons. Working at the barn has taught us many things and for me it has been rewarding to learn how to care for horses. My daughter, who is an avid equestrian, has learned so many new things about horses from Ann. She has learned how to relate to others though horses and riding. And she has learned that caring for horses is hard, but rewarding work. Ann's confidence in her and her abilities has improved her confidence. I have really seen her blossom since beginning to volunteer and sharing her love of horses with others. The Carriage Barn really is a great place that is welcoming to everyone who stops by.

Two of my children spent a total of 5 weeks at the Carriage Barn as part of the Youth Suicide Prevention Program. I cannot say enough wonderful things. It provided a wonderful escape from everyday stresses. While there you become removed from the constant "go" that we often feel. They were able to connect with animals and people on another level without the judgement that is felt in most situations. My boys gained much confidence by participating. They gained confidence in their ability to work independently, with others and with animals. They were expected to work hard, be dependable and stay up with the chores while also talking about how they were feeling, relaxing and having fun. They boys loved it & cannot wait to go back to help out!!

The Carriage Barn is a place of healing, growth and empowerment.
Eight years ago I fell from my horse and sustained a spinal cord injury that left me paralyzed from the shoulders down. I recovered enough to continue my work as an elementary school principal, but not enough to ride independently. To say I missed the relationship with horses and the challenge of jumping, would be an understatement. However, I couldn’t bring myself to simply sit on the back of a horse as a passive rider. During an internet search for a meaningful way to reestablish horses in my life, I found an article about carriage driving. Learning to drive seemed to be an attainable goal if I could find a barn that could accommodate my needs. Enter the Carriage Barn with its extraordinary staff, volunteers and horses. Anne Miles and Emily Chase have developed an inclusive riding/driving program that accommodates all abilities. When I approached Anne regarding the possibility of learning to drive, the conversation was not one of whether, but how I could accomplish this. She asked questions, listened carefully, then began shaping a program based on both my physical needs and emotional safety. Anne used her extensive knowledge of carriage driving to tailor an incremental approach to learning the basics of driving. Emily was an accomplished rider before learning to drive, so was able to help me bridge my skills and knowledge as a rider to the skills I needed to become a driver. Another essential component of the Barn were the volunteers who were up for anything that was asked of them, including sitting in the carriage with a raw beginner to be my “whip”. Last, but hardly least, there are the horses at the Carriage Barn. I have owned 5 horses in my life, all of them were wonderful, smart, talented individuals. None of them could have done the work that the Barn horses do on a daily basis. A therapeutic horse has to be smart, intuitive, talented and extremely level headed; what is known in horse parlance as “bomb proof”. I have been in the carriage behind K.C. the Wonder Horse in circumstances where any other horse would have bolted, bucked or balked. He has never taken a wrong foot. It has been two years since I found my way to the Carriage Barn. I am able to drive fairly complicated courses and have earned my Level 1 Carriage Driving certification. I am looking forward to gaining the skills necessary to reach Level 2.
If my story was the only one coming out of the Carriage Barn that would be great, but what makes the place so amazing is that there are dozens of such stories happening there every day. The inclusive, accepting culture of the Barn enables all who come there to find a niche in which to grow, heal and thrive. I have seen teenagers gaining a sense of competency and empowerment through their work as volunteers, adults fulfilling their lifelong dream to ride or drive, kids who struggle with social issues working cooperatively to clean stalls and care for horses and children who do not communicate beginning to talk on the back of a horse. The Carriage Barn is truly a place for healing, growth and empowerment for all.

I had the good fortune to see an ad at my vets office for senior carriage driving. I had ridden/shown horses in my teens & twenties but life & marriage had taken me in a different direction. Here was an opportunity to challenge myself in my 60's to learn something new. Ann and her team taught us the basics of reinsmanship, harness terminology & procedures and how to put to (hitch) a horse to the carriage, not to mention the incredible history lessons we enjoy learning about the carriage industry in our neighboring town os Amesbury, Mass and being able to see carriage collections and memorabilia. I cannot tell you the joy I felt the first time I picked up the reins and asked KC to "walk on." I have been driving now for 5 years and passed my Level 1 Driving Certification with the Carriage Association of America 3 years ago. The Carriage Barn's senior driver program has afforded me an opportunity that I will cherish for a lifetime & hope to continue as long as I can. Great fun, new friendships and an opportunity to keep horses in your life. I just enjoy walking through the barn and enjoying the sound of horses munching hay, and nickering for a carrot or other special treat. This is a special place.

" I don't there's anything on this planet that more trumpets life than the sunflower. For me that's because of the reason behind it's name. Not because it looks like the sun but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak , these flowers will find it. And that's such an admirable thing. And such a lesson in life."
Helen Mirren

I am a proud volunteer at The Carriage Barn. My 'barn day' is my favorite day of the week! I started volunteering at the Barn in August 2016. My goal was simply to help somewhere... and to hang out with horses!
I had no idea how this would work out.
My children like horses, so I've been around a number of barns. This one is different. It is special. The barn rules are simple: respect and love these incredible horses, accept one another, and above all - be safe.

That explains this barn and its programs to a 'T'. It's a growing family.

My job is to do whatever Ann asks me to do - as long as I am comfortable with the task. I have walked alongside quadriplegics to ensure their safety. I have ridden in carriages to be the hands that some don't have use of... I have mucked stalls, groomed, and turned out horses. If I need help, it is always there.

I am thrilled. I get to do everything that I had hoped to do - and more!!

The Carriage Barn is home. Everyone is welcomed at the door, and is on equal footing (no matter if it be feet, wheels, etc.!). It is the epitome of a judgement-free zone!
I am so thankful to have found such a welcoming haven ...

I started out as a volunteer for The Carriage Barn a little over two years ago and imidiately felt welcomed and accepted as an important part of this organization. The staffs dedication to both clients, volunteers and their family members made me realize what an incredible place this is. No matter what is going on in an individual's life The Carriage Barn is committed to improving it. I have seen many clients make great strides in their goals. I myself have benifeited greatly and developed many professional skills and advanced my own career thanks to the expirence I have received here.

Over a year and a half I started my internship at The Carriage Barn. At the time I had no idea where accepting that position would take me, but it has been quite the journey. In that time I have met and worked with some incredible people who have taught me so much. The stories and experiences they have shared with me have inspired me to live each day to the fullest and to find joy whenever and wherever I can. Some days are long, difficult, and exhausting but it is all worth it for the moments when I witness the joy that being around horses and working with them brings to these amazing people.
Now I am proud to say that I work for The Carriage Barn and get to continue working with some extraordinary people and horses doing something I truly love. I can never thank Ann enough for taking me on as her intern and teaching me so much. She has been a fantastic mentor who continues to teach and motivate me every single day.

I have been working at the Carriage Barn for several months now. I do whatever is needed – sometimes cleaning out the stalls, opening big bales of wood shavings to replenish the ground cover in the stalls, filling the water buckets for the horses, putting hay in the feeding bags – things like that.

Sometimes I am present and assist when patrons come to ride in the arena. It is gratifying to see children, many of them with some kind of problem, verbal or physical, enjoy getting into the carriages and being driven around the arena. While their normal life may be any but “normal” in their home situations, while they are at the Barn, they laugh and have and good time.

I am most touched when I assist in the arena when a very handicapped woman – let’s call her Shelley – about fifty years old - comes to ride in a carriage a couple of times a week. Shelley was an avid horse woman but had a terrible accident a few years ago that left her, after many agonizing operations, paralyzed from waist on down. She was depressed with her situation for a long time but then she discovered the Carriage Barn, that caters to people like herself, offers them a new path to renewed enjoyment of life.

Shelley drives up in her van, wheels her automatic wheelchair away from the drivers spot and lets herself down a ramp, grabs her helmet, and comes wheeling into the barn. There, her favorite horse K.C. is being readied for the riding. Once in the arena, volunteers transfer Shelley, via a hoist, from her wheelchair into a carriage. Her hands are so crippled that she cannot open them – they are curled up but there is just enough room to pull the reins through. She enjoys herself driving around for an hour, making K. C. go through various configurations which we, the helpers, set up for her.

I did not know her in her depression phases. I see a lovely, spirited and cheerful woman doing what she loves to do. Did I see nail polish on her fingers?? I think the experience at the Carriage Barn has brought some kind of normalcy back to her life. I leave the Carriage Barn humbled and grateful and with great sense of peace.

I feel so fortunate to have found the Carriage Barn, as it has become an important part of my life. As a volunteer for over two years, I have experienced firsthand the incredible impact that the programs have on participants and those in their lives. At many points during my time there, I have been left speechless, in awe of not only the kindness shown by people involved, but the amazing healing power of horses and the team at the Barn. The programs and care provided are of a caliber unlike any that I have seen or experienced before, even at other Therapeutic Riding programs; it is a very special place.

The phrase "it takes a village" comes to mind when describing the Carriage Barn. From the caring and knowledgeable staff to the dedicated volunteers they work together treating clients and students with respect while making their experience a positive one that could be anything from just spending time with one of the well mannered horses to driving a carriage in an intricate dressage pattern. Spend any time there you and realize why they have many longtime clients as well as volunteers.

The Carriage Barn Therapeutic Equestrian Center is a wonderfully caring community. The horses are gentle and well cared for, and the Program Director is absolutely amazing ! This is the best nonprofit I have ever encountered. All the volunteers are Team Players and really work well together, in every respect there is such a positive atmosphere which surrounds you ~making the Carriage Barn a fun and friendly place for all. Come and check it out, you'll be happy that you did !