I've been volunteering at AHEAD With Horses for a few months, and it’s completely changed my life. Watching kids achieve things on horseback that no one thought possible is indescribable. It motivates me to do more good, and I look forward to every visit to the AWH ranch.
Ahead with Horses program has been Awesome for my son, Jonathan. In searching for meaningful activities which my autistic son could achieve, grow and better his coordination, balance, and joy in his smile in accomplishing his sessions 2x a month. Well worth the 35 mile drive to see my son shine. A truly Fabulous Program.
My son has been coming to AHEAD With Horses for about 13 years - he enjoys riding and even though it is amazing therapy, providing him with crucial core strength and coordination work, he has never thought of it as therapy; to him it's just horse-back riding.
After being a student parent for years, I joined the Board in 2021 and now see even more how amazing it is what AWH is able to accomplish on a tight budget.
I've been volunteering at AHEAD With Horses for the past few months and it's completely changed my life. The feeling you get when you see a child on a horse achieve things that doctors and teachers never thought were possible...it's indescribable. It motivates me to do more good in the world and I look forward to each visit to the AWH ranch. Not to mention, the beautiful horses!
I volunteer once a week and thoroughly love grooming the horses to get them ready for the children to ride. I also work with the children and see amazing progress week after week. It is so rewarding to see how children respond to riding horses. Michelle Newman, the director is fabulous to work with.
My sister rode in the program starting just before she was 3 years old. In her first few months, she started making more noise than she had in the past 3 years. She also learned how to slide off a bed by sliding off the horses' tail.
It is an amazing organization that has been a part of our family for over 30 years. I started as a volunteer back in 1999 and have been with the program ever since.
Ahead With Horses has helped our son for the last 14 years in so many amazing ways. The classes he attends each week help him with concentration, muscle strength, balance, coordination and confidence. The best part is all this magic is happening and he just thinks he is having fun. Ahead With Horses has been a big part of our lives!
I found AHEAD With Horses 9 years ago, called to offer my time and help, met with them the following Saturday. They had me from "hello" from the call back response. Here was an organization I could bring my 40+ years of nursing, experience raising 2 colts, teaching children to ride and managing a boarding stable and enjoy every minute of it. I started as a volunteer "spotter", walking along side the right side of the horse, watching everything the instructor was doing. I knew shortly that I, too, wanted to be an instructor. After some training, I was teaching on my own and loving every minute. My greatest joy was the smile the children had each time they mounted the horse, performed the various maneuvers and accomplished placing all the rings on the pole. I learned about conditions that I had never encountered before in my nursing practice and how both the children and their parents succeeded in living their "normal" lives. Clearly the parents are heroes of the highest degree. I've seen the children make improvements in their lives, strengthen their stiff and weak muscles, walk when they had not before, and start talking when they had not before. I am honored to take a part in the habilitation of these children and do my best to make each lesson fun, productive and eventful for them. The children amaze me with what they can do, especially when it is fun-rings on the pole earns them the title of Lord (Lady) of the rings or placing the balls in the board that has 6 colored shapes with a hole in the middle to earn the title of Baron (Baroness) of the board. Simple exercises encourage them to stretch those muscles, reach farther than they thought they could, and earn their reward of maintaining their "title". And all because of the special relationship with the horse. These children don't consider themselves as having special needs...we just consider them
SPECIAL. This is what AHEAD With Horses offers them. I am honored to be a part of the team. Judy Beem, Volunteer Instructor