Wildstar Equine Assisted Activities and
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Horses are dynamic, sensitive animals that communicate through the subtle use of body language. They respond to situations by giving immediate, honest feedback without judgement. Horses are large and powerful so working with them naturally creates an opportunity for individuals to overcome fear and develop self-confidence. Horses have their own unique personalities, attitudes, moods and backgrounds, which provide endless experiences and situations for growth, healing, learning and relationship building. Equine-assisted activities and therapy increase communication, social and organizational skills while encouraging both teamwork and independence. Participants often perceive therapeutic riding and horsemanship as a more positive experience than traditional therapy, serving as a strong motivator in achieving their therapeutic goals. Horse SenseAbility serves participants with emotional, neurological and cognitive challenges and those in difficult life circumstances.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
City to Saddle
City To Saddle gives low-income, urban children an opportunity to visit in a rural environment and interact with a variety of farm animals, particularly horses. The week-long, half-day program during school vacation includes equestrian activities and other farm experiences. Participants receive full scholarships and are encouraged to be volunteers for other Horse SenseAbility programs.
Therapeutic Riding and Horsemanship Lessons
Therapeutic riding and horsemanship lessons taught by PATH-certified instructors are available for children and adults with one or more of the following characteristics: autism spectrum disorder; learning disabilities; emotional, behavioral, or mental health issues; experience with violence, abuse or trauma; or identified as at risk. The horse’s movement stimulates brain function, often leading to significant gains in language, mobility, neurological organization and self-confidence.
Wildstar Wranglers
Wildstar Wranglers provides a volunteer opportunity to young adults with special challenges for meaningful work in a supportive environment under the supervision of a professional educator. Tasks include daily horse care and barn chores. This experience builds and enhances the individual’s organizational skills, such as following directions, task completion, reliability and attention to detail, all of which directly translate into the person’s role in the community.
Community Equine Therapy Visits
are offered to social service agencies, schools, afterschool programs and medical facilities in the surrounding area. Founder Polly Kornblith and her Shetland pony Hugo are registered by Pet Partners, whose mission is to improve human health and well-being through the human-animal bond. There is no cost to an organization or individual for a therapy visit.
Horse Tales
The innovative Horse Tales intervention program is designed for students who do not have intensive academic support outside of the school day. Horse Tales specifically focuses on working with 4th and 5th graders who demonstrate a need for additional assistance to reach grade-level proficiency before leaving elementary school. Horse Tales motivates children to read by providing access to high-quality, horse-themed book collections, one-on-one tutoring to promote fluency in reading and daily writing activities. Students will also have the opportunity to learn about, care for and ride horses as part of the program.
Occupations Therapy with Horses
Occupational therapy using the movement of the horse is a treatment strategy known as "hippotherapy." Sessions are tailored to the needs of the patient and may include working in the clinic space, the barn, the spacious indoor arena or on the outdoor interactive Discovery Trail. After the initial evaluation, the Occupation Therapist develops an individual integrated plan of care. Through collaboration with the therapist, patient and family, functional goals are identified to be addressed during weekly treatment sessions using hippotherapy when appropriate.
Where we work
Awards
Myra Kraft MVP Community Award Winner 2021
New England Patriots
Affiliations & memberships
Professional Associated of Therapeutic Horsemanship 2022
United States Equestrian Federation 2022
External reviews
Videos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goal is to help underserved or at-risk youth and young adults develop life skills by engaging in therapeutic equine-assisted learning activities in a peaceful, rural setting.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Horse SenseAbility offers a variety of services that are particularly geared to youth and young adults who are on the autism spectrum, have experienced trauma or are from an underserved community.
--Stable Moments is designed for children who are or have been in foster care. A trained volunteer mentor and a horse meet 1-on-1 weekly with the child for an entire school year to develop life skills.
--City To Saddle gives underserved 6- to 13-year old children an opportunity to interact with a variety of animals, particularly horses, in a relaxing rural environment.
--Therapeutic riding and horsemanship lessons are available for children and adults with one or more of the following characteristics: autism spectrum disorder; learning disabilities; emotional, behavioral, or mental health issues; experience with violence, abuse or trauma; or identified as at risk.
--Wildstar Wranglers provides an opportunity for young adults with special challenges to develop a strong work ethic and learn appropriate job-related skills in a supportive, supervised environment. Tasks include daily horse care and barn chores.
--Community visits are made free of charge to local schools and organizations that serve children with special needs.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We are a certified PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) center with multiple staff members PATH-certified as Therapeutic Riding Instructions and Equine Specialists in Mental Health & Learning. We have 10 equines engaged in mounted and unmounted therapeutic and horsemanship activities.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We currently offer 4 weeks of the City To Saddle summer program with 6 participants per week. The Stable Moments program comprises 7 three-way partnerships of a child in or who has been in foster care, a volunteer mentor and an equine for a full school year. Therapeutic riding and horsemanship lessons are offered weekly on an ongoing basis. We make weekly community visits to special education classes at the local elementary school with our Shetland pony who is registered with the national Pet Partners organization. We are designing a more structured job development curriculum for the Wildstar Wrangler program to serve young adults in transition who have autism spectrum disorder.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Wildstar Equine Assisted Activities and
Board of directorsas of 03/05/2024
Barbara Hagan
Wildstar Equine Assisted Activities and Therapy
Term: 2017 - 2024
Carolyn Pope
Norfolk Hunt Club
Barbara Rothwell Hagan
Bay State Milling Co.
Rachel Marsh
Antech Diagnostics
Julie Froelich
Independent Consultant
Divya Raghavan Molloy
Sethji's
Jay Delaune
Force501
Jean Klugman
Independent Consultant
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/05/2024GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.