Zephaniah's Promise Ranch

At the heart of Zephaniah’s Promise Ranch is a relationship between horse and child that is based on respect, trust, and responsibility. This relationship will be built by participation in programs that provide opportunities for the child to learn, interact, and care for a horse. Working one-on-one with session leaders, activities will be conducted to build and strengthen the horse-child relationship.

Learning: Program participants will learn about horse history, anatomy, temperament, nutrition, and habitat. The goal is for children to understand how a horse thinks and why a horse acts the way it does.

Interacting: Program participants will learn essential commands for ground work and, under the supervision of a horse trainer, riding. The goal is for children to respect the size and strength of the horse in a safe environment.

Caring: As part of the program, children will be responsible for washing, brushing, grooming, and feeding their session horse. The goal is for children to respect the horse as another of God’s creatures and to gain a sense of fulfillment and purpose by providing for the horse’s needs.

Sessions will be approximately 1-2 hours long and will be conducted as weather permits. These activities will make up the majority of time spent on the ranch. Any costs associated with these activities will be paid for with donations received. No fees will be required for participation in the programs offered by the ranch.

In addition to running programs for individual children, the ranch will be made available to other youth organizations to schedule outdoor activities as part of their programs. Other youth organizations include summer youth camps, schools, community clubs, and church youth groups.