Sarasota Manatee Association For Riding Therapy Inc (SMART)

2021-2022 Goals:
1. Secure funding and support to remain open to provide services to our community.
2. Continue with the expansion of services and programs to serve our community and increase revenue streams.
3. Continue with the development of a broad base of financial support.
4. Continue with the development of our Board of Directors.

Long Term Goal
1. Secure funding to pay off our mortgage so all annual revenue can go toward providing services.

SMART has a two year Strategic Plan (2021-2023) which includes 1. Governance goals: Strengthen board diversity to represent and carry out our organization's needs, mission, clients and strategic vision. 2. Programming goals: Emphasize the quality and effectiveness of SMART programs; retain PATH Premier certification, expand program offerings to address additional community needs. 3. Financial goals: Ensure adequate revenue streams to pay off SMART mortgage, ensure financial transparency and fiscal responsibility. 4. Partnership and collaboration goals: Strengthen and extend SMART's partnerships and collaborative efforts by maintaining existing relationships, and identifying corporations and civic organizations to establish new partnerships. 5. Staffing and human resources goals: Expand the “human" side of SMART through recruiting/retaining volunteers; hiring additional instructor(s).
Milestones and measurements are assigned and tracked to ensure ownership, responsibility and follow through. The top five strengths of the organization include:
1. Beautiful, peaceful facility
2. Organizational commitment of staff, board and volunteers
3. Efficiency - low administrative and fundraising costs: < 4%
4. Community need
5. Measurable and meaningful program outcomes - Results First model

SMART has a beautiful, peaceful 23 acre equestrian facility that is designed to provide the very best in safe and effecitive equine assisted activities. With 14 therapy horses and a totally accessible facility, SMART can efficiently and safely serve over 600 individuals with disabilities each year. The staff at SMART is made up of a group of dedicated, caring and well-trained volunteers and 3 employees (Executive Director, Administrative Assistant and Barn Manager.) SMART is a mostly volunteer powered program. All of the therapeutic riding instructors are certified by PATH Int'l and are well-versed in working with the special needs of all of the participants. They provide their services to SMART as volunteers and complete 20-30 continuing educations hours each year. All have 10-15 years of experience working with children and adults with disabilities in the Therapeutic Riding setting. The staff ensures that all program volunteers (50-75 weekly) go through a volunteer orientation and training/mentoring program. New volunteers are trained by staff in basic horse handling and horse behavior as well as general guidelines for respectful and effective methods of working with children and adults with special needs.
All of the members of the Board of Directors are successful professionals from the business community and come from varied professions (investment advisors, banking, law, marketing, business owners, retired professionals, insurance industry, parents of children with disabilities, equine industry professionals, etc.) All directors are required to contribute financially to SMART as well as become active and committed to making a positive difference in the lives of the SMART participants and their families.

• Celebrating 34 years of service to our community in 2021! Since its beginning in 1987, SMART has provided 48,993 therapeutic riding lessons and program services to 6,085 individuals. Throughout its 34 years, SMART has been a mostly volunteer powered organization, as well!

• Serving 280 individuals in our community in 2020, SMART's committed and hardworking volunteers and volunteer staff logged in over 14,000 hours!

• Maintaining our status as a Premier Accredited Center of the Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship, Int’l. SMART is the only therapeutic riding center in Manatee and Sarasota counties with this accreditation.

• Providing SMART’s Horse Sense Literacy Program to local school children since 2010. Created for children in grades 3-5, the program is based on the sharing of a book that was written about one of our blind therapy horses: Magic, One SMART Horse, by Jody Lynn McBrien. This unique program encourages the development of reading, social sciences and language arts skills. It also encourages the development of empathy, compassion, respect and trust through hands-on experiences with our horses. This program has touched the lives of 97 children in 2020 and inspired 809 children, since inception, to read and learn about Magic’s life.


• Serving a total of 3487 local veterans since 2009 by providing a variety of programs for veterans and their family members. In 2014, we launched our Warriors In Transition program, providing day workshops for veterans from Bay Pines VA Healthcare System. The WIT program’s equine assisted learning activities focus on leadership, team building, and physical and emotional well-being. SMART has provided this free program for 13 veterans and their families in 2020 and 500 since 2014.

• Partnering with Selah Freedom since 2013 to provide an equine assisted learning program for women in the process of transitioning out of the human trafficking industry. In 2020, 10 women participated and 82 women have participated since inception.

• Partnering with Beyond the Spectrum Educational Center since 2014 to provide a weekly day program which includes riding therapy and equine assisted learning activities to students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. In 2020, 24 children from BTS participated and 317 children have participated in this program since inception.


• Partnering with The Mark Wandall Foundation to provide an equine assisted learning program for children, teens and their caregivers in grief. In 2020, 34 children participated and 193 individuals have participated in this program since inception.

• Providing a successful annual signature event that, for the past 6 years, has netted over $407,000 for SMART’s programs and projects.