From Our Trailer to Tack Room – Help us grow!

Freedom Reins Therapeutic Riding Center is the only therapeutic horsemanship program in the greater Monadnock region.  Our mission is to provide an inclusive and welcoming environment for equine-assisted activities and therapies to empower individuals with a vast range of needs.  The program is dedicated to using the power of horses, teams, and communities to improve the lives of all ages, means, and challenges through the experience and extraordinary benefits of therapeutic riding and activities.  These challenges include behavioral, social, emotional, cognitive, and physical challenges.  All therapeutic horsemanship lessons are taught by PATH, Intl certified instructors or instructors in training.

Since our launch in 2022, we have operated three seasons of the year in an outdoor arena, serving over 100 participants. Our program experienced a growth of 24% from year 1 to year 2.  We expect to see the same growth, if not more in year 3.

We believe in the power of teams and communities to bring positive change.  In 2023, we traveled to 12 different community events in the greater Keene, NH area, including visits to Cedarcrest, a specialized pediatric medical facility and school, and American House, a retirement and assisted living facility for seniors.  Our program is unique in that most therapeutic horsemanship programs do not transport the horses out for riding or community outreach purposes.

Operating with just an outdoor arena, we have used our horse trailer to hold our program tack and equipment, as well as lesson items.  The tack room on the trailer is small, with only 3 saddle racks and a limited space for other tack including girths, saddle pads, bridles, and reins.  These photos were taken when we just needed equipment for 3 horses as we traveled to an event…

During our lesson months, we commonly have 3-4 saddles in here, 4-5 bridles, at least 4 saddle pads, and a mix of griths and reins.  Tack is frequently exchanged between lessons as the same horses are not always used in back-to-back lessons.  This requires the instructor and volunteers to move a lot of equipment in and out of this small space.  We also use the back of the trailer to hold all our excess equipment and games.  When we travel during our lesson months, most of the program equipment needs to be removed and stored.

Pictured above is most of the program inventory that will be stored in the shed as well and freeing up the space it is currently taking up.  The big armoire is “Belle’s Closet” which was created in memory of our beloved Belle who passed away in 2022.  Inside we have donated riding clothing and boots for participants to use as necessary, free of charge.

A shed approximately 12’ x 20’ would become Freedom Reins’ tack room and a small office for the program.  This shed would be insulated, plus have electricity and windows, allowing for a temperature-controlled environment for safe housing of all our program materials. The shed will be moveable so in the future it can be transported to the final location of the program.  The biggest benefit from building this shed would free up our trailer to travel to more community events and reach more participants.

General shed layout

Support our campaign today to help us improve the lives of all ages, means, and challenges through the experience and extraordinary benefits of therapeutic riding and activities!