Equestrian Bridges – Rogers, AR
At Equestrian Bridges, the goal is to use equine therapy as a bridge to move struggling children from being disconnected and not engaged, to becoming confident and self-reliant. They help them improve the quality of their lives by promoting healthy relationships and developing social skills.
Erin Tremain from Equestrian Bridges shares the different focuses of their programs. She says that those who participate “in our Dream Catcher Program develop essential social skills while those participating in our Ride to Grow Program develop academic and adaptive behavior skills. Participants in the Reigns and Trailblazer programs learn essential coping skills when addressing mental health conditions.”
Jessica Tubbs shared how much Equestrian Bridges helps her son improve in his speech and focus. She said that at Equestrian Bridges, “Everybody is so encouraging, and any little word he says, everybody hears it, everybody is very in tune to him and all the other kids that are present.”
The programs at Equestrian Bridges have helped clients develop verbal and alternative communication skills, reduce self-harm behaviors, and develop social skills, confidence, coping skills, and independence. Their programs are based on research related to children with non-communicative behavior. This focus has helped them improve the lives of countless children and families and give them hope for the future.
Natalie is just one of the many success stories. She has been with Equestrian Bridges for five years. When she first started, she was struggling socially – she was unresponsive and didn’t know how to be part of a group. Her mom, Kerrie Petitt, liked that the program at Equestrian Bridges focused on social skills. She shared, “this has been the only program that she has been in that has focused on social skills, which she desperately needed.”
Kerrie struggled to know how to teach her daughter basic people skills, and didn’t know what else do to. Natalie started the equine therapy program, and little by little, started improving. The horses caught her attention, she started caring about them and building strong bonds with them, especially her miniature therapy horse, Fibber.
The progress she made with her horse allowed her to make connections in social situations as well. Her mom now has hope that she will be able to succeed in the future as well. “I’m so grateful that Natalie had a chance to be a part of the program – it gives us hope that she will be able to have a normal life. That’s what we want. That’s what we hope for,” Kerrie shares.
How to Contact This Farm:
5920 S. Bellview Road, Rogers, AR 72758
(479) 301-2814
