Standing Ovation by Ovation Riding

This week’s honoree: Equest’s “Gift of the Horse” campaign.

Photo courtesy of Equest

Each week, Horse Nation teams up with Ovation Riding to spotlight an individual or organization doing good work in the horse world. Today, we’re recognizing Equest of Texas and its “Gift of the Horse” fundraising campaign.

Equest is a therapeutic riding center based in Wylie, Texas whose mission statement is “to enhance the quality of life for children and adults with diverse needs using horses to bring hope and healing through equine assisted activities and therapies.”

The program, founded in 1981, is the oldest therapeutic riding program in Texas and has now become the largest non-profit therapeutic riding program in the state as well. Equest serves children and adults with all types of physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities.

In addition to the facility in Wylie, Equest expanded in 2015 to the Texas Horse Park in Dallas, which expanded Equest’s outreach for children as well as veterans.

For the 2017 holiday season, Equest has developed the Gift of a Horse campaign, helping donors to visualize exactly how their donation helps Equest further its mission:

• $50 buys four bales of hay for Equest’s therapy horses.
• $100 pays entry fee for a therapeutic riding client to participate in a horse show
• $250 brings an Equine Facilitated Learning program and mini horses to a local school or library
• $500 covers class fees for one rider for one semester
• $1,000 provides a semester of counseling for a veteran or their family member – help Equest Hooves for Heroes continue to offer veteran services at no charge to the individual.
• $2,500 covers six month of care for a therapy horse – Equest’s most valuable asset
• $5,000 sponsors the care of a therapy horse for a year – Equest’s most valuable asset

If you’d like to make a donation, visit Equest’s website to learn more. You can also follow Equest on Facebook for more updates.

Many thanks thanks to Ovation Riding for their support of both Horse Nation and individuals and organizations that are doing good work in the horse world. If you know someone who deserves a Standing Ovation, we would love to recognize them in a future post. Email the name of the person or organization along with a message about the good work they do to [email protected]. Photos/videos are always welcome, and include a link to their website if applicable.