Equine Education & Intervention

Green Chimneys operates a superior Equine Education and Intervention program comprised of equine-facilitated learning, therapeutic riding, horsemanship training, vocational training, and unmounted activities. In the program, children learn how to care for horses, donkeys and ponies, and to manage their own behavior and emotions to benefit their relationship with the animals.

Program activities also involve Institute Interns who participate in carefully guided interactions, helping students to develop riding and stable management skills that enhance social, emotional, physical and academic growth beyond the horse barn.

Green Chimneys is a Premier Accredited Center of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH), and lead staff holds PATH Master Instructor Certification, EAGALA Certification, Centered Riding Instructor status, and equine sport massage certification.

5 major components of the Green Chimneys Equine Education Program:

  1. Equine Facilitated Learning offers the opportunity for our children to learn about themselves through the interaction and relationship with people, horses and the barn environment. This learning can happen in a stall, in a pasture, on the trail or as the child grooms a pony, leads a miniature horse, it or participates in feeding chores. All students participate in the equine program, with extra time for those who have a special affinity for the horses.
  2. Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy is provided by credentialed mental health professionals who also are trained to work with horses. Strategic treatment goals for equine interactions can address self-awareness, maladaptive behavior, feelings and attitudes, peer and adult relationships, and mood. The equine becomes an active partner in this interaction, eliciting responses, feelings and behaviors from the child that are observed, evaluated and processed by the therapist.
  3. Draft Horses are utilized for carriage driving, a fast-growing sport that offers students with psychological, sensory, or emotional conditions the rewards of interaction with and control of a horse or pony while driving a carriage or wagon seat. The sport is particularly suited to children who are unable to ride a horse or pony due to weight, balance, fatigue, fear of heights, the inability to sit astride, or other issues. Therapeutic driving builds knowledge of safety, horses, harnessing, and driving skills to children using teamwork. Carriage driving is a group activity.
  4. Equine Sport through the Green Chimneys Equine Program provides challenging, hands-on sport activities to children who have experienced crisis in their lives by teaching them how to ride, direct and train a horse. Children who have been unsuccessful socially or academically throughout their young lives learn to experience themselves as successful riders in the supportive surroundings of a riding program. Guided interactions help children develop riding skills, which enhance social, emotional, physical and academic growth. As they become more proficient, the child can experience feeling successful in a challenging skill, often for the first time in their young lives. Campus and regional horse shows and participation in drill teams are popular components of the program.
  5. Barn Management teaches children horse barn duties such as cleaning stalls. Children also are involved in equine recordkeeping, helping to make financial and management and learning every aspect of operating an equine center. This vocational training builds and enhances organizational skills and allows children to recognize their potential in the workplace. For some children the barn management experience motivates them to strive even harder academically, while for others it may pave the way for a career in the equine industry.