If you were asked to imagine a horse in a therapeutic riding program, you would not think of Arnie, a seventeen hand Irish Sport Horse. He is in the prime of his life at 16 and his resume includes being shown by two Olympic athletes.

What makes Arnie special is simple-he is kind and patient, and able to form deep bonds with his riders and handlers. These are the qualities that have endeared him to everyone at the Great Oak. Arnie has been living and working there for two years and has proven to be the perfect therapy horse.

He started his life in Ireland as an event horse and was imported by Augie Vettorino. He was tall and attractive, but not as rideable as Augie had hoped. Augie sent him to Olympic gold medalist, Phillip Dutton. In the spring of 2015, Dutton competed with him at the Novice level, then moved him up to Training that summer. After campaigning Arnie, Dutton asked Matthew Ulmer to continue his training. Matthew showed him but was convinced that eventing was not Arnie’s sport. Arnie then transitioned to the jumper ring, and was shown by Doug Payne, another Olympic and Pan Am Games team member.

Finally, Augie sent Arnie to Emily Smith, a young professional who competed with him at the Grand Prix level. “He was just a sweet horse,” she said but he was getting older, and it seemed he didn’t want to continue his jumping career.”

Emily knew about Great Oak, and she thought Arnie might be a good fit. “I was really hopeful that it would work out,” she said. “I wanted to be sure he went somewhere he would be loved.”

Great Oak accepted Arnie into their stable, where he found his next calling as the “perfect” therapy horse.

“Arnie is a miracle worker,” retired army sergeant Kinga Kiss-Johnson said. “I can connect to my trauma and begin to process it with him on my side. He also helps many others with disabilities, and I am just one veteran who started her new life with a horse by her side!”

“Over the years, Arnie has transformed the lives of many of our riders,” explains Great Oak volunteer, Kerry Rains. “His enthusiasm to work and innate understanding of each rider’s needs highlight his incredible impact on our program. With Arnie, every lesson becomes an opportunity for joy and progress; truly a testament to the healing power of horses.”

Bear is one of the most popular and reliable therapy horses in Special Equestrians’ herd. This handsome, hardworking Haflinger participates in a wide range of equine -assisted services and at 14.1-1/2 hands is the perfect height for the nearly 70% of riders that we serve under the age of 18. Throughout his 21-year career at our center, Bear has touched the lives of thousands of individuals diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Autism Spectrum Disorder, brain injury, PTSD, and more. He has also represented Special Equestrians at local events, worked with 25 community partners, and participated in over 10,000 lessons.

Bear is steady, gentle, affectionate, and always eager to please. Even as a youngster, this furry Buddha could be trusted to stand quietly in the ramp and move forward safely when asked. As he matured in the program, Bear became more confident and responsive to the needs of his rider. He learned to carry riders sitting frontwards, backwards, and sideways and safely stands still during all types of games. He ignores distractions and stays focused during every session, no matter what is going on around him.

Bear is typically the horse used for evaluations of new riders. Riders feel safe on him, which makes it easy to determine if therapeutic riding is indicated and appropriate for them.

In early 2024, Bear needed to have his right eye removed due to a deep, painful abscess. He adapted exceptionally well to monocular vision and quickly showed that he was eager to get back into lessons.

The impact that this remarkable Haflinger has had on the thousands of children and adults he has served is powerful and immense. One of our volunteers recently said: “I wish everyone had a Bear at their barn. Their lives would be so much better.”

Bettemarie Bond, a rider at Special Equestrians who has a form of muscular dystrophy called Mitochondrial Myopathy, explains her experience with Bear as life changing. “This past year, Bear helped transform my life; by helping me improve medically, physically, metabolically, and mentally! I can't express well enough how much of an impact Bear has had on my life.”

“I truly believe that the surgery to remove Bear’s right eye has made him an even better therapy horse, as clients recognize how he dealt with a challenging situation,” explained Kimberly Bleicher, a volunteer at Special Equestrians and gold sponsor of Bear. “It inspires them to continue to work hard and creates an even more special bond. Bear knows what his job is: to make all feel safe and loved.”

It is more than serendipitous that Buck arrived at Prancing Horse on February 14, 2023. The universe knew that it was going to take a lot of care and most importantly love for Buck to overcome years of mismanagement. Due to no fault of his own, the woman who was responsible for Buck had fallen on difficult times and was unable to provide the care he needed. Buck was presented to the team and the board and a unanimous decision was made to take a chance on this severely underweight and mistreated horse.

After months of rehabilitation and proper nourishment under the guidance of our veterinary team, Buck successfully gained the 400 pounds he needed to sustain himself and become a very valuable member of the herd at Prancing Horse. Buck soon became a farm favorite. Students and their families could recognize how his health was improving with each week when they came for their riding lesson. His coat grew healthy and his unique color and markings became eye - catching.After a year of good health and service to our students at Prancing Horse, the instructors and leaders noticed a change in his behavior and he was quickly diagnosed with and treated for gastric ulcers.

Buck's gift to Prancing Horse is not only his ability to hold and tolerate some of Prancing Horse's smallest riders. His contributions are much more valuable than that. Buck tells our riders, equine assisted learning students and veterans a story of resilience.His health and growth allows our instructors to demonstrate to their students the value of self-care, trust, and most importantly the value of acknowledging when we are weak and need help.Had it not been for the love and attention that Buck received he would not be with us today making a difference in the lives of our students.Prancing Horse has a new reason to celebrate Valentine's Day.

“Buck is a priceless teammate to the instructors, volunteers, riders, and families who depend on him,” said Kathy McGougan, Prancing Horse volunteer and board of directors' member. “It has been an absolute pleasure to watch Buck fulfill his destiny as a therapeutic riding horse here at Prancing Horse.”

Kara, the mother of a rider at Prancing Horse with a rare disability, recalls how riding Buck has helped her son. “I smile when I see my son give Buck a hug and his volunteers a high five at the end of his lesson because it proves to me that this is more than a horse, it has become a friend. Riding Buck has given our son an identity.”

Tigerlily has been a member of the Ride On herd at our Newbury Park location for over 5 years, providing riding lessons and therapy treatment to riders of all ages and disabilities. Our program horses are chosen carefully and must exhibit an exceptionally safe temperament, a seasoned training background and the capacity to work well with kids and adults of all abilities, both on and off the ground. Tigerlily exemplifies all of these qualities with ease, and her versatility within all aspects of our program- horse handling, riding lessons, events/shows, and therapy treatments- is unsurpassed.

Prior to her arrival at Ride On, Tigerlily was a jumper pony. Anyone who knows Tigerlily knows that she does not like to go anywhere fast, or very high off the ground- not an ideal quality for a jumper, but a wonderful quality for us! Her mellow, steady, quiet demeanor along with her short height is a great confidence booster for everyone from someone riding a pony for the very first time in their life, to our most advanced riders that need to strengthen their leg muscles. Her reliability is unmatched, and she holds a special place in countless riders’ hearts for being the pony that jump - started their love for horses, and riding. My most special memory with her was giving a lesson to a 5 year old boy with Autism who was nonverbal and had never ridden a horse before—his eyes lit up as soon as he sat on her back, and when asked to tell her to walk on he let out the loudest, clearest “Go!”, pointing toward the arena.His mom’s eyes filled up with tears as she explained to us that it was the first time he had ever spoken a word so clearly.

Horses like Tigerlily don’t come around often, and we are honored to have her as a member of our herd.

The Brody family joined Ride On in 2022, and Tigerlily was one of the first horses that now 12-year-old Lola Brody rode. “For a new rider, Tigerlily was the perfect introduction to horsemanship,” explained Lola’s mother. “Tiger’s calm demeanor and sweet personality instantly put our daughter (and us) at ease as she learned this new sport. Over the years, we have watched our daughter thrive both as a rider and a person with Tigerlily by her side.”

“Tigerlily has a spunky personality, and I must admit, at first, I was a bit frustrated by her. Yet, over the years, she taught me important lessons like perseverance and patience,” said volunteer Luciana Liebscher. “I would never be the rider I am today if it weren’t for Tigerlily.”