Volunteers are the back bone of our program. Without them we wouldn’t exist. The various jobs that our volunteers do are numerous, but most common are: gathering the horses from the field, grooming, saddling, leading, facilitating exercises, skills lessons and games, unsaddling, putting the horses up and just interacting positively with our athletes. We have riders who are completely independent. During their sessions most of the time helpers mount up and do the activities with them. many of them learn my watching and doing. After warm-ups and skills we usually take a trail ride with them. Occasionally, if a participant has trouble sitting independently, we need a volunteer who is comfortable mounted behind a rider. It’s called back-riding. We also have other events like bar-b-ques, bon fires, work days, annual Special Olympics games as well as play-day competitions and fund raisers. When you come you will receive a copy of our volunteer manual which delineates all aspects of volunteering. Or you can download it from this site.
Weather permitting, we ride nearly every day of the week. During the school year sessions are after school from about 4:00-6:00, and on Saturdays from about 9:30 - 2:00. During summer vacations the riders whose families’ schedule permits prefer to ride in the morning. All of our riders are unique but we try to group them with other riders with similar goals. If you are not familiar with various types of disabilities, that’s okay. We will provide you with all the information you need in order to work with the riders effectively. As far as equestrian skills, we’ve had volunteers come out who have never met a horse in person and others who know a lot about them. We just appreciate a willingness to help others and to learn.
Weather permitting, we ride nearly every day of the week. During the school year sessions are after school from about 4:00-6:00, and on Saturdays from about 9:30 - 2:00. During summer vacations the riders whose families’ schedule permits prefer to ride in the morning. All of our riders are unique but we try to group them with other riders with similar goals. If you are not familiar with various types of disabilities, that’s okay. We will provide you with all the information you need in order to work with the riders effectively. As far as equestrian skills, we’ve had volunteers come out who have never met a horse in person and others who know a lot about them. We just appreciate a willingness to help others and to learn.
Volunteering
Alamo City Gypsies M/C
Gordon Hartman Family Foundation
Thank you to our Sponsors
These guys are the heroes of Equessense. They do so much for us that the space here couldn’t do it justice. Suffice it to say that Equessense wouldn’t be here but for the help of the Alamo City Gypsies M/C. They sponsor a lot of therapy sessions given to riders for whose families riding would be cost-prohibitive. In order to do this they conduct a huge fund raiser called the St. Valentines Day Massacre each February around Valentines Day. It involves so much work and planning they spend about half the year putting it together. Then they give away all their profit to support therapeutic riding.
This is a marvelous foundation that does so much for people who have special needs in the San Antonio area. They were kind enough to award a $5,000.00 grant to Equessense in 2009. This was so helpful and was responsible for providing a lot of happy rides to some exceptional individuals. The funds went a long way toward improvements and maintenance. They also were thoughtful enough to refer us to a horse donor who gave us three great horses. Thank you Gordon Hartman Family Foundation.
Sponsorship Donors
In Kind Donors
Experiential riding is so important that Equessense philosophy is that it should be available to any and everybody who could benefit from this amazing therapeutic intervention. Many riders who would benefit the most from equestrian therapy are not financially able to afford it. Thankfully there are many wonderful, generous people and organizations that step up and give of themselves and their resources to help keep these folks in the saddle. Thank you so much for the joy and happiness you have given to these recipients. Their lives have been forever changed due to your altruism.
Mr. John Hild, Hild Brother’s Feed, Marion, TX.
Mrs. Yvonne Martinez, San Antonio, TX.
Dr. Ronnie Lee, New Berlin Animal Hospital, New Berlin, TX.
Ms. Barbie Todd
Victor and Buster Garza of Vic’s Arena, Marion, TX.
The Lynn Rodgers Family
Mrs. Yvonne Martinez, San Antonio, TX.
Dr. Ronnie Lee, New Berlin Animal Hospital, New Berlin, TX.
Ms. Barbie Todd
Victor and Buster Garza of Vic’s Arena, Marion, TX.
The Lynn Rodgers Family
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Volunteer Waiver
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Here
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Volunteer Manual
Here
Here
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Therapeutic
Horse Play
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Equessense
