About Sunshine Ranch
“Together We Shine Brighter.”
At Sunshine Ranch Therapeutic Riding, our ultimate goal and Mission Statement is this: “To provide accessible, high-quality instruction in therapeutic horsemanship to improve the physical, cognitive, and social abilities of children and adults with special needs.”
We have been serving our students (ages 3+) in individualized, goal-based riding and horsemanship lessons since April 2012.
Our founder, Stephanie Tutschulte, is certified by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International as a therapeutic horseback riding instructor, and Sunshine Ranch is a PATH Intl. Center Member. We have 5 therapy horses in our program and our riding lessons are made possible by our dedicated, hard-working volunteers.
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Sunshine Horses
Ricky
Chance
Jazz
Crystal
Bella
Therapeutic Riding & Horsemanship Lessons
Sunshine Ranch utilizes equine-assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) to help our students with special needs reach their riding & life goals. Riding a horse at the walk moves the rider’s body as if they are walking on their own. Riding horses helps stretch & strengthen muscles, improves body awareness & proprioception, increases balance, stimulates function of internal organs, supplies sensory input for neurological activity, and so much more. Plus it’s FUN!
Our students enjoy their lessons so much that they don’t realize how hard they are actually working. Our therapeutic riding and horsemanship lessons have helped our students achieve goals such as walking independently, improving emotion regulation, increasing speech ability, gaining physical strength and confidence, improving social & communication skills, gaining job skills, raising overall awareness, and so much more.
We rely heavily on our volunteers to care for the horses, assist students during their lessons, and help with the many chores that go along with working at a ranch or barn. If you would like to volunteer with Sunshine Ranch, please fill out the volunteer application and send us an email at sunshineranchriding@gmail.com or message us on our Contact Page.