Sarasota-Manatee Association for Riding Therapy

Smart provides the benefits of therapeutic Riding and equine assisted activities to eligible individuals. We serve individuals who have any type of physical, emotional or cognitive disability including: cerebral palsy, develolpmentat disabilities, down syndrome, developmental delays, autism, epilepsy, speech impairments, blindness, attention deficit disorder, head trauma, stroke, learning disabilities, post-traumatic stress disorder, physical impairments, etc. Individuals must at least four years of age and there is no maximum age. All of the horsemanship skills that are developed during our therapeutic horse related programs provide the participant with the opportunity to increase physical strangth and stamina, improve balance andcoordination, improve general health and achieve a sense of well-being, a respectful and affectionate connection to the horse is encouraged and fostered and teamwork is promoted between the rider and their horse. Independence is promoted and multi-task learning is encouraged, helping each individual with a disability to achieve daily living skills, with the special needs of our participants in mind, and creative caring on the part of our instructors and volunteers, we use the movement of the horse, the connection to the horse and the natural enviroment, to help the body, mind and spirit of every Smart rider. Smart accomplishments 1. Celebrating 35 years of service to our community in 2021, since its beginning in 1987, Smart has provided 55,232 theraputic lessons and program services to 6,486 individuals. Throughout its 35 years, Smart has been a mostly volunteer powered organization. 2. Serving 122 individuals in our community in 2021, Smart's committed and hardworking volunteers and volunteer staff logged over 15,000 hours 3. Maintaining our status as a premier accredited center of the professional association for theraputic horsemanship, int'l. Smart is the only therapeutic center in manatee and sarasota counties with this accreditation. 4. Providing Smart's literacy program to local school children since 2010, created for children in grades 3-5, the program is based on the sharing of a book that was written about one of our blind Therapy horses: magic, one Smart horse, by jody lynn mcbrein. This unique program encourages the development of reading, social sciences and language arts skills. It also encourages the development of empathy, compassion, respect and trust through hands-on experiences with our horses. This program has touched the lives of numerous children and inspired 809 children, since inception, to read and learn about magic's life. 5. Serving a total of 600 local veterans since 2009 by providing a variety of programs for veterans and their family members. In 2014, we launched our veterans program, providing day workshops for veterans from bay pines va healthcare system. The veteran program's equine assisted learning activities focus on leadership, team building and physical and emotional well-being Smart has provided this program for 13 veterans and theirfamilies in 2021 and 600 since 2014. 6. Partnering with selah freedom since 2013 to provide and equine assisted learning program for women in the process of transitioning out of the human trafficking industry, in 2021, 5 women participated and 87 women have participated in this program since inception. 7. Partnering with beyond the spectrum educational center since 2014 to provide a weekly day program which includes Riding Therapy and equine assisted learning acticities to students with autism spectrum disorder. In 2020, 24 children from bts participated and 317 children have participated in this program since inception. 8. Partnering with mark wandall foundation since 2017 to provide an equine assisted learning program for children, teens and their caregivers in greif, in 2020, 34 children participated and 193 individuals have participated in this program since inception. 9. Partnering with kristen bohan, otr/l since 2016 tp provide a hippotherapy for 15 children. 10. Providing a successful annual signature event that, for the past 6 years has netted over 387,000 for Smart's programs and projects.