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 services to our community in 2021. Since the beginning, in 1987, Smart has provided therapeutic programs to over 6,000 individuals, resulting in over 55,000 lessons. Throughout these past 35+ years, Smart has been a mostly volunteer organization. 2. Serving over 100 individuals in our community during 2023, Smart's hardworking volunteers and staff donated 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. Serving local veterans and their families by providing a variety of programs. In 2014, Smart launched their veterans program. The veterans program equine assisted learning activities mainly focus on leadership, team building, and physical and emotional well-being. Smart has provided these programs to over 600 veterans and family members since inception.