Strides Equestrian Therapeutic Center

10/18/2026

10/15/2026

A busy week filled with moments worth capturing! 📸🫶

10/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BXRzBP2Wn/?mibextid=wwXIfr

If you’re looking for resources for mental health or substance use challenges, help is available.

🧡 Help yourself & share to help others: samhsa.gov/find-help

10/07/2026

🐴 Welcome to the Strides Team, Lula!

Connection is at the heart of everything we do—and that includes the relationship we build with our horses. 💛

Hi, I’m Lula! I’m so excited to be part of the connection and conditioning team at Strides Equestrian Therapeutic Center!

I’ve always loved animals, especially horses. I have been riding for over seven years and training for two. I love helping horses build confidence, find their balance, and establish strong connections. I have three personal horses who I compete on, practice new techniques, and simply enjoy.

I’m so excited and thankful for the opportunity to work with the horses at Strides and I’m looking forward to learning new things and refining my ideas!

10/06/2026

🌿 Want experience working that matters beyond four walls?

Help individuals build confidence, independence, and practical skills—right where life happens.

Strides Equestrian Therapeutic Center is expanding our provider network and seeking Skill Development Providers to support individualized goals such as:

• Emotional regulation and coping skills
• Communication and healthy relationships
• Daily routines and independent living skills
• Problem-solving, confidence, and community participation

This opportunity may be a great fit for individuals with experience in education, human services, behavioral health, social work, caregiving, or community-based support.

Ready to make a real-life impact?

Learn more and apply online:
https://stridescenter.com/provider-opportunities

09/30/2026

My first thought 💭 Charlotte’s Web… what’s yours?

Creativity, connection, enjoyment and regulation at Strides! 🎨

Our provider used art activities to give clients space to explore ideas and build confidence. We love seeing each person’s creativity shine—one drawing at a time! 🐷🐮

09/22/2026

Playfulness matters. 🐴💛

Sessions don’t always have to feel serious to be meaningful.

Playfulness can create space for curiosity, connection, creativity, and learning. With horses, those lighthearted moments may look like a horse investigating what we’re doing, making us laugh, trying something unexpected, or simply enjoying being together.

Those moments can give us opportunities to slow down, notice what is happening, respond instead of react, try something new, and experience connection without the pressure of getting everything “right.”

Sometimes growth happens through deep conversations.

And sometimes it happens through laughter, curiosity, and a horse sticking their nose right into your picture. 😂🐴

There is value in making room for play.

09/13/2026

🇺🇸 Strength Through Connection 🇺🇸

What a special day spent with an incredible group of women veterans. ❤️🤍💙

Our Women Veterans Wellness Retreat was a day to slow down, connect, create, laugh, learn, and simply be present.

Through our time with the horses, we explored communication, body language, making requests, and something that became an important theme throughout the day—recognizing when we become more focused on completing the task than staying connected.

The horses gave us opportunities to notice those moments, slow down, adjust, and reconnect. We carried that into our liberty work in the round pen, where the focus wasn’t simply “Can I get the horse to do this?” but “Can I make a request, listen to the response, and stay connected through the process?” 🐴❤️

We also spent our time together with creativity and connection through Art Wellness. Thank you to Jamie, for facilitating this wonderful project!🎨

A heartfelt thank you to The Highground for collaborating with us and to Freedom Ranch Inc. for funding this experience for our veterans.

We are also incredibly grateful to our Freedom Ranch sponsors:

Strides Equestrian Therapeutic Center • Ike’s Good To Go • Forward Bank • Hanson Masonry & Concrete LLC • WSHC Equine Foundation • A&W • Flagship Pontoons • JBC Screening • Custom Heating & Cooling • 715 Excavating • Land O’Lakes • Hixwood • Next Step Prosthetics

Most importantly, thank you to the women veterans who joined us and thank you for your service. 🇺🇸❤️

Sometimes the task gives us something to accomplish, but the connection is what matters. 🐴

09/09/2026

🐴 Slowing Down. Showing Up. Building Connection.

We loved welcoming the Youth Rural Service Trip from Nazareth Lutheran Church to Strides for a hands-on experience exploring our mission and vision.

But this wasn’t just about learning about horses.

It was an opportunity to slow down and notice what happens when we become more intentional about how we show up—in our communication, our relationships, and our everyday interactions.

Through time with the horses, the group explored ideas like trust, consistency, boundaries, connection, and follow-through. Instead of simply talking about these concepts, they had an opportunity to experience them and think about how they apply to relationships with other people.

There is a faith connection here, too.

So much of serving others begins with being willing to slow down enough to truly notice the person in front of us. To listen. To be present. To follow through. And sometimes, simply to walk alongside someone.

We are grateful to Nazareth Lutheran Church for spending time with us and being willing to learn, participate, ask questions, and experience a little of what makes the work at Strides so meaningful.

Because sometimes making a difference doesn’t begin with doing more.

Sometimes it begins with slowing down enough to connect. 🤍