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WHAT RAINHORSE DOES
We offer equine-assisted activities and therapies and bring the remarkable healing help of horses to people from all walks of life.
Our services include:
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Equine-assisted counseling
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Equine-assisted learning
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Hippotherapy
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Therapeutic riding
PROGRAMS
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse is a short-term crisis intervention program located in Worland, WY, and operated by Cloud Peak Counseling, also in Worland. It is a residential program where clients may stay for up to 30 days. Accompanied by Lighthouse staff and licensed mental health professionals from CPCC, Clients come to the Oxbow Ranch weekly for a two-hour session of equine-assisted counseling from May through Oct (weather permitting).
Horse Tales: Ponies & Poetry for Dementia Care
Each week, rain or shine, snow or wind, Rainhorse Equine Assisted Services brings two miniature horses to the Wyoming Retirement Center in Basin, WY. We pause in the parking lot to groom and put hooves in special boots so the ponies will not slip on the linoleum floor of the senior’s activity room. Once inside, these talented little equines inspire up to 15 senior residents to interact, tell stories from their past, and carry out simple activities involving both small and large motor skills, and cognitive functions such as short-term memory and word association. Studies have shown that the activity of recall can improve both memory and cognitive function in seniors. Using this recall, the participants write stories and poems!
Wyoming Veterans’ Warhorse
In 2014, we began a new program of equine-assisted learning for U.S. veterans. Hosted at Rainhorse’s headquarters, the Oxbow Ranch in South Big Horn County, this program offers veterans a chance to experience the calm and healing of both the horses and the ranch. Offered for a full day once a month during the “warm” months of May through October. Veterans hailing from all over Wyoming gather and learn about the traditions of Ray Hunt while visiting and sharing their thoughts and experiences. We break for lunch, and resume our interactive work with the horses in the afternoon, finishing up with a solitary, reflective activity where the participants practice “self-talk” by walking and talking to their horse partners. While we do not provide actual therapy in this program, we do offer veterans a rare and powerful opportunity to decompress, take a breath, and connect with their brothers and sisters in arms.
Graining The Mare
New in 2014, Rainhorse began offering a program for women called “Graining the Mare” which is also hosted at the Oxbow Ranch. This program is designed for women of all ages, from a variety of socio-economic groups. The women who participate in this program come from a wide range of needs, encompassed within all kinds of life events and/or transitions. Our Graining the Mare group follows a curriculum of groundwork, teamwork: activities designed to enhance connection between horse and human, which in turn regularly results in a sense of peace, and personal empowerment. Graining the Mare comes together for a half- day, once a month during the “warm” months of May through October.
The Art & Wisdom of the Horse: A One-Day Therapeutic Workshop for Cancer Survivors, Caregivers and Families
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.Gathering cancer survivors, caregivers and families together at the Oxbow Ranch for a day of equine-assisted therapy, journaling, and story-telling, these one-day workshops provide a welcome experience and the opportunity to make new friends, both horse and human.