- Hands & Hearts for Horses offers therapeutic horseback riding for people with disabilities.
- They are in need of more volunteers.
- We ride along with one client in the video above.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
"I've been loving horses all my life," said Luke Simpson.
A therapeutic riding service is making an impact on people like Luke Simpson in South Georgia. They're called Hands and Hearts for Horses.
The non-profits offer services for people with disabilities. The goal—to give people, starting as young as 4 years old, the opportunity to be empowered and grow their confidence.
"I love riding them and taking care of them," said Simpson.
Simpson, has been riding at Hands and Hearts for Horses since he was 4. He has congenital absence of the corpus callosum. A defect where a part of the brain doesn't develop at a common rate.
Hands & Hearts see on average 100 clients a week. Now they need volunteers to help.
"All of our services are very individually based because of the broad spectrum of we serve. So, because of that we have very leveled support in each lesson," said Susie Chin, Executive Director at Hands and Hearts for Horses.
Susie Chin is a self-proclaimed horse lover and has worked with the non-profit for over 10 years.
Chin says what keeps her coming back is seeing the difference the horses make in people's lives.
"When you see that tangible change in that person when they get on a horse or find that horse— it doesn't complete them, but it really truly completes them and gives them a whole new look on life," said Chin.
Chin says as clients grow horseback riding isn't always the best option for students. To keep providing services for all Hands & Hearts plans to add carriage driving to their program so students can stay involved for as long as they want.
"I'll work until I die, honey," said Simpson.
Hands and Hearts will also partner with Tree-house Advocacy Center and host a fundraiser on October 14th.
