Paws For Reflection Ranch

We offer individual and group Therapeutic Horseback Riding Lessons and individual and group Therapeutic Horsemanship Group Therapies Monday through Friday year around. We provided approximately 20,000 therapeutic riding sessions for 127 unique clients in 2024. Some clients have been riding weekly with us for 8+ years, while others may choose to ride weekly for a few months. We have 3 PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) Therapeutic Riding Instructors and 2 Therapeutic Riding Instructors working toward PATH certification. Typically once weekly, lessons may be 30 minutes or 60 minutes in length, individual or group. Clients, ages 4 to adult, include those with special needs, ie. Autism, Down syndrome, physical limitations, and mental health challenges. We also offer riding for Veterans. Riders progress weekly, some needing horse leaders and side walkers for safety, progressing to be more independent. During 60 minute lessons, the rider learns how to retrieve the horse from the pasture and tack up, with the help of volunteers and/or the instructor. Some riders participate in games and activities while riding, working on basic riding skills. Instructors tailor their lessons to help with skills being learned at home and at school. Riding sessions may be held in the covered arena, on the Sensory Trail which is specially designed for the rider to interact with most senses, and on the other Nature Trails. Our herd of 16 horses provides the necessary variety of horse sizes and shapes to match to the rider's abilities. The rider may change to other horses as their riding abilities progress. We continue to partner with Hope Kids of NE Texas for weekly riding and events. This organization offers events and activities for families who have a child with a potentially terminal illness. We offer one hour of weekly riding for their group who sign up on a first come, first serve basis. Our Therapeutic Horsemanship Programs for individuals and groups served 40 clients in 2024. Expenses for the therapeutic riding and horsemanship program include Independent Contractor fees and supply expenses. Horse expenses have not been included in the expenses.

Our third largest program expense would be the cost of feeding, training, and healthcare of our therapy animal partners. There are 16 full size horses, 2 miniature horses, 2 miniature donkeys, 2 miniature pot bellied pigs, 3 goats, 4 rabbits, 3 chinchillas, 2 hedgehogs, 1 ferret, 2 dogs, 3 cats and 1 Russian tortoise. All of our programs and services incorporate the utilization of these therapy animals. Our animal partners are such an important part of our services and help us to realize amazing results and outcomes for our clients. They provide the unconditional love, focus or distraction needed at just the right time to complement the work of our professional counseling and therapist team. Clients young and old enjoy relationships with our therapy animals that creates a calming and relaxing environment for healing. Compared to traditional counseling in a traditional office setting, many children and adults are eager to return and hate to leave the peaceful ranch setting. No revenue is included in this section because it is including in the above Counseling and Therapeutic Riding and Horsemanship Service Accomplishments.

Grant scholarships awarded.

Volunteering and Educational Programs - Volunteers are certainly a blessing to the ranch but this comes with expenses of course. The majority of the expense is to the part-time contract position of Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator. in 2024 we had 230 volunteers that were given tours, trained, placed into appropriate jobs and scheduled. This position also represents the ranch at marketing and outreach events to recruit new volunteers and market our services to citizens and organizations. Expenses are limited to direct supplies and Independent Contractor fees. $1,500 of this expense is for Volunteer Appreciation, t-shirts, snacks, beverages.

Community Service Events - In lieu of advertising, we choose to be active within the community, both hosting and participating in public events. We host three free events for the community annually: Santa at the Ranch, Easter at the Ranch, both for Families with Special Needs. We also host our annual Ranch Riders Horse Show where our riding clients can show off their riding skills to family and friends. Santa at the Ranch 2024 had ___ guests. We had ___ guests for Easter at the Ranch and ___ guests for the Ranch Riders Horse Show. We solicit donations of door prizes, game prizes, refreshments, and craft supplies for Santa at the Ranch. We request donations of toy filled Easter eggs, refreshments, and door prizes for Easter at the Ranch. The majority of this expense is to provide riders and staff with Horse Show Event T-shirts. Refreshments and horse show equipment make up the remaining expense. We have been holding these events for more than 15 years, growing each year. Special needs families enjoy our events as they know they are welcome and will not be judged. The Ranch is a safe environment for them to interact with their special needs loved ones, enjoying a family event like those families not having a special needs child do. There is plenty of outdoor space to provide a private area in which to recover from melt-downs, have quiet time, and to help their child enjoy the day. In 2020, due to Covid, we redefined our Easter and Santa at the Ranch Community Events into Drive-Thru events with 15 stations for cars to stop at and children would receive arts and crafts, refreshments, treats, and filled Easter Eggs from volunteers with masks and grabbers to maintain social distancing. One car and family at a time they could get out of their cars and take a photo with Santa or the Easter Bunny. We hosted approximately 50 cars and 150 children at each event. In a normal year, we host holiday events for groups such as the Bikers Against Child Abuse. They do not pay to use the facility and interact with the animals, but do bring along their own supplies. The Ranch is also a site for other support groups such as Families with Sturge Weber Syndrome, providing a central place for these families to meet and visit with one another. Visitors come from all over Texas and even other states to participate in these group activities. Another group for whom we host two annual family days is Hope Kids of NE Texas. The Ranch provides a setting where both parents can enjoy the day, benefiting from a reprieve of daily duties. Guests can compare resources and learn from each other. This is also an opportunity for the families to research the Ranch services and see what therapies interest them and are the most beneficial.