Triple Mountain is pleased to announce that starting this week, the beneficiary for our 1% to charity pledge is Riding To The Top Therapeutic Riding Center in Windham, Maine. Riding To The Top (RTT) provides equine-assisted services and serves clients from over 45 cities and towns in Maine and New Hampshire. Services include therapeutic riding, therapeutic carriage driving, unmounted/ground lessons, and physical and occupational therapy utilizing equine movement.
We were impressed with RTT’s commitment to their horses, clients, and to transparency in their organization. They have earned both the Guidestar Platinum Award and Equus Foundation Guardian Award for transparency in horse care, facilities management, budget allocation, employee certification, and more.
Riding To The Top currently has 15 horses participating in their programs, and they are superbly cared for, both physically and mentally. Horses are constantly evaluated for health and behavior, given suitable days off and opportunities for mental stimulation. Most horses are on turn-out in herd settings 24/7 for their mental health, and brought in during inclement weather, for training, etc. They are monitored by all instructors and employees, with any deviation in health or behavior noted and watched to catch any issues early. Veterinary care is supplemented with acupuncture, chiropractic, Reiki, and massage to ensure the horses are well and enjoying their jobs. These are well-cared for equines!
RTT typically serves over 250 people ranging from 3-85+ years in age. They serve people with a wide variety of diagnoses, including (but not limited to) cerebral palsy, brain injury, autism, learning disabilities, MS, PTSD, depression, anxiety, ADHD, and Down Syndrome. Each gets a specially tailored program to help achieve goals based on their individual needs. This could involve riding to improve balance and body awareness through mirroring the horse’s movements; unmounted programs teaching social interaction, empathy, and leadership; or driving - improving physical strength, coordination, and cognitive skills.
Each of RTT’s eight program instructors have impressive backgrounds. All are PATH certified instructors and many also come from an educational or behavioral-services background. Most are horse owners as well.
RTT receives no municipal, state or federal funding. They charge a small fee for their services and the remainder of their funding (75% of their operating costs) come from donations. We are proud to support this incredible non-proift that’s making such a difference in the lives of so many people and horses. To jump-start our donation to their program, Triple Mountain will be donating 10% of total sales to Riding To The Top from Giving Tuesday, November 30, through the end of this week, and then we’ll continue to support them as our 1% Pledge recipient.
You can follow along with our total raised for Riding To The Top in real time by viewing the banner at the bottom of our homepage.
1 comment
That is awesome! I love it! This place sounds a heck of a lot like the therapeutic riding program that I am extremely involved with, just a bit bigger. It’s a lot of work to keep these places running, but it’s so worth it. Thank you for supporting them!