Each year, Pennsylvania National Horse Show Foundation grant recipients have the opportunity to nominate one of their horses for a chance to be named the PNHS Foundation’s Therapy Horse of the Year. This year, that honor went to Harley of Right Foot Ranch in Lewsiberry, Pa.

In their nomination letter, here is what Right Foot Ranch had to say about this exceptional horse.

“When Harley stepped off the trailer at Right Foot Ranch, he carried more than scars. He carried the weight of 16 years without kindness. His lip was torn; his body was battered from life in a crowded pen and his eyes were void of light. The man who sold him offered a parting shot, ‘Good luck making a therapy horse out of this one!’

We didn’t see a lost cause. We saw a soul worth saving.

Harley came from a kill pen, but survival is not the same as living. He was rough around the edges, guarded and deeply disconnected. He would not take a treat from a hand, would not meet your gaze and had a bucking problem that made even seasoned riders wary. For over a year, he trusted no one.

So, we gave him time. Space. Patience. We did not demand trust— we earned it.

Through gentle communication and consistent choices, Harley began to understand that he had agency. That he was safe. That he mattered. Slowly, the light returned to his eyes. He started reaching out, accepting touch and eventually—miraculously— offering connection.

Today, Harley is our most trusted therapy horse. He has carried more than 1,000 riders, each one touched by his quiet strength and steady heart. Children with trauma, veterans with PTSD, individuals who have forgotten how to feel safe—Harley meets them where they are, just as we once met him.

He is living proof that healing is possible… that love rewrites stories…that no horse—and no person—is ever too far gone.

Harley did not just become a therapy horse. He became a symbol of hope.”