After the 2024 Pennsylvania National Horse Show, the PNHS Foundation awarded grants to 41 therapeutic riding centers, equine rescues, and equine-assisted service programs. As we look ahead to the 2025 show, we’re excited to highlight the incredible work of these recipient organizations!

Reins of Rhythm is committed to inspiring hope, fostering independence, promoting positive character building and improving the well-being of children of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. A 501c3 non-profit located in the Shippensburg area of Pennsylvania, they create a positive and accepting environment where youth are partnered with horses who help them grow mentally, physically, and emotionally. 

How does Reins of Rhythm serve their local community?

“Our adaptive program has a unique approach, integrating youth of all backgrounds and circumstances to build bridges and break down barriers between kids.

“Our horse-powered mounted and unmounted programs and services are provided both on and off the farm at schools, therapy centers, camps, nursing homes and local parks. We offer adaptive and therapeutic riding and horsemanship lessons, as well as equine-assisted learning sessions. Some of our students’ favorites include Horse Powered Reading®, Stable Moments® training for youth who are in or have experienced foster care, Take the Reins: a teen work-readiness and mentorship program with internships, and Silver Strides, our newest program that brings youth and miniature horses into nursing homes to build relationships with senior citizens in the community.”

What are some of the biggest challenges your organization currently faces?

“Over the past few years, the economy has been a huge challenge to the sustainability of our program. Budgeted expenses, such as insurance, horse care, feed and hay costs, veterinarian care and general operational costs, have continued to rise. This makes it difficult to keep programming affordable and accessible to vulnerable youth— those who need support, a safe place of connection, who have limited funding or physical/emotional limitations that prevent them from taking part in other activities. 

“We seek to support these communities and make a positive impact in their lives so they are not just surviving but thriving. Finding sustainable funding to ensure we can continue to support these children is a constant challenge.

“Currently, we also struggle to find dedicated, energetic and enthusiastic volunteers who are committed to the consistent involvement needed to ensure we have enough help to care for the horses, operate lessons, and run fundraisers. We are thankful for the small, yet mighty, committed core group of volunteers who currently run all the day to day operations. It is because of our volunteers that we are able to do all that we do for the youth in our communities.”

How has this grant impacted your program’s ability to serve your community?

“The grant from the Pennsylvania National Horse Show Foundation has helped tremendously. Thanks in part to this grant, we can sustainably offer programming to the most vulnerable youth in our communities, particularly the children who are in or have experienced foster care. We are able to meet them where they are at, understand their experience and develop their self-worth, sense of purpose, executive functioning and self-regulation skills.

“Stable Moments® is a 10-month, weekly equine-facilitated mentorship program where foster and adopted children achieve their life goals through community mentorship and developing connections with horses. By equipping youth in foster care with the life skills necessary to make healthy transitions into adulthood, we start to see a generation of foster children who are productive members of society, reducing rates of incarceration, addiction, early pregnancies, dependency on government benefits and ultimately a reduction in the amount of children entering the system. 

“We envision a world with healthy homes, where children are able to stay with their family.”

Can you share a success story of a horse or participant who benefited from your program?

“No one should have to endure the sadness, rejection, hurt and separation that one of our students has endured. This young boy comes for his weekly Stable Moments® sessions at Reins of Rhythm. 

“His foster mom has shared that at home, during other therapies and at school, he experiences reactive behaviors, self-harm tendencies, and defiance to instructions and tasks. All of these struggles stem from the deep wounds that trauma creates in these young hearts. His foster mom shared after his first Stable Moments® session she was, ‘amazed and had soaked my sleeve in tears because I saw not a boy suffering the effects of trauma in the paddock, but a boy being able to just be a boy, a boy who was able to find joy, happiness, creativity and friendship, everything little boys should be able to enjoy.’

“She goes on to share, “His coming to the farm and being with his horse buddy and mentor instructor has been the best gift ever, he finds a calmness I rarely see, he had fun without fear, he was able to make the transition from being done with his session to getting back into the car in ways I did not know was possible because of the creativity of the instructor and the patient and kind support of his little horse friend. I can’t thank the volunteers, this program and those grantors who generously gave funds enough, so that this boy could find peace, hope and help here with this little horse by his side. These moments here at the farm give me so much hope that this boy will heal and will be resilient to the challenges he faces. I hope he is going to be able to take all that hurt and make it into a whole lot of hope and help for others one day.”

What future goals do you have for your program and how can additional support help?

“The need is huge. They say the secret to success is to ‘Find a Need and Fill It.’ With over 400,000 youth in foster care in the USA today (a number increasing all the time), we are determined to do what we can in our little part of the world to make a difference in the lives of each and every child we get the honor of serving through this programming.

“We have willing hearts, eager hands and hooves, we just need the generous financial support of those in the community who want to be difference makers but can’t give the time, or don’t have the education or training needed, but have the desire in their hearts to be part of the change they want to see in the world. Those who donate help make that change a reality in the lives of children— one child, one horse at a time!

“It costs about $200/month to offer weekly sessions to a child. This covers providing all the resources, continuing education and training for our staff and volunteers, insurance coverage, materials and horse feed, care and housing costs.”

Is there anything else you’d like donors/grant supporters to know about the impact of their support?

“Never forget the difference you make. Without your generosity and kindness to the community, our programming would not be accessible and affordable to the marginalized youth in our towns and cities. We know the power of horses and how they can impact the lives of humans in profound ways. Reins of Rhythm knows we have the power to help, we have the power to give hope and we have the power to help these young lives to not just survive, but thrive!

“Thanks to your help, we are making a difference. We want that positive impact to be sustainable, available and ready to reach every child in our community. Thank you for being the fuel that powers our horses and makes miracles happen!”