Helping Hooves

Heartland Horses Equine Activities & Learning Helps Empower Those With Mental, Physical Disabilities

- PAUL CATALA

FOR 15-YEAR-OLD Olivia Reinhart, the time she gets to spend on horseback is a gallop into a world of friends and fun.

Riding one of the horses helps to bring Olivia a sense of empowerment and confidence during her regular excursions at Avon Park’s Heartland Horses Equine Activities & Learning Inc.

Olivia is a freshman at Avon Park High School, and she is autistic. The classes, activities and outings at Heartland Horses, help her feel that she is “hanging out with the horses and making friends.”

“I don’t have any favorite horse or thing we do. I do everything; we always have a good time there,” she says. Heartland Horses uses the experience of horseback riding to help improve the lives of individuals like Olivia who are physically, emotionally or developmentally challenged. Founded in 1998 by Sandy Kuhn, Heartland Horses uses horses to help children and adults with disabilities learn and grow while improving the quality of their lives. Kuhn, who died in 2007, started the Heartland Horses programs informally, with lessons free for riders like Olivia and referrals required from medical or mental health professionals.

“When (Olivia) started riding, she was in fifth grade working at a first-grade level,” said Olivia’s grandmother, Sandra Harbison. “Now, she’s in ninth grade making A’s and B’s. Those horses aren’t just animals to her; they’re more than just pets. She connects on a personal level with them.”

At its current location, 4305 Independence St., Avon Park, since 2003, Heartland Horses is on seven acres of Florida state-owned land, subleased from the Ridge Area Arc. The program began when Kuhn brought in one horse and a volunteer and parents and caregivers brought their children to give them a chance to ride, groom and interact with horses onsite.