Clark County has the perfect mix of in-town retailers, entertainment, and farmland. A big part of the local farm landscape is access to fresh produce, amazing local products, and farm experiences. While many people enjoy riding horses or competing in local rodeo sports as recreation, there are some ranches in Clark County that offer a special purpose via their farm experiences.
These working ranches and horse centers offer therapies and rehabilitation services via some pretty huge therapists, well-trained horses. The horses often connect with both children and adults in need. These needs can stem from developmental delays like Autism, substance abuse issues or even a history of law enforcement involvement as youth offenders.
Explore these horse programs in Clark County. They each offer a different form of therapy that connects those in need with the unconditional love of a horse.
Grace Therapeutic Riding Program
12608 NE 299th Street
Battle Ground, WA 98604
The staff at Grace offer a holistic approach to supporting special needs families and adults. Their riders include those living with autism, recovering from substance abuse and sexual abuse survivors. The riding programs offer a special type of bond for the individual while supports like the “Night of Pampering and Dinner” gives families a nice respite.
The connection with both riders and their families is something unique to this program. They also partner with other groups in the area to bring their services to a bigger audience.
Son Rise Ranch
24003 NE 44th Street
Vancouver, WA 98682
Connecting youth to the responsibility of taking care of a horse is the key way this working ranch improves the lives of teens in the area. They work with a wide range of teens with special needs to develop leadership skills and teach life goals. This includes programs to build positive communities and camps.
This working ranch combines a religious message with horse based therapies for a healing experience. Skill development and life-long learning is a vital part of this program.
This program offers services for children ages 4-18. They run day camps, one-on-one sessions and small classes to teach trust, social skills, life skills and build self-esteem.
Students in this program come from a variety of different situations including those with special needs, injuries or survivors of trauma. They also offer services for adults.
Windhaven Therapeutic Riding
PO Box 73
La Center, WA 98629
Windhaven offers support via horses for a very special population, members of the Armed Forces. These adults are coming home with PTSD, brain injuries, and other injuries. The Veterans are supported through their recovering via horse based therapies.
This center offers supports for Veterans needing to recover strength due to a physical injury or rebuild trust due to PTSD. They garner a large part of their local support from their community and the support of other Veterans in the area.
Silver Buckle Ranch
11611 NE 152nd Avenue
Brush Prairie, WA 98606
While this ranch offers a wide range of youth activities and private events, they also share a special connection with youth offenders. These young people have had law enforcement involvement and come to the ranch to learn leadership skills via hard work. The youth offenders find a way to reconnect with the community by working together to care for the horses, riding lessons and life skills development.
