Programs
Therapy & Adaptive Programs - Heroes
Carlisle Academy’s Veterans Program provides services for disabled veterans and their immediate family members living in Maine. The Veterans Program goal is to give those who have served our country an opportunity to learn or rediscover equestrian sports and successfully master a new skill, while providing a foundation for a positive experience, improved physical well-being, and a brighter outlook in light of sudden traumatic changes that have impacted their lives.
In an effort to give back to those who have served our country, NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) created the NARHA Horses for Heroes Program to serve disabled veterans. Proven results from pioneering therapeutic riding programs including Carlisle Academy, show that disabled veterans derive significant benefits from adaptive riding or driving programs, which assist them in their recovery from injury and stress, as well as aid them in the transition back into their communities following military service.
The Veterans Program, under the auspice of NARHA’s Horses for Heroes Program, was piloted in the summer of 2008. We collaborate with Togus VA Medical Center, the Sanford offices of Disabled American Veterans, and the Bureau of Veterans Affairs to offer this service to Maine-based veterans with disabling conditions which may include, but are not limited to, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and amputation. Additionally, Carlisle recruits and trains able-bodied veterans to offer peer support and assist as side walkers in this program.
The Veterans Program provides access to any of Carlisle Academy’s ongoing programs such as Adaptive Riding and Adaptive Carriage Driving. Participants may come with a group or enroll in hour-long semi-private weekly sessions. Mounted activities will take place in either the farm’s outside arena, or in the covered arena, which are each accessible to riders with ramped mounting stations (including a lift in our covered arena to ensure safe and proper mounts/dismounts for individuals with severe disabilities). Also available is Carlisle’s therapy room that can be used for traditional therapy either immediately before or after mounted activities. With the help of adaptive equipment, specially trained horses, on-staff Occupational and Physical Therapists, and nationally certified instructors, Carlisle Academy gives disabled Maine veterans and their families an opportunity to participate in this innovative Veterans Program.
Carlisle is a proud partner with Project Healing Horse, an organization whose primary mission is to raise public awareness of the benefits of therapeutic horseback riding to help heal injured military veterans. For more information and a stirring video depiction of horses at work in partnership with America’s veterans,
please visit www.projecthealinghorse.com
