Our Children

Our children suffer primarily from social, emotional and physical challenges; however, some are facing terminal illness. On any given day we may encounter children dealing with autism, severe depression, social problems or terminal illness.

Some of our children are mentally challenged, teased, and ridiculed in school. Others come because their family life is unstable due to divorce, alcoholism, or abuse. We also work with orphans and children placed in foster homes.

Relationships are personally tailored to accommodate the special needs of each child. Some children will never ride independently while others will develop to very high levels of horsemanship. Regardless of individual needs, each of the SonRise children finds a loving and accepting community through SonRise.

The SonRise staff nurtures each child through challenges and victories. The staff guides the children as they develop skills in relationship building, problem solving, confidence, improved learning skills, essential life skills, physical fitness; as well as trust, patience and integrity. All of this is offered free of charge.

Miniature horses visit children

The SonRise miniature horses have brought great comfort to terminally ill children and their families as they make personal visits to the local hospice facility. The terminally ill children, who are strong enough to leave home or hospice, do come out to the ranch to ride.

Who we serve

SonRise helps with a wide variety of problems that children face. A partial list of those problems includes:

• ADD/ ADHD
• Autism
• Bipolar Disorder
• Blindness
• Brain Injury
• Cancer
• Cerebral Palsy
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Depression
• Developmental Delays
• Down syndrome
• Epilepsy
• Learning Disabilities
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Muscular Dystrophy
• Scoliosis
• Spinal Cord Injuries
• Tourette syndrome
• Youth "At-Risk"

Benefits of our program

The major benefits a child may receive as a result of participating in the SonRise Horsemanship program include:

Enhanced self-esteem

• Sense of empowerment
• Feelings of accomplishment
• Ability to generate internal rewards
• Sense of competence
• Ability to meet mental and physical challenges
• Feelings of confidence and poise
• Appreciation of self

Improved learning skills

• Direction following
• Sequencing ability
• Task organization
• Fine and gross motor skill development
• Increased attention span
• Tolerance of constructive criticism
• Ability to focus/concentrate
• Self-initiative
• Self-control
• Recognition of what is expected
• Ability to follow through
• Ability to work both independently and within a group setting

Enhanced essential life skills

• Self-discipline
• Empathy
• Honesty
• Patience
• Work ethic
• Impulse and anxiety control
• Independence
• Frustration tolerance
• Emotional control
• Acceptance of responsibility for actions
• Decision-making
• Trust
• Feelings expression
• Appropriate risk-taking

Improved interpersonal relationship skills

• Respect for authority figures
• Observation of limits/boundaries
• Receptivity to positive reinforcement for appropriate behaviors
• Development of capacity for trust, love and commitment
• Practice of new/different roles within group, family, classroom and other settings
• Involvement in age-appropriate activities

Strengthened leisure skills

• Opportunity for fresh air and exercise
• Opportunity to connect with friends/make new friends
• Potential to develop a lifelong interest
• Opportunity to interact with/care for animals
• Capacity for release of endorphins stemming from exercise
• Identification of alternatives to sedentary activities such as television and video games
• Opportunity for relaxation and stress reduction

Physical strength and fitness

• Development of body awareness
• Improvement of movement/athletic skills
• Development of balance, coordination and good posture
• Enhancement of capacity to model appropriate behavior
• Balance of right and left hemispheres of brain