volunteer stories

Brandy has volunteered at HTR for the past 14 years! In that time she’s; lead for hippotherapy, sidewalked, helped with summer camps, and most recently, volunteered as a barn assistant. She originally found HTR by googling “horses and volunteering.” 

Brandy started out with riding horses as a kid. As an adult, she wanted to find an opportunity to be around horses again. Over the years, volunteering has become part her life. Since signing up to volunteer at HTR, Brandy has never taken a session off. Brandy reports that the first HTR  horse she ever led was Simon and he’s still her favorite! 

Tatum started riding horses when she was 5 years old. Her favorite thing to do is trail ride horses with her friends.  She also loves her job working at a bakery on the weekends. She has owned her horse for almost 2 years and takes care of him every day. 

Tatum has really enjoyed volunteering at Heartland (HTR). She's been on the volunteer team for nearly one year now. She reports everyone at HTR is very nice to work with and appreciate's the volunteer's help. Spending time working with the students, horses, volunteers and instructors has been such a fun and rewarding way to spend her extra time. 

 Alan has been volunteering with HTR for about 10 years! He started volunteering when his twin boys started to grow older and  needed less of his chauffeuring services. He found therapeutic riding and started volunteering to fill some of his new found time. He never would have guessed what an important part of  his life it would become! 

Alan says although he loves the horses at HTR, working with the participants is his favorite role. He loves interacting with and getting to know each of our  students. Alan reports that his wife of 29 years, Barbara, also  loves when Alan volunteers—she gets some peace and quiet  around the house!  

Stacy has loved horses since she can remember but has never owned her own horse. Stacy received an associate degree in Equestrian Management to see if her passion might turn into a career. Unable to find a consistent job she went back to school and received her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. She spent her first ten years as a classroom teacher. She now spends her time in the elementary library cultivating a love of reading in her students.

Stacy joined HTR in June of 2021 as a volunteer. HTR has given her a place to combine her passions - horses, kids, being outdoors, and helping others.  

Katie spent most of her career in the paid work force in organizations serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Along the way she learned a lot about supporting children and adults with disabilities. 

Katie decided to take early retirement to start a second career volunteering. One of her first stops was sidewalker training. Katie’s only horse experience consisted of trail rides on family vacations and participating with her children’s scout troops. 

Katie says that HTR staff taught her most everything she knows about horses and therapeutic riding.  Katie has been a regular volunteer at HTR for five years.

Heartland volunteers are the backbone of our program. We rely on them to support our riders, raise funds, and spread the word about HTR. Thank you to everyone over the many years you has devoted their time and energy to Heartland.