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This video was created for CATR’s 20th anniversary in 2011.  It celebrates all the students, horses and volunteers that make up the CATR team!  CATR’s founders, Meta Carter and Eileen McGuffie, are featured at the end of the video. They are both involved with the program to this day.  We are so grateful to them and to all the wonderful people who have helped CATR continue to serve children and adults with disabilities for the past 20 years.

MISSION STATEMENT

Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding improves the lives of children and adults with disabilities at the area’s oldest nationally accredited therapeutic horseback riding center.

CATR staff and volunteers are dedicated to helping students find joy and accomplishment through Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies. Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding, Inc. (CATR) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving individuals with a variety of disabilities and conditions since 1991. With the assistance of certified instructors, physical therapists, doctors, psychologists, special education teachers, and a well-trained volunteer corps, we now serve over 140 children and adults per year whose disabilities include:

Photo by CC Paul

Many people ask how riding and working with horses actually makes a difference in the lives of students with disabilities. Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) offers a motivating combination of sensory, cognitive, and emotional stimulation that facilitates mobility, socialization, and independence. The horse’s rhythmical swinging movement challenges the rider’s whole body to continually respond with natural movements. Tight muscles relax, lax muscles are strengthened, coordination is improved, and circulation increased.