Transforming Lives Through Equine Therapy: The Impact of Project R.I.D.E.

Join me as I welcome Rachel Prettyman, newly announced Executive Director and Emily Calanchini, Community Outreach Manager, to the Nonprofit Podcast Network for an inspiring discussion about Project R.I.D.E, an amazing equine therapy program. Discover how this incredible initiative uses horseback riding to support individuals with disabilities, enhancing their physical, cognitive, emotional, and social skills through the R.I.D.E. approach. Rachel and Emily share the heartwarming history and growth of the program over 46 years, emphasizing the vital community support and the generous donation of horses that make it all possible. You'll hear the stories of riders developing core strength and independence, showcasing the profound connection between horse and rider.

In a touching exploration of the benefits of therapeutic horseback riding, we hear the stories of young riders Maren and Gracie. These inspiring individuals demonstrate how the program empowers them to achieve remarkable milestones, like mastering the two-point position and enjoying sensory trails. Meanwhile, their parents find comfort in a supportive environment, where they can relax and recharge as they witness their children's triumphs. This conversation highlights the importance of inclusive spaces where both children and their families can thrive, breaking boundaries in a nurturing setting.

Listen as we discuss the community collaboration and fundraising efforts that sustain this impactful program. From partnerships with Sac State and local nursing schools to major fundraising events, the community's role is pivotal in driving Project R.I.D.E.'s mission forward. We also explore the future aspirations of the program, such as expanding resources and collaborating with other PATH centers. Through personal stories and gratitude for the Project Ride team, we celebrate the joy and independence experienced by riders and their families, showcasing the incredible work being done in Elk Grove, California.

To learn more about the program visit the website HERE

For a tour of the facility, arena and to meet the horses, you can call 916-685-7433

Chapter Summaries

(00:00) Equine Therapy Program Benefits Community
Project Ride uses horseback riding as therapy for disabilities, with community support and inspiring stories of improved skills.

(12:31) Empowering Families Through Equine Therapy
Therapeutic horseback riding empowers children, provides respite for parents, and creates inclusive spaces for growth.

(15:47) Equine Therapy Community Collaboration and Fundraising
Community collaborations and diverse funding strategies fuel the organization's mission, including partnerships with Sac State and local schools.

(25:14) Expanding Equine Therapy Program
Therapeutic horseback riding for diverse individuals, utilizing Racewood simulator and aiming for expansion and collaboration with other PATH centers.

(36:02) Impact of Equine Therapy Program
Project Ride provides transformative horseback riding expe

Thank you so much for listening to this nonprofit story!  We appreciate you. Please visit the website to sign up for our email updates and newsletter. https://www.nonprofpod.com/  And if you like, leave me a voicemail to comment on the program, leave a question for us to ask in the future or a message for me, Jeff Holden. I may even use your voice mail message in a future episode of one of our incredible local nonprofit organizations. https://www.nonprofpod.com/voicemail. Thanks again for your support in listening, commenting and sharing the great work our local nonprofits are accomplishing. 

Transcript

Rachel Prettyman: [00:00:00] I had a rider, nonverbal. They let us know they were happy through their smile and interacting with sidewalkers, but never heard a peep out of the rider. The rider was also in speech outside of the barn. One day, you know, we would teach the rider to tap my hand. 'cause we tell them to say, walk on when they want their horse to go, we're whoa to stop.

So the rider would tap my hand for walk on instead of verbalizing it. And it was just routine. And I put my hand up and I said, okay, tell your horse to walk on. And the rider tapped my hand and verbalized in the softest voice walk on. And I think every volunteer in the arena, I started crying. The parents were up in the stands watching, just so excited.

It was one of their first five words they said, and it was just such an exciting moment.

Jeff Holden: Hi, I'm Jeff Holden. Welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. Our purpose and passion is to highlight a nonprofit organization in each [00:01:00] weekly episode, giving that organization an opportunity to tell their story. In their words, to better inform and educate the respective communities they serve, as well as provide one more tool for them to share their message to constituents and donors.

Our goal is to help build stronger communities through shared voices and to both encourage and support the growth of local nonprofit organizations through podcasting. I'm thrilled to welcome Smudge Shine Awards as our episode sponsor supporting our nonprofit community with grants for more efficient energy usage.

With continuing thanks to our founding partners, captrust, fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations and Western Health Advantage, a full service healthcare plan for individuals, employer groups, and families, often in this course of work. It's very easy to be moved by the experience of seeing the work.

Our nonprofits do whatever their mission. More often than not, that work is [00:02:00] direct person to person or peer to peer. This episode is different though. There's a third living, being, creating the experience that's to the benefit of the client, and it's not a human, it's a horse. Yes, a horse providing therapeutic riding to the benefit of the rider?

Well, maybe more as you're about to hear from the discussion. In this heartwarming episode, we explore the incredible impact of Project Ride, a horseback riding program that is changing lives one ride at a time. We'll share the inspiring journeys of riders like Maren and Gracie who gain empowerment and independence through the program.

We'll learn about the robust community support and fundraising efforts that keep project ride thriving from its longstanding partnerships with institutions like SAC State to ambitious plans for future expansion. We'll hear how dreams of making equine therapy [00:03:00] accessible to even more individuals with disabilities might just happen.

This community driven initiative not only enhances the lives of its participants, but also provides a profound sense of joy and respite for their families. Rachel Prettyman, Emily Kini, welcome to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Emily Calanchini: Thank you. Thank you. Excited to be here. Yeah, thanks for having us. 

Jeff Holden: This is gonna be a fun conversation 'cause I have not had anybody in the studio where we're actually talking about the service you provide as a living and written.

Source. We have had another equestrian organization in, but you don't ride the horses. Mm-hmm. You know, they're psychotherapists, which is an amazing story in itself, and I imagine you get the benefit of both because not only does the horse perform its connection with the individual, but it also is doing something physically beneficial as well, which is [00:04:00] a bit of the, the novelty.

That's the difference. So I've already identified that it's horses and some of us have heard about horse riding as a benefit to a variety of disabilities, but we really don't know what that means. So it's it's project ride. Mm-hmm. And ride means literally. Ride. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yes, it does. 

Jeff Holden: Tell us a little bit about that.

Rachel Prettyman: So the Ride In Project Ride stands for riding Instruction designed for education. So what we do is we use horseback riding to. Helps our clients work on everything from physical to cognitive to emotional, to social skills and needs. And so through our lessons, our riders are either mounted or working on the ground, but they're working on everything from academics in our arena to social interaction.

And we're using the greatest tool we have, which is our horses. So in addition, you know, in addition to learning how to read or counting or matching in our, in our [00:05:00] lessons, they're also getting the. The feedback from their horse and working on that hippotherapy and. Equine, which is equine therapy interaction with their horse.

Jeff Holden: Now you said HIPAA therapy. What is that? 

Rachel Prettyman: So that is therapy through a horse. Okay. Um, and so while we don't have physical therapists and OTs on site, we're recreational, um, they still receive that, that feedback and that immediate benefit when they're on a horse. They're working on course strength, balance, and then, you know, there's a lot of trust that goes in riding these horses.

And so they're also working on things like that when they're, when they're riding. 

Jeff Holden: Now, when we were there, the horses are very large. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yes. 

Jeff Holden: And the clients we saw on those horses were very tiny. Yes. I'm talking like maybe 60 pounds. 

Rachel Prettyman: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: How does one manage that, that large horse, at such small scale? 

Rachel Prettyman: So our riders, that's part of our job as instructors, is to make sure they're matched properly.

But our horses go through extensive training and we pick them specifically for the job that we can trust 'em to be safe and respectful to their [00:06:00] riders. And so we train them, we have them ready for their lesson, and these riders put their trust in us and hop on these. Huge animals. Yes. And take control, like you saw in the video, Marin and Gracie, they, they are two of the riders who are willing to get on our newer horses or faster horses.

'cause they love it and they know that they're safe when they're riding it. And we just have stellar, stellar horses. So 

Jeff Holden: we don't have this as one of the questions, but I'm curious, where do the horses come from? 

Rachel Prettyman: So we, we don't go out and buy our horses, other centers. Have a budget to buy their horses. We are very community based, so we put the word out and we take horses on donations.

So we do like a care lease. So we take care of their basic needs, vet bills, and the owners will lease them to us. And so we just advertise on social media. We go out to horse shows. We usually get horses that are in their retirement age. So they've done their career, they've done their showing and competing, and they come to us because, you know, maybe their, their owners need a younger horse, so they don't have the space for them in retirement.

And then we take care of them and give them a second job. That's [00:07:00] usually they like it better than their first, second career. Second career. Um, and what better their, their, they have the best care, um, our volunteers. At the barn and at our ranch, take care of them exceptionally well, and they're carrying precious cargo and they start to bond connections with their riders.

And you can see them recognizing when certain riders come to the barn. So it's, it's a nice gig for a horse. Imagine, especially they're older years. Yeah. Imagine, I would imagine. 

Jeff Holden: It's a light rider. They don't have something win 182. Exactly. They're not jumping over 

Rachel Prettyman: jumps. They're not racing down the race racetrack.

They're, they're taking, you know, the riders around the arena for a fun ride. So they love it. 

Jeff Holden: The program has been around for a while. Mm-hmm. And I'm guessing probably longer than you. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yes. 

Jeff Holden: Tell us a little bit about its tenure in the community. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yeah, so when we started 46 years ago, it was just a little arena behind Jesse Baker School.

It was started by OT that worked for the Jesse Baker School, and she saw a need and so she started it and they used to help bring the horses in every day for lessons where now they live on site during the week. And through community [00:08:00] support and amazing donations throughout the years, we've been able to build to having two arenas on sites, the covered barn.

So it's, it's been a long process, but the process has worked because of the community and their support, 

Jeff Holden: and it's an impressive facility. You've got the stables, the, the actual barn itself, or the stadium, I don't know what you technically call that. The arena. Thank you. And it, and, and it was spectacular.

Not to mention the grounds outside that are fully utilized as well. Who is it you see as the greatest beneficiaries? 

Rachel Prettyman: So our clients obviously are, you know, they're receiving the benefits from the lessons. So they're working, like I mentioned earlier, everything from physical to cognitive. Skills and activities in the lessons.

And so we have riders who come in who can't sit up in their chair because they have weak core muscles. And after riding a couple sessions with us, they're with us. They're sitting up independently, like you saw, steering their horse. Mm-hmm. And taking control on their own. So there we have a exceptional staff of instructors who are working very hard [00:09:00] to meet the goals for our riders.

So they're obviously, they're receiving a lot of what we have to offer, but you know, if. Going beyond that. If you were to come into the barn as a volunteer or staff member in a grumpy or a bad mood, you leave with a smile because as much as we give to our riders, they don't realize they give so much back to us just by being them.

So our volunteers and our staff, I mean, I know personally I left a career as a teacher to work here full-time because of how much we get back working with this population. Just, it's amazing to see what they have to offer and as much as we give them and provide them, they give back to us too. 

Jeff Holden: What are some of the disabilities you see?

Rachel Prettyman: So we have a wide, wide range for everything from autism to, you know, speech delay, to cerebral palsy, strokes, traumatic brain injuries. We have a wide range. As long as you have a doctor's diagnosis, we take pretty much anybody. And so we have everything physical, emotional, I mean anxiety, all the way up to, you know, a severe physical disability disability.

Jeff Holden: Youngest to oldest, 

Rachel Prettyman: we [00:10:00] start at age three and we go up As long as you can sit up right on a horse safely. So, and if I'm not 

Jeff Holden: mistaken, you told me you had somebody in their eighties. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yes. Yep. Which 

Jeff Holden: is amazing. Mm-hmm. It's just amazing. How does one become a client? I. 

Rachel Prettyman: So we have an application process on our website.

We have a doctor's medical form that you have to have a doctor fill out with your diagnoses, and then a release of liability form. And so once you have the paperwork done, you submit it to the our office, and then one of our instructors will call you for an assessment. So you'd come in. Complete your assessment and then if your availability matched a hole that we have a time slot, then we would sign you up and bring you in the barn.

Jeff Holden: And if I understand correctly, matching a hole or a time slot is very difficult at this point in time. 'cause you're booked out. How long is the waiting list? 

Rachel Prettyman: A year, couple years. I think we have around 200 on our waiting list right now. And so as we keep track of their applications and as their applications start to expire, we call them up.

We have you redo your paperwork so that whenever we have a spot we [00:11:00] can plug you right in and 

Jeff Holden: accommodate whatever. Yes. That individual is 

Rachel Prettyman: exactly, 

Jeff Holden: which is something we'll get to in, in just a little bit about the need. 

SMUD: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: For more, because if you are that booked out, you have 200 people on a waiting list, obviously the demand is there and what's the geography that you serve?

Rachel Prettyman: So we serve the Greater Sacramento. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. 

Rachel Prettyman: We have some clients drive as far as, I mean, El Dorado Hills area, just because there's not very much of what we do in this area, and we are a little bit more unique in what we offer. So we, 

Emily Calanchini: we offer a lot. We serve, we serve a really big population, basically just greater Sacramento.

Okay. That's, um, so maybe 

Jeff Holden: the four counties? Yeah. So, so you could see somebody from Yolo Ubel do auto place? Yeah, we 

Emily Calanchini: could. People will drive sometimes over an hour away to get to us just for their weekly ride. We definitely have more local riders than our farther away ones, but we do see them coming from over hour away.

Our volunteers also, they'll drive that far also just to come in and [00:12:00] help these kids ride. 

Jeff Holden: That's amazing. Yeah. So the benefit to the volunteers is significant enough to say it's worth my trouble in time and Exactly. Gas to get there. Not something just that's really close and and easy to get to. Mm-hmm.

They enjoy it that much. 

Emily Calanchini: Exactly. Yes. It's therapy for them too, just coming into the barn. They want to be there so they don't mind coming in to, you know, spend their gas money. They want to spend time with the horses. They wanna see the kids. So it's kind of cool they get to also watch these riders kind of progress in their lessons.

Also, it's, it's success for them to be able to see that. 

Jeff Holden: And you have some long-term volunteers as well, if I'm not mistaken. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yes. 

Emily Calanchini: Yeah. One of, one of our volunteers, they've been there probably almost since the beginning, at least 30 years minimum. Um, they've, they've always been supportive of the program.

They've been there from the very beginning and they're still volunteering with us today, so they come in once a week and it's, it's great. 

Jeff Holden: That's amazing. [00:13:00] Yeah. Yeah. It's just amazing. Success stories. Give us a couple examples of stories of children or adults or whomever that have come through the program and what the benefit has been on the outside of it once they're, are they ever done with the program or do they have a, a shelf life on that program?

Rachel Prettyman: So they're never done? We. Personally, my brother rode when I was growing up and now due to his, some of his surgeries he's had, he's unable to ride anymore, but he still comes in the barn and volunteers and checks in, not just 'cause I work there, but our riders, even if they kind of age, some of them, you know, age out, they want to.

Try other things in life, they'll still come back and visit or they'll volunteer if they can't ride anymore. Success stories, I'll give one of mine. I had a rider I used to teach on the weekends and I had a rider in non-verbal and they just, they would come in, get on their horse and they would, they let us know they were happy through their smile and interacting with sidewalks, but never heard a peep out of the rider.

The rider was also in speech outside of the barn. Mm-hmm. And one day, you know, we would teach the rider. To [00:14:00] tap my hand. 'cause we tell them to say, walk on when they want their horse to go, we're whoa to stop. So the rider would tap my hand for walk on instead of verbalizing it. And it was just routine. And I put my hand up and I said, okay, tell your horse to walk on.

And the rider tapped my hand and verbalized in the softest voice walk on. And I think every volunteer in the arena, I started crying. It's not hard to make me cry, but I started crying. The parents were up in the stands watching, just so excited. And they had, the writer had said a couple words in speech therapy, but we had never heard it.

And so it was. One of their first five words they said, and it was just such an exciting moment. And from then on, I mean, it just kept progressing and, and the rider was very excited to speak in their lessons and it has to be, it's a memory I'll never forget. And then just recently we had an adult come and the adult wasn't able to ride with us yet.

And so the adult came in to do barn chores, which is one of our volunteer positions. And we heard from the aide that came with them every day. She stopped into the office and said, you know, at. At the group home where this volunteer, the client volunteer lived, they noticed that their behavior at home was different and they were helping out more in the kitchen and they were [00:15:00] checking in with the staff more and they were just more open and wanting to help out.

And they said the only difference that they could attribute at that to was the fact that they were coming into project ride. So it's just a testament to, you know, you don't have to be on the back of a horse to receive the benefits. You know, they were just coming and helping us with our barn shores and.

It was, it was then translating into their home life. So. 

Jeff Holden: Well how interesting too, to think, not only does it benefit the rider in their physical ability mm-hmm. Core strength and dexterity and probably some sense, you know, balance and everything else. But it changes their confidence, I would imagine.

Exactly. All the way around. Not just when they're in the arena on the horse. Mm-hmm. But actually at home to where they feel, okay, I can do this now, and things they maybe wouldn't have been able to do before or chose not to do before. We had the opportunity to see a couple of riders that will run the video now so people can see it.

It'll be running behind us, but tell us a little bit about those two young ladies. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yeah, so you're seeing Marin and Gracie, they're both students of mine [00:16:00] and Marin's, been riding with us for a little bit longer than Gracie. Marin's pretty much grown up around the barn, but they're both just so enthusiastic.

They love riding, and Marin is in a chair and so. Doesn't have full use of her legs. And so, but when she gets up on that horse, she's, she's in charge and she's the boss and she's the one that she'll always ask when she comes in, if there's a new trial horse or something that she can get on and, and ride.

And Gracie's just the happiest, happiest kid you'll ever meet. She loves her. Favorite part of riding, I think, is chatting with her sidewalks and interacting and getting that social piece. Um, and she loves the trail. She loves our sensory trail, which you'll see us out on the sensory trail on the video too.

So, Uhhuh, they're both, they're both very dear special clients. 

Jeff Holden: What about parents? What do you hear from parents as they see their child evolve and mature with the horses? 

Parent 1: You know, when we started Project Ride, we were looking for a place that, uh, our daughter was more than just a diagnosis, and this place brings her joy [00:17:00] and the people here don't see a diagnosis in her.

Uh, they see her as a whole person and I appreciate how, uh, they love her so well. And of course, the horses have, um, given her confidence and I think it's, it's a gift that I will always cherish. 

Parent 2: It's amazing. This project ride is Marin's thing. She has a younger sister and her younger sister does softball, and this is something that Marin can do.

And the horses are really great because they're her legs. So it's, it's pretty important for her. She, she likes the control that she has in showing the horses and guiding them in, in the directions that she would like to go. And that does work for her medical therapy too. And it's a fun way to do it. 

Rachel Prettyman: So speaking personally, I know that.

In addition to watching their child, it's project ride. [00:18:00] When they come, their child gets to be normal. You know, in so much of the world, there's modifications and adaptations. Their child needs to be successful and to do everything else that somebody of their aide's doing. But at Project Ride, everything's modified for them.

So they get to come in and just see their. Their child be normal in a sense, and it gives them a break. I personally, I know watching my parents with my brother through their, you know, they're 24 7 as a caregiver. Mm-hmm. You are 20, you're on all the time. And so they get to come, some of them, you know, bring a book and sit and take a break.

Others are taking pictures of them or of their, their child writing. But it gives 'em a time to take a breath from themself and then see their child succeeding in a world that's, you know, they're not always able to, the world's not always accommodating and helping them succeed. And, you know, their riders are meeting goals and doing things that.

You wouldn't expect, like, you know, looking at RT riders, you wouldn't expect them to be up on top of a horse. No, not at all. Taking charge, you know, and, you know, trotting and increasing in speed on their horse. And last week I found out that Marin did two point, which is up actually standing up outta your saddle and getting into a jumping position.

And her mom was so excited that, you know, she was able to figure out how to use her leg [00:19:00] muscles to do that. And so it's just, I love the fact that we can give their, not only give their child a, an opportunity to be normal, but to see what they can do. Mm-hmm. And to kind of push those limits in a safe way.

Jeff Holden: What do you hear from the parents about that respite, you know, or that opportunity as opposed to just what they see on the, the child's side of it? What about their personal side of it? 

Rachel Prettyman: It's, it's needed. You know, like I said, they're, they're nonstop going. And how long 

Jeff Holden: is this session? 30 minutes. Okay. 

Rachel Prettyman: So even a 30 minute breather, like I said, some will bring a book, some will go take a walk on our trail.

It's just 30 minutes where you don't have to worry, like personally, you know, again, bringing back to my brother, I know there's constant worry. There's always is, is it okay? Is the, is his breathing okay? Is this okay? And so they have 30 minutes where they can just watch their child or just go take a breath and, and relax.

And I think that's, you know, I love that part of what we can offer them. 

Jeff Holden: We'll be back with more from Rachel and Emily after these messages from those who support our nonprofit community in [00:20:00] so many ways. 

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Jeff Holden: I'm thrilled to have Western Health Advantage partnering with us as they do so much to support so many nonprofit agencies in our community. As a truly local health plan, you'll find individual and family options, employer options plans for CalPERS and Medicare Advantage.

From medical services to pharmacy health and wellness support, as well as behavioral healthcare, Western Health Advantage has a plan that fits what you need as an employer for profit or nonprofit business, [00:21:00] individual or family. You can find more@westernhealth.com. 

Scott Thomas: Hello, this is Scott Thomas with CAPTRUST in our Sacramento office.

I specialize in working with local nonprofits and associations annually. We survey private and public nonprofit organizations across the country to better understand challenges they see in today's environment. In our more recent survey, we hear concerns about proper board governance, mission aligned investment, and how to implement alternative investments.

If you would like a copy of the survey or to discuss your organization, look me up, scottThomas@captrust.com. 

Jeff Holden: Let's talk a little bit about other organizations you might work with. I think, Emily, this is gonna be a little bit more of your forte. Who do you collaborate with? Who do you tend to see? Engaging with you from the outside in.

Emily Calanchini: So our biggest collaboration is probably with Sac State. We've had a contract with them for about 15 years now, and they use [00:22:00] service learning projects through us. So child development classes, nursing classes, I believe we've even had some like health classes come to us and their professors will give them like a certain amount of hours to complete at our site and they'll come and sidewalk with us for the entirety of their semester 

Jeff Holden: and by sidewalk.

Emily Calanchini: Yes, sidewalk. So you'll see also the videos that it's one of the aides on either side of the horse that's supporting the rider and just there just as safety side walking with 

Parent 1: the horse. Yes. Okay. Yes. Sidewalk, 

Emily Calanchini: literally sidewalking. So Sac State's a big gun. We also have local nursing schools, unex, one of them.

Other local colleges might. Come out and do hours with us. Also, volunteer wise, that's our big one. We also have adult day programs that will come into us. You know, kids that may have aged out of Jesse Baker and now are in adult day programs. They'll come back with their groups and volunteer with us. That might be like a group, like in Alliance, it might be Visions in Motion that's in Elk Grove.

Also, couple adult day [00:23:00] programs like that, they come to us and then we also have. We collaborate with Alta Regional, they bring clients to us. Mm-hmm. Some of our clients ride through Alta, some aren't, they're independent. But those are kind of our big ones, I'd say is our, our colleges. Yeah. And the adult day programs.

Jeff Holden: Yeah. And that's, that's impressive. I, I. Never even would've thought Sac State would be one of your primary. Yeah. But I see the value in terms of what they're benefiting from by coming to the uh, to the arena. 

Emily Calanchini: Yeah. It's fun working with them because part of their service learning project is they spend hours kind of getting to know the program and the riders and kind of how to work with a rider or a client that has disabilities, and then at the end of it, they usually have some type of project that they have to present to us in the program.

And so that might be coming up with a new arena game for us that might be coming up. Like our nursing students, they'll come up with like a health and safety one. Like they'll show specific hand washing procedures, how to deal with summer heat, [00:24:00] like kind of fresh refreshers for the volunteers and the parents and the riders for those types of things.

Mm-hmm. It's, it's fun to see them kind of develop and blossom Throughout the semester. They'll collaborate with our instructors and figure out what ideas might work best and kind of help. Our arena games grow. 'cause you know, we, we've been working with them for so long, sometimes we see duplicates. So it's kind of fun seeing the new ideas come in and seeing how we can kind of revamp what we have.

Jeff Holden: Well, you get the experience then of the students coming to know what to expect. Right. To where you can benefit them one class to the next, to the next. By the time you get to the third class, they get the benefit of the other two classes. 

Emily Calanchini: Yeah. Yeah. And 

Jeff Holden: I'm, I'm. Simplifying, but you're talking about years of this relationship.

Mm-hmm. This doesn't long time didn't just start. 

Emily Calanchini: Yeah. And it's, it's kind of. Really interesting and honestly fun to watch because our instructors are working with these future teachers. So they're kind of getting to work one-on-one and be trained by a teacher and [00:25:00] see them come into their own at the end by also teaching a lesson.

'cause that's what their end goal is, is to present this project and then teach it to the rider. So it's fun to see them kind of. Come into the barn a little bit nervous, probably have never touched or worked with a horse before, and by the end of it, they just seem much more confident leaving the barn.

Like they, they received the experience they were supposed to. 

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. I, I love the association. Yeah. And, and then you went into other nonprofit organizations that have picked up children who have aged out, or who are adults and are coming back Yeah. To engage in a different way. Mm-hmm. I mean, that's, that's a perfect 360 for the, for the operation for the entire organization, 

Emily Calanchini: yeah.

Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: Tell us a little bit about funding. It's a big topic right now because there's a lot of changes going on, and I would imagine that's gonna be the case for the life of this episode, too, which tends to be maybe a year and a half, two years. How are you guys funded? 

Emily Calanchini: So we have three [00:26:00] major fundraisers a year.

We have our crab feed in January. Our steak dinners typically in April, and then we have a spaghetti feed that's usually in October. 

Jeff Holden: Wait, so Kreb steak and spaghetti? Yes. So you've covered everybody. 

Emily Calanchini: Yes, everybody. There's some that come to all three and there's some that have a specific food group that they show up for.

Yes. But those are our three major ones. And the money that's raised at these fundraisers. Majority goes to tuition assistance for our riders. It covers, you know, our administration expenses, program expenses. Horses can be pricey. They require maintenance, so that's where funding goes. Also, we participate in Big Day of Giving.

Just a couple weeks ago, we raised almost $30,000 in 24 hours. So that was really, it's big day of giving's. Always fun to see how much support we can get and just one day online without having to, you know, put on a fundraiser and have people come in the barn. So it just kind of shows that the community is showing up for us regardless whether they're in person or not.

Scott Thomas: Mm-hmm. 

Emily Calanchini: And then we also [00:27:00] participate and. Fundraisers that we don't necessarily host. So Sac Region Foundation obviously puts on Big Day Giving. Mm-hmm. But we have the Scoop Scoop, it's in a couple weeks, actually June 6th in William Lamb Park. And so this company puts it on for us and we are one of five beneficiaries and people come get a scoop of ice cream and they walk around William Lamb Park and we also participate with Bogle Winery.

They have a night that's dedicated to nonprofits and. We're featured on one of the nights, so there's a couple little side fundraisers I guess, that we're participating in. 

Jeff Holden: On the funding you get from the events that you do, the fundraising events, does that fund everything? 

Emily Calanchini: Yes and no. I guess for the most part it raises a lot of funds, but there's always the need for tuition assistance that's never full.

We have so many writers that are wanting to ride, and I think Rachel had mentioned, you know, riding. Or having a child that's disabled. It's, it's a [00:28:00] lot. And it comes, it's not the cheapest thing to do is to have a child that has a disability. So in an ideal world, if we could have tuition as assist enough tuition assistance, so we didn't have to have a fee on the lesson, that's, that's our goal.

We don't want to have to have people pay for it. 

Jeff Holden: Sure. So the client, every client in some way, shape, or form pays. There's a, there's a fee for the service. In addition to all the fundraising? 

Emily Calanchini: Yes. 

Jeff Holden: And is that fee personal? Does is, is it, is a, uh, is it a private, the, the parent paying the fee? Or are there agencies that support the parent in paying for that fee?

Yeah, 

Emily Calanchini: so we, we go through Alter Regional for some of our clients, but some clients do come independent on their own, and it's from their parents. 

Jeff Holden: What's the total budget? Do you know? Roughly 

Emily Calanchini: like our annual, annual operating annual, around 640,000. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. So it's a mm-hmm. Substantial amount of money. 

Emily Calanchini: Yeah.

Yeah. So we're very fortunate with our, our [00:29:00] current balance. That's, it's, we're really good about that. One thing that we really pride ourselves on is we're not gonna overspend, we're gonna, like Rachel had mentioned, there's other centers. Programs that have a budget for buying horses, and we source all of our horses, so that helps us save that money in that way.

And it just, we, we get down to the nitty gritty. We work dirty. We don't have the fanciest of things if you visit other centers, but we, we try to build as much as we can to save for those riders if we needed it. 

Jeff Holden: In terms of volunteers, how many volunteers do you have? 

Emily Calanchini: So we have around 50 a day, so around 250 a week.

Jeff Holden: Oh my gosh, that's, yeah. Far more than I expected. Yes. 

Emily Calanchini: We couldn't run our program without our volunteers, so, right. Yeah. They're, they're the heart and the soul. If volunteers didn't show up, the horses wouldn't have a reason. The riders wouldn't have a reason. We wouldn't have a reason, so we couldn't do it without them.

Jeff Holden: And how about employees? How many people do you, you employ 

Emily Calanchini: [00:30:00] 11. 

Jeff Holden: That's it. Mm-hmm. Yes. And over the course. I would imagine every month is about the same in terms of the, the client Yes. Number that you can, how many people you do you deal with in a, in a week or a month? 

Rachel Prettyman: Around 140. Yeah. When we have, when the school that we service next door is in session, we have a little bit more mm-hmm.

But around 140 average that we read. 

Jeff Holden: That's a lot of people. Yeah. That's a lot of, I, I, I don't, it's not kids. I wanna say kids all the time, but it's not, it's, it's a lot of people you service. Mm-hmm. And I think that's how amazing. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yeah. And I think that's what. You know, it looks, it might look easy to, you know, put a kid on a horse and have, or an adult Oh no, no.

We saw anyone on a horse saw to ride around. I know that's not easy. Yeah. It's not. 

Jeff Holden: You have to, the horse is giant. Exactly. You have to walk up to a staging area. Exactly. Yeah. Especially for a child in a chair. Mm-hmm. And then get them onto the horse. Mm-hmm. It was incredible. It's not what I expected. Yeah.

Rachel Prettyman: And so that's what our instructors on a daily basis, you know, they're, they're looking at the riders. They have, they may have a three-year-old who's totally ambul ambulatory, [00:31:00] hopping on a horse and can go and ride. And then the next lesson they have somebody who has no use of their legs and as an adult and they're having to switch gears and constantly watching to see how they're feeling today.

Are they weak? Are they strong? And, you know, our instructors are going nonstop, riding that mini riders. Mm-hmm. And just constantly problem solving and doing their best to keep them safe and give them the best ride they have. So we. So proud of who we have as instructors, 

Emily Calanchini: even our volunteers with Yeah, with.

You had mentioned the instructors kind of having to quickly shift gears. It's also our volunteers. You know, if we have a kid who's able to hop on quick and then we're moving to another horse with another rider who might not have you. So their legs, the volunteers quickly rushing to get a different tack to put on the new horse.

So it's a lot of rushing around, but they do it in order to get as many writers in as possible. As 

Jeff Holden: you're tight on your, yeah. Your half hour windows. Yeah. You have to move them through. 

Emily Calanchini: Yeah. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Alright, so this is the fun question. 

Rachel Prettyman: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: Money's no object. And you have some significant donors in [00:32:00] that area.

Mm-hmm. And they came and said, here, Rachel, Emily, this check is blank. If you give me a good enough reason it's yours, what would you do? 

Rachel Prettyman: So I'd start with tuition assistance and cover every rider I. For a year plus, I would love to see our writers come to sign, register and start writing and that not be a concern for them and their families.

Beyond that, you know, you got to see in the video our race Wood simulator Buster Brady, that we absolutely love that came from a very generous donr who literally just surprised us with. To cover the cost of the simulator. 

Jeff Holden: And let me, let me explain just for a second. The simulator, for lack of better description, we've all seen a mechanical bull.

Rachel Prettyman: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: And, and what that looks like. This is a mechanical horse. Yes. That, well, it's not gonna buck you off of it intentionally. Yeah. Thankfully, it's, it's meant to teach those who maybe aren't ready for the horse yet. Mm-hmm. Or maybe never because it's controlled. 

Rachel Prettyman: Exactly. But it 

Jeff Holden: does everything in the experience of a horse ride.

And I. [00:33:00] Can say that with confidence 'cause I did it. Mm-hmm. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yeah. Even as 

Jeff Holden: did our producer Sawyer, who, who wanted it on its 

Rachel Prettyman: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Fastest gate. 

Rachel Prettyman: Exactly. Yeah. No, it's, it, it emulates exactly what you would get on a horse, if not a little bit more, the faster speeds that you were talking about we couldn't do in the arena with our riders.

Yeah. And so they can feel what that feels like on the horse. We even have able bodied. Very accomplished equestrians coming in and taking a ride on it after a bad fall or an accident. They need to get their, their confidence and their stamina back. Everyone uses it. The instructors get on to keep their skills up.

It's a very amazing tool. And like you said, if a rider's a little too worried about getting on a real horse, they can start on Bus Brady work up their confidence, or if they can't get on a horse, we have the lift in the room and we can lift them up and seat them on Buster. We are so blessed to have it.

Jeff Holden: And this is not a cheap, no piece of equipment. It's an. Incredibly expensive one. Yes. And I think what's even more exciting is it's one of only four that we know of in the country, in the United States. And you [00:34:00] have it. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yeah, yeah. Came all the way from United Kingdom. So 

Jeff Holden: yeah. What, what an amazing opportunity for people to learn on something that is really rare.

Rachel Prettyman: Mm-hmm. So. 

Jeff Holden: Back to the dream. Yeah. We want, how many of these things 

Rachel Prettyman: we want? Three. So there's three models. We have the dressage version, um, and there's a race scene and a jumping version. So I'd love to have that in the barn to give our students the feel of what it feels like to jump a horse or to go down a racetrack.

And that's also working different muscles that our current simulator wouldn't work on muscle groups. So we'd love to have two more Buster Brady Barns. And then, you know, project Ride. We're so excited. We're outgrowing what we have. Mm-hmm. You know, we have, like I said, a wait list of 200. Riders, we would love to get that wait list down to zero.

And so, you know, thinking big, we'd love to have another site that we could offer more services. Maybe we could bring in PT and OT and have mental health services or at least get the rest of those kids on that wait list riding. So another site, more horses so that we can, you know, clear off that waiting list and um, but you [00:35:00] know, as soon as you clear it, 

Jeff Holden: they'll be back more come.

Rachel Prettyman: Exactly. Well then we'll just have to franchise and get more locations. We have to rides all over, all over the country. So. 

Jeff Holden: Are there other affiliates that you work and talk with that are in similar situations around the country? 

Rachel Prettyman: Yes, so we're under the Professional Association of Therapeutic Writing Path and there's path centers like us all over the country and we do, we, we work with them.

Another instructor and I were just in Texas earlier this week at a workshop, and so we are getting ideas from them, sharing ideas. Our center and so our organization is very collaborative and we'll have instructors from other centers and other states come to watch us teach to get ideas. It's a very collaborative all, we'll we help each other organization.

Jeff Holden: You mentioned obviously another arena or I. Another facility, maybe not in the same space somewhere else in the, in the city. Is there anticipation for a capital campaign at some point? Yes. 

Rachel Prettyman: Yes. We do have a capital campaign that we'd like to get up and running. I think it's a $2 million [00:36:00] budget, but at our, either for another site, another barn offsite, or a current one, we would like to build some extra offices, extra storage space.

More simulator rooms and then more. We have a classroom right now that we do ground lessons and classroom learning in, and I would love to see some more classrooms so that we can do extra activities. So I'd love to see sibling classes for siblings of those with disabilities. I'd love to see parent classes and for that we need space.

Mm-hmm. So that's, that's the bulk of our campaign. It's to keep our current barn and grow up and. See where, what else we can add to that? 

Jeff Holden: And while it's not there yet, we just teased it. 

Rachel Prettyman: Mm-hmm. So 

Jeff Holden: people who are listening to the episode can say, well, maybe I can help. Let's get started. What do we need to get going?

Because I see so, so much value in what you guys are doing for so many in the community. Back to reality. Yeah. The, the day-to-day operation. What, what does it look like? What's the greatest need that you've got today? 

Rachel Prettyman: Tuition assistance is still, it's the forefront of our mind. And then volunteers, like Emily said, [00:37:00] shared earlier, we could not do what we did without our volunteers.

And so those are the two areas that we really focus on day to day is making sure that we can cover lessons for many, as many of our riders as we need, and then keeping the volunteers coming into our program so that we can keep running. 

Jeff Holden: Sure. How many people are. If you know this answer privately funded me paying for it themselves versus those who are coming through a subsidized service, 

Emily Calanchini: I think around half.

Mm-hmm. If I had to say 

Jeff Holden: that's about 50 50. Yeah. 

Emily Calanchini: So I think a lot of our rider families are fortunate that they go through Alta and we or Alta can cover that expense for them. Mm-hmm. But the other half is independent. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. 

Emily Calanchini: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: So really none of the money comes from grants or federal funding or, or contracts locally with the.

State or county, it's really paid through either ALTA or individual 

Emily Calanchini: for, for their tuition and stuff. The majority, yes, we do write grants and we will, you know, connect with city [00:38:00] things and work on those and, you know, along those lines. Mm-hmm. But for the majority of it, it's, you know, out of Alta or out of their own pockets because, you know, we, we might get the grant, but it's only for so much and it'll clearly only last so long.

So, and maybe 

Jeff Holden: only for a specific thing Exactly. 

Emily Calanchini: Or specific. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. Right. Which is good. It's good that you're not reliant on that because we don't know what the state of that looks like going forward. 

Emily Calanchini: Yeah, 

Jeff Holden: and the likelihood is those organizations who are more self-sustaining are gonna be the ones that will sustain because they're not gonna lose 60, 70, 80% of their budgets.

Right. 'cause of the reliance on what may have changed. 

Emily Calanchini: And I think that also kind of falls back on like how much we've been able to build our budget up to be that $640,000 that we mm-hmm. Are operating on for us, you know, being so cautious with how we're spending our money, um, because everything's uncertain.

We know, knows what could happen. So I think for us having, you know, that budget helps us long-term [00:39:00] plan and feel kind of more secure. 

Jeff Holden: Rachel, what's the best way to learn about the program? Whether I'm a parent or I'm somebody that's interested in, in donating, what do we find information out about it?

Rachel Prettyman: Yeah, so the best way to go is to our website, um, project ride.org. Um, so we have tabs there for prospective clients. Volunteers, if you wanna volunteer with us, if you wanna make a donation. Whether it be Tac Horse or a financial donation, there's information there. Or simply just call up the office and ask for Emily or Rachel and come in, stop by and we'll give you a tour and sit down with you and just share what we can.

Jeff Holden: You wanna give us the website? 

Rachel Prettyman: Yes, it's project www.projectdrive.org. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. And we'll have that in the show notes. And what's the number if I wanna call and say I wanna come for a tour? 

Rachel Prettyman: Yes. It's 9 1 6 6 8 5 7 4 3 3. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. So many organizations do so many things that we're familiar with. Project Ride is one of those things doing something most of us never even knew existed.

Or at best, we maybe heard something about it, but [00:40:00] giving those with the disabilities, the opportunity to experience nature on a living thing, and I know that's a big part of getting out of the arena into the. The ride and the trail is just amazing, but it, it teaches them their balance and control and independence, even if it's just for 30 minutes.

Mm-hmm. It's significant. What a blessing. You're giving the families, the respite for the parents. And I saw firsthand the enthusiasm of those two little girls riding the horse and the excitement before they got on. And then when they got off, not only from the children, but the parents as well. In just 30 minutes.

It was amazing to me. Not to mention I got to ride Buster Brady too. That was, I got to ride a horse. What you have at Elk Grove is absolutely simply amazing. Thank you. So I thank you both for your commitment of support with those with disabilities and for your team, both human and horse. You guys are awesome.

Emily Calanchini: Thank you. Thank you so [00:41:00] much.

Jeff Holden: Thank you for listening to the Nonprofit Podcast Network. I hope you enjoyed the episode. If what you heard moved you, please reach out to that organization and do what you can to help. If you like and appreciate what we're doing to support local nonprofits, please give us a positive review. Subscribe and share.

If you're a nonprofit with an interest in participating in an episode. You can reach me at jeff@hearmeowstudio.com. Once again, we're grateful for the businesses who have made this program possible. CAPTRUST fiduciary advice for endowments and foundations. You can find them in Sacramento, Roseville and Folsom captrust.com.

SUD Shine Awards helping support our nonprofit community with grants For more efficient energy usage, sud.org/shine and Western Health Advantage, a full [00:42:00] service healthcare plan for individuals, employer groups, and families western health.com.