We provide access to the healing power of the horse to disabled children and adults dealing with physical and emotional disabilities.
“There is something about the outside of a horse that's good for the inside of a man.” - Winston Churchill
GBSE is a one-of-a-kind community based, all-volunteer organization, founded in 2013 by Sissy De Maria Koehne, Dr. Heather Kuhl and Isabel Ernst. GBSE provides therapeutic horseback riding scholarships for disabled children and veterans in Florida and New York. GBSE enhances the incredible work of local therapeutic stable partners who are changing lives every day through horseback riding and equine assisted programs. Since its inception, GBSE has impacted hundreds of children and veterans with disabilities.
For a child or an adult with a disability, horseback riding provides more than just the uplifting of spirits, companionship, and outdoor recreation. For those confined to a wheelchair or with difficulty with motor and/or communication skills, riding a horse allows them to experience a new sense of freedom where they are transported to exceed perceived physical, emotional and mental limitations. The benefits of equine therapy are many and include, improved balance, eye hand coordination, confidence, accomplishment and self-worth.
While therapeutic centers exist in many communities throughout the nation, the high cost of maintaining the horses – many of them in later stages of life – and providing programmatic therapies, required to provide the services, hinders and limits the Stables ability to develop their own fundraising programs.
Recognizing the typical challenges to additional funding and a need for financial stability among the partner therapeutic centers, GBSE was founded. Support is provided primarily through direct scholarships for children and veterans, allowing the centers to focus on providing access to this life-changing therapy regardless of their riders’ abilities to pay.
On average it costs $2,000 per year to provide a scholarship for a weekly program of therapeutic riding. Give Back for Special Equestrians provides these scholarships by raising funds through the generosity of philanthropists, corporate sponsorships, and events.
Give Back for Special Equestrians also believes in the concept of, “horse sense” and the importance of nurturing young equestrians in the value of giving back.
GBSE’s Young Ambassador Program, founded by board member, Isabel Ernst and today led by Carlota Goyeneche engages and sets an example for today’s youth riders by extolling the virtues of giving back through volunteering with our barn partners, supporting GBSE’s annual events and encouraging support.
To expand our impact and better serve our barn partners we ask you to join us in providing life-changing opportunities to the children and veterans we serve, inspiring their minds to new ambitions and dreams. Please join us and others who believe in the power of horses to heal.