Horse Code

Horse Code
Nonprofit helps clients make 'forward strides'

Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer

TEMPLETON  What happens outside the gate, stays outside the gate.

That’s what Ellin March tells clients starting their journey with Forward Strides, a nonprofit organization specializing in therapeutic horsemanship and riding for people with physical, mental and behavioral difficulties.

Many of her clients have never ridden a horse, have never seen one up close — but the effect the animals have on them is both immediate and lasting, Ms. March said.

“When I worked as a community integration counselor, I had a lot of success bringing my clients to the barn,” Ms. March said. “Now it’s all I do.”

Ms. March said she focuses on creating an environment with as little structure as possible. There are no clocks allowed at the barn and, free from the constraints of time, clients can spend their sessions on the scenic Freight Shed Road property sitting under the many apple trees, listening to birds and letting their guard down.

“It’s having a clinical intervention outside the clinical setting,” Ms. March commented. “It’s wonderful.”

 News staff photos by KATIE LANDECK At Forward Strides Therapeutic Horsemanship, clients are given the opportunity to feed and groom the horses, as well as take riding or driving lessons.

 ‘It’s having a clinical intervention outside the clinical setting. It’s wonderful.’ Ellin March





With people coming in from groups such as LUK, Alternatives and The Bridge of Central Massachusetts, Ms. March said Forward Strides serves clients by working with everything from autism to substance abuse, allowing them avenues and outlets for treatment not available in an office or a typical therapy session.

“A lot of people that are in the system are challenged with appropriate touch,” she explained. “They don’t get hugged enough and they don’t hug enough.”

Being able to hug an animal, whether it’s the imposing but mellow George, gentle Douala, or tiny Shadow, gives clients a sense of unconditional acceptance that can set them on the path to recovery. Spending time with the horses, whether through riding or grooming, also helps clients set and develop healthy boundaries, as they must “ask permission” to approach and handle the much larger animal.

“If that horse doesn’t like you, it will walk away from you and you can’t stop it,” Ms. March said. “You have to work on changing your behavior in order to make the horse want to stay with you.”



 ‘It’s having a clinical intervention outside the clinical setting. It’s wonderful.’ Ellin March

In the year since they moved to the Templeton Developmental Center site, Forward Strides has fostered several partnerships with local organizations, including the Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center, which sends veterans out every Wednesday to work in the barn and spend time with the horses. Ms. March said this is the second year the center has run the program and, in the months since, many of the veterans who attended last year have transitioned out of MVOC.

“MVOC is a transitory service, and what they’re trying to reach is what they get here,” Ms. March said. “It’s another way to be a little more accepted. It’s all just a ripple effect of being here.”

Ms. March said the group is now focusing on fundraising to cover the lease for the barn, as well as the cost to bring three additional horses to the facility for clients.

“We’re a nonprofit, and the majority of our clients don’t pay,” Ms. March said of the fundraising campaign, which can be found on the crowdsourcing site GoFundMe.

Over the summer, the group will also add new animals, including four chickens from a farm in Belchertown, and a colony of newborn rabbits that will headline a new therapy initiative. Ms. March said the group is always looking for both donations and volunteers. Anyone interested in either can visit forwardstrides.org.