At a glance
- Category
- Holistic Healthcare
- How it's listed
- Found in our own research. Its site was confirmed live and serving the military community on . That is a check that it exists, not a judgement that it is good.
- Website
- braveheartsriding.org
About BraveHearts
Published by BraveHearts on their own website. Quoted here in full as they wrote it.
Our Mission
BraveHearts brings hope, joy and unlimited possibilities through the healing power of the horse.
Our Vision
BraveHearts envisions being the premier model for connecting horses with people as a catalyst for wellness. Everyone will have the opportunity to discover healing horsemanship through the BraveHearts model.
Our History
In August 1993, while waiting to be discharged from the hospital after what she thought was a routine surgery, Marge Tautkus Gunnar learned that she had ovarian cancer. The ensuing months of chemotherapy were long, difficult, and completely life altering. During the course of her treatment, Marge not only derived courage and strength from the love and devotion of family and friends, but also from the deep and soulful connection she had to her Lipizzan stallion, Neapolitano IV Farica (Max). “One day when feeling particularly depressed, my sister bundled me into the car and we headed to the barn. When I entered Max’s stall, he looked at me with large soft eyes that seemed to question ‘Where have you been?’ I threw my arms around his neck, buried my face in his mane and sobbed. Max wrapped his neck around me and squeezed. I felt that connection between us was so powerful, I knew that Max was one of the reasons I had to get well. Although I didn’t know it at the time, it was then that the seed for BraveHearts was sown.”
Fast forward to the year 1998, as Marge is considered a statistical cure. Outwardly, her life seemed to have resumed its normal day-to-day patterns. However, inwardly, she was plagued with the nagging question of why had she survived a disease to which all too many women succumb?
In the spring of 1999, Marge came to the realization that she would like to enable others who are in distress to feel the healing and strength she felt through her connection with her beloved Max. She began volunteering at a therapeutic riding center and was immediately impressed with the life-changing effect this type of activity can have on individuals of all ages and with different ability levels. She expressed her experience saying,”…I saw kids who were completely non-verbal begin to use words for the first time. Kids with autism became more focused and attentive. I watched people whose lives were spent looking up from a wheelchair develop a new sense of confidence as they smiled down from the back of a horse. I marveled as people who started out with almost no core trunk strength improved so dramatically that they could actually post a trot with little or no help. And I also discovered the true reason that God had brought beautiful horses into my life and had helped me survive a catastrophic illness. He had a plan, and that plan was BraveHearts.”
Marge not only derived courage and strength from the love and devotion of family and friends, but also from the deep and soulful connection she had to her Lipizzan stallion, Neapolitano IV Farica (Max).
Our write-up
BraveHearts is in our directory because we went looking for resources in this category and confirmed theirs is real and serving this community. What you see above is their own description, quoted from their site. We have not yet added our own write-up — the programs, eligibility and military fit that we check ourselves — and we would rather leave that blank than guess at it.
In the meantime, their official site is the authority: braveheartsriding.org
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