EDEN FARMS4700 Dacusville Highway,  Marietta, SC 29661

                                          (864) 898-0043   edenfarms@nuvox.net   

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Our mission is to provide therapeutic riding and other equine related activities to individuals with special physical, emotional, and cognitive needs in a safe and fun environment. We are a NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) Operating Center and adhere to the standards of this association.

Research shows that therapeutic riding can provide remarkable physical, emotional, and mental benefits. A horse’s movement stimulates the rider’s body in a manner that closely resembles the gait of a human. This motion promotes muscle strength, increases endurance, and improves posture, balance and coordination. Relationships formed with horses and volunteers bring increased   confidence, patience, and self-esteem.

   Happy Hooves is a nonprofit organization. As such, we depend on contributions to provide feed, veterinary and farrier care, tack, and anything else that it takes to operate the program. Please call to make a donation or learn how to sponsor a horse and rider.  

Volunteers provide an invaluable service to Happy Hooves. Experience with horses is not necessary, as assistance is needed for all positions within the program.  Please call today to find out how you can become a Happy Hooves volunteer!

    The Happy Hooves Therapeutic Equestrian Center has begun Spring sessions, and is looking forward to summer and fall sessions! Please call for more information on how to participate!

    At this time we are offering riding therapy designed to meet the specific needs of each participant. The prescribed program may include grooming, saddling, and learning riding skills or may be passive in nature.

    Riders participate one time per week for each session. Spring and Fall sessions last for ten weeks. Summer is an eight-week session and Winter is a six week session. There is a maximum of four riders per group lesson. Happy Hooves one-hour lessons are divided into two sections. The first one consists of 30 minutes of groundwork, which includes grooming, tacking, and mounting. The second involves 30 minutes of mounted work, which includes exercises, riding skills, and games/activities.

• Grooming and tacking (putting the saddle and equipment on) address the following developmental areas: fine and gross motor skills, spatial awareness, vocabulary, motor planning, sequencing, memory, endurance, attention span, hand/eye coordination, bilateral involvement, balance, crossing midline and muscle strengthening. The groundwork part of the lesson is vital for maximizing the therapeutic benefits of the program. Not only is this where the rider experiences responsibility and discipline, but also the satisfaction that comes with caring for another living being. The riders spend as much time grooming and tacking as they do riding in the arena. Grooming and tacking are an integral part of riding therapy.
• The mounted segment of the lessons includes exercises, riding skills and games. Riding challenges the rider in these areas: balance, coordination, fine and gross motor skills, right and left handedness, motor planning, sequencing, communication, body awareness, muscle strength, flexibility, vestibular stimulation, teamwork, socialization, and self-esteem.
• Developmental Vaulting consists of thirty-minute lessons in which the horse is already prepared for the rider and therefore, the rider is not involved in grooming and tacking. Riders for this specific type of therapy are determined according to age, ability level, attention span or individual therapy goals. In this 20-30 minute mounted lesson riding skills may or may not be taught. Our primary focus is physical therapy using the horse as a moving bolster. The rider may be positioned various ways on the horse to maximize the effect.

    We are very dependent on volunteers to assist with our lessons. Each rider may require from 1 to 3 volunteers as assistants. We ask that our volunteers commit to at least 1 hour per week for the duration of a session.

    If you are interested in participating in our program as a rider, instructor, or volunteer please call Eden Farms at (864) 898-0043.