Bridle Paths

Goal: $10,000.00

Specific Need

Bridle Paths seeks to raise $10,000 through Give Choose to support our recently-launched Valor Herd program. Valor Herd is a trauma-informed and evidence-based equine assisted services program for military personnel, first responders, and their families. The program offers horse-powered education, rehabilitation, and development of resilience and post-traumatic growth through experiential sessions with horses. With these funds, we can provide up to twenty equine-assisted learning sessions for Valor Herd families, at no cost to them, offering families the opportunity to learn about themselves and their relationships, in partnership with horses. 

Horses are uniquely suited to partner with humans in building connection, communication, and trust. As prey animals, horses are exquisitely attuned to their surroundings, and they offer and respond primarily to nonverbal communication. Like many participants with trauma histories, horses possess a heightened awareness of and sensitivity to their surroundings. As herd animals, horses seek safety and companionship, and they assume particular roles within the herd structure. Additionally, they live in the present and respond with honesty and authenticity, thus offering humans multiple opportunities to grasp and integrate the horses’ modeling and real-time feedback. Relationships with horses are built on trust and authenticity, rather than on fear or control. In relationships with humans, behavioral or emotional options may seem limited, seemingly requiring actions that are disconnected from the true self and authentic feelings. With horses, by contrast, it generally works best to “come as you are” and “be who you are” – not perfect, just present. The skills and strengths fostered during our sessions are generalizable to interpersonal relationships in many ways.

Our equine-assisted services for Valor Herd families offer an emotionally safe space focused on skill development and are intended to improve overall functioning and quality of life. Participants become better able to identify their needs, ask for help, and attempt more flexible ways of responding to life challenges. Our approach extends beyond focus on a particular trauma, and understands trauma as both an event experienced in the past and an imprint the remains on the mind, body, and nervous system. We support and encourage participants to deal with past traumas while also identifying more adaptive, less reactive coping strategies for managing stress, regulating emotions, and engaging with others.

Bridle Paths is committed to developing sustainable programs for veterans, service members, first responders, and their families. We have provided services for these populations referred by various nonprofit organizations, the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, and certain military medical facilities for more than eleven years. We recognize that the population of military and first responder families in this area is large and growing, and that trauma-informed mental health and related services and family support are underserved needs at this time.  Further, we recognize know that when one person in a family serves, each family member also serves in his or her own way. We serve these families at no cost to them, in gratitude for the service that these families provide to our community. While we have been fortunate enough to receive federal grant funding for our equine-assisted psychotherapy groups for veterans and service members, funds to support services for military and first responder families are considerably more limited. In our experience, it is challenging to maintain reliable access to funds to support our work. Therefore, we seek donations through initiatives such as Give-Choose to support this significant and growing need in our community.

Mission

Bridle Paths is a nonprofit organization that offers authentic connections, in partnership with horses. Our mission is to offer strength, support, and healing to individuals and families through safe, effective, and high-quality equine-assisted services. We provide adaptive horseback riding instruction, equine-assisted learning (EAL), and equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP) services to individuals and families faced with physical, cognitive, psychological, and emotional needs. It is our vision to sustain an environment and an opportunity for our clients to connect, communicate, and trust, in partnership with horses. Our work is guided by our values, which include: (1) respect for the individual, both human and equine; (2) focus on abilities and possibilities, rather than on labels and diagnoses; and (3) delivery of safe, ethical, and emotionally-attuned services.

Profile

Bridle Paths serves children and adults, both civilian and military, who have challenges that are often invisible - attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorders, anxiety and depression, seizure disorders, self-harm, suicidal ideation, brain injuries, post-traumatic stress, and trauma. We recognize that this is a disparate list of diagnoses and challenges, many of which result from racism or sexism experienced in the community, experiences of childhood abuse or neglect, and the judgments and expectations that are placed upon us in various aspects of our lives. In each of our programs (adaptive riding, equine-assisted learning, and equine-assisted psychotherapy), we provide emotionally-attuned services that focus on the cultivation of relationship, communication, connection, and trust. We presently have eleven dedicated program equines; for a number of these equines, the program represents a second or even a third career, in some cases for horses that were viewed to be of otherwise limited importance and viability. 

Bridle Paths is a member of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International, the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia, and the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (Eagala), and our facilitators and instructors hold certifications from both PATH and Eagala.  Katie Fallon, Bridle Paths' Founder and Executive Director, has received a certification from the Human Equine Relational Development (HERD) Institute in equine-facilitated learning, and as a member of the HERD Institute faculty she conducts practicums for equine-facilitated learning certification candidates.

Bridle Paths marked our thirteenth year of operations with continued emphasis on service to those with invisible challenges such as anxiety and depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation, brain injuries, and experiences of trauma. We established and enhanced relationships with local organizations to serve youth at risk, neurodivergent individuals, and military families. We are contributing to the body of evidence demonstrating the efficacy of equine-assisted psychotherapy for veterans and service members. Consistent revenues from therapeutic services and donors, along with new relationships with community organizations, position us well to continue to pursue our mission to offer strength, support, and healing to individuals and families through safe, effective, and high-quality equine-assisted services.

Testimonials from our participants, parents, and volunteers:

Katie sees YOU and pairs you with the horse that mirrors your emotions. They understand each other. With mental illness, understanding is ALL of it…understanding and accepting that this is where you are right now, not just tolerating it. The goal of parenthood is to raise independent children. When you’re coping with mental illness, you need to learn ways to manage the episodes, because mental illness doesn’t just disappear. One of the reasons we are here is so [my son] can learn these skills and apply them in the future…  - AS, Parent of Adaptive Riding student

It’s something about the interaction with the horses and honestly, Katie herself. She brings out the best in [my daughter]. Her physicality has improved so much. She has better balance, better strength, better communication. I noticed it after the first couple of times coming here -she was eager to communicate that. She wanted to come back. This is why we keep coming back. I’ve seen an increase in her abilities all around. - HO, Parent of Adaptive Riding Student

It’s the most genuine, safest place for me in my life. I don’t have to talk about anything if I’m having a rough week. I can, but I don’t have to. I learn a lot about myself even when I’m riding or grooming through Chance…he and Katie and the program have been a big part of making me who I am today. I am in a very different place than I was a few years ago. One of the biggest things is learning to have the same respect for myself as I do for other people, same empathy as I do for others. I’ve learned to set expectations and be clear without having that guilt, I think it’s  made me more comfortable in my skin. I can ask for what I need. In essence, I feel like I’ve grown up a lot since being here. - HK, Adaptive Riding Student

It’s a place where you are accepted for who you are. You don’t have to be afraid to be open about whatever is going on, you can express it. You can be fully present, it doesn’t matter what is going on in the outside world, it’s what is happening right here. - DB, Adaptive Riding Student

I think what the horses have helped me with is showing up in the moment and paying attention to how I am presenting myself towards others... The horses will tell you non-verbally what works for them and what doesn’t, and it’s your job to just take that as information and not take it personally. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re doing something wrong, it’s just that they have a different preference. Taking that in as information, not criticism - that’s a big life lesson. Being in those [veteran] programs gave me the understanding why it might be beneficial to bring my daughter here and it gave me the tools to reflect back those same things(lessons) to her. I think she feels really seen and heard here and she’s able to be her funny, playful self; she can show up authentically and not have to mold to what she thinks other people need her to be. - TQ, Veteran, U.S. Army and Parent of Adaptive Riding Student

When I came to realize that I could just be myself [here] without being anything than what I am, it brought me a lot of peace. It helped me unravel and loosen some of the knots I had inside. That didn’t cure me, but being able to find a piece of the ground that doesn’t change underneath [me] is really special. In my personal life there is a lot of mistrust and confusion as to what is happening, but there isn’t any confusion here. - KB, Veteran, U.S. Navy

I’ve learned to become more patient and not always controlling everything. In my personal life I like to have a plan and a goal, but when I’m with the horses I learn how to be more in the present.  - OP, Volunteer

There is no judgment here at all. Katie has a way of making volunteers and clients very comfortable. People [often] come in unsure of themselves, some with low self-confidence, and she is very disarming and really helps people feel comfortable saying what they want to say and comfortable making mistakes. It’s a big thing. It is really important to be able to just be. - AS, Volunteer

We have the philosophy: come as you are, the horses can handle anything as long as you’re honest. The horses see you as you are, and there is no judgment in that relationship… We’ve created a very welcoming, inclusive environment. We avoid assigning labels: for example, ‘that horse is acting up or being stubborn’. We teach and ask ‘why are they doing that, what are they trying to tell us? And I think that philosophy has really helped us so much with the clients. If a client seems really upset I wonder why. Are they worried, are they anxious, are they confused, do they not understand something? That opens up conversation and whole new perspective to look at things and creates deeper connection, ‘Oh I understand you, help me learn about this and how I can help you.’  - MF, Volunteer

$10,636.30 received
in 12 gifts 106.36%  of  $10,000.00 Goal