The Equus Foundation’s board of directors has awarded more than $270,000 to various equine related charities. The grants were dispensed between 72 charities with the mission to improve the quality of life for horses, and the people that interact with them.
The majority of the funds, 90 percent to be exact, went to organizations and charities concerned with horse welfare, as well as charities that provide equine-assisted therapies to people with special needs. Ten percent of the funds then went to charities that provided scholarships or provided relief to injured and ill equestrians.
The American Institute for Neuro-Integrative Development in Westport, Conn., received the Michele E. Arnhold Grant award. This award was established in memory of Michele’s passion for horses and her contribution to the equestrian sport. The Institute will use the funds to assist with the cost of their therapeutic riding program, which serves students with neuro-biologically based learning disabilities.
The grant will also help fund Dr. Margaret L. Bauman’s research study on the quantitative benefits of therapeutic riding, specifically related to cases of children with autism.
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The Gray and Jerry Fadden Grant was awarded to the Buffalo Therapeutic Riding Center in Buffalo, N.Y. The Center is home to children with physical and mental disabilities, most of who come from economically challenged families. The Center is also a PATH International Premier Center, the highest level of certification available to therapeutic riding centers.
Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Lisbon, Md., received the Visse M. Wedell Grant. The purpose of the farm is to rescue and rehabilitate abused horses that have been seized by animal control. More than 1,700 horses have been rescued since 1989, and the rescue houses between 50-90 horses daily.
Equine Voices and Rescue Sanctuary is the recipient of the Ruth Meyer Epstein Grant. Equine Voices, based in Green Valley, Ariz., has rescued more than 340 horses since 2004. Equine Voices also conducts workshops for horse owners and potential adoptive families in the subjects of horsemanship and equine care.
Grants were awarded in 2011 to charities in 27 states and the District of Columbia, including: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
