Forty years ago, two influential community residents – 4-H leader Barbara Baird and journalist Leonard Warner – realized a mutual dream to provide equine-assisted therapy to Loudoun County’s residents with special needs. The notion of using horses to provide emotional and physical benefits to people with physical and cognitive disabilities was fairly new in the United States, although already well established in Great Britain, when Baird and Warner created what would become Loudoun Therapeutic Riding.

On Saturday, Oct. 11, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Loudoun Therapeutic Riding (LTR) celebrates its 40th anniversary with its version of an open house – an “Open Barn” – at the Morven Park Equestrian Center north of Leesburg.

The Open Barn event is open to the public and includes a chance to meet the therapy horses and ponies and enjoy activities that include pony rides, hay wagon rides, and games. Entrance is free (although donations to the nonprofit organization will be gratefully accepted), and food will be available for purchase.

In the organization’s first five years (which included a substantial boost in its profile when then-Sen. John Warner and his wife Elizabeth Taylor once hosted a fundraiser for the organization), it served a total of 90 participants. Today, Loudoun Therapeutic Riding provides services to more than 140 participants every year, ranging in age from 3 to 73 and including a number of wounded military personnel.

“As the first and longest operating program in Virginia, LTR has impacted thousands of people through its work,” says Executive Director Joanne Hart. “Horses are amazingly responsive to human emotions, are completely non-judgmental, and teach empathy and patience. Besides the horses, though, we rely on a large team of wonderful volunteers who would all tell you they receive as much benefit from the program as the participants.”

LTR is a nationally accredited nonprofit organization that is sustained through the financial support of individuals and businesses in the community. LTR offers programs in Therapeutic Riding, Hippotherapy, Therapeutic Carriage Driving, and Equine Services for Heroes, a program to support veterans and their families suffering from the traumas of war. 

“People are much more aware now than they were four decades ago of the power of horses to improve the lives of children and adults with diverse emotional and physical needs,” says Hart. “We hope the community will join us to celebrate 40 years of meeting those needs and to be with us as we look forward to serving the public for 40 more!”

More information about Loudoun Therapeutic Riding, its milestone anniversary, and its Open Barn event is available at www.ltrf.org.