At Fair Hill Therapeutic Riding Center, horses are more than animals — they’re teachers. Helping people build confidence, communication skills, and emotional connection, they offer lessons that traditional classrooms or therapy rooms often cannot.

“Your ability to connect with the horse for the rider affects them deeply in areas we can’t even measure,” said Vera Remes, a PATH International–certified therapeutic riding instructor and equine assisted learning specialist. “At Fair Hill, the most important component is the horse.”

Connection Comes First

Fair Hill’s one-hour lessons are structured to prioritize connection before skill. Executive Director Sally emphasizes relationship-building with the horse before teaching riding techniques.

“They could do stuff we really can’t do with words,” Remes said. “There are skills, and then there’s connection for our riders.”

During sessions, participants begin on the ground with breathing exercises and grooming, learning how their body language affects the horse.

“When you get an equine involved, they affect everyone in the area,” Remes explained. “There’s even research that shows their heartbeat can lower the heartbeats of people in the lesson. It’s called heart rate variability.”

Parents often notice improvements at home. “One little vignette,” Remes said, “is when a kid who’s never said a word tells their horse to ‘walk on.’ Your heart just swells.”

Beyond Traditional Riding

Therapeutic riding differs from standard instruction because the horse’s movement itself promotes healing.

“If someone’s on a horse, it approximates the movement of the human body walking,” Remes said. “You’ll often see improvement in gait, balance, and coordination.”

Fair Hill’s instructors ensure horses keep moving during lessons. “When they’re walking, you’re helping with balance and coordination — all the things you can’t really teach. The horse is doing that,” she said.

Serving a Wide Community

Fair Hill serves children with developmental, intellectual, and behavioral disabilities, adults, seniors, foster children, and veterans.

“We have a woman with a bad back,” Remes said. “The horse helps her because she can’t walk well. When she gets off, she feels better.”

The center also runs Stable Moments, a mentoring program for foster youth. “When you change a person’s attitude, other things come along with it,” Remes said. “It changes how they think of themselves and the people around them.”

Volunteers: The Heart of Fair Hill

Volunteers are essential to the program. Annual training, led by Remes and Nancy Van Wick, is set for Saturday, January 31, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Maplewood Farms in Waymart.

“We welcome people even with no training,” Remes said. “We’ll make them really good volunteers who can interact with professionals, participants, and families. You’ll never feel stranded.”

She adds with a laugh, “Nancy and I are like comedians. It will not be dry and academic.”

A Place of Belonging

For Remes, Fair Hill is more than therapy — it’s community.

“When I walk into the barn, I get that warm and fuzzy feeling,” she said. “It’s a place where people are just so accepting of whatever different abilities you might have. That’s what the horse does for you.”

More information on volunteering and programs is available at fairhill.farm.