Outreach Programs
Reading With Little Red & Friends
InStride Therapy offers an exciting hands-on interactive experience to help students and teachers explore the joy of reading in a very unique way!
Combining Little Red’s book and real horses, InStride’s Literacy Program reinforces in pre-school, kindergarten and first grade children many of the fundamentals of reading. This innovative partnership with InStride, educators, volunteers, donors and staff members focuses on promoting and strengthening literacy among children.
MISSION: To increase literacy among young children through the magical interactions with horses and the very special story of Little Red and Friends.
During this experience, we also include learning about caring for a horse – connecting with similar skills our children will need to take care of their own personal needs. We address six important child development areas: Feeding (eating/nutrition), Tacking (clothing), Grooming (washing & cleanliness), Farrier (shoes/no shoes), First Aid/Dentistry (health and teeth) and Language Skills (reading to the horses). Our plan is to send each child back to their school with a Little Red and Friends photo book as memories of their special experiences at InStride. Many thanks to everyone who makes this experience an exciting success for each of our special students!
Click here to watch a recent 1st grade class experience with Little Red!
Click here to view the Reading with Little Red and Friends brochure.
Click here to view more of the many "Thank You's" from 1st graders who recently experienced this innovative and exciting program! We didn't forget about their teachers either - Click here to read a few quotes and summary of teacher ratings for Reading with Little Red and Friends!
Program Evaluation by: Christine Lawton-Clark & also Brenda K. Green, M.Ed
"Children in the kindergarten and first grade developmental stages should have moved away from the ego “me” and begin to recognize the differences between themselves and other people and living things in the world. Children at this age will appreciate and enjoy the story about Little Red as the main character. Additionally, young children are drawn to horses and can relate to having friends that are different from themselves, just like Little Red and his friend Charlie.
Class dates for the coming school year are already filling up! Contact us by email or 941-412-9333 to reserve your date/s!
The story is appropriate for kindergarteners as a read aloud initially by the teacher, mid-year as a tool for vocabulary building, and then later in the school year as resources for reading groups or in the classroom library. For the first grader, it is an appropriate reading book at the start of the school year. After reading the story, students can write or journal their thoughts and then, after meeting the character Little Red, can write to record their ideas and reflections. (Pre and Post writings.)"
Building Great Leaders! Through Natural Horsemanship
InStride's new state-of-the-art facility offers year-round programs in equine assisted activities including hippotherapy, therapeutic riding, clinic-based therapies and learning programs. We also offer experiential learning through outreach and youth programs and many volunteer opportunities.
Developed in 2011, Course 1 was delivered to Counselors-in-Training ages 13-16 from the South County Family YMCA. Taught by InStride Executive Director Donna Blem, a Two-Star Parelli Professional, the course features experiences with and around horses and first hand encounters in the commonalities of communicating and leading both animals and people. Course 1 is divided into four days of 2 ½ hour sessions; including classroom discussions, demonstrations, simulations and hands-on time with the horses.
A truly powerful tool to develop and enhance leadership skills!
Course 1’s foundation is Natural Horsemanship which relies on psychology, understanding and communications skills to build a relationship with a horse. Natural Horsemanship is based on Love, Language and Leadership, all in equal doses.
Related topics included caring, honesty, responsibility, respect, feel, patience, assertiveness, effectiveness and how a horse can “willingly offer” you what you want.
Concluding the four sessions of Course 1, participants were each asked to choose a single word to sum up their Course experience and paint this word onto a rock to be permanently located within the InStride garden. Quiet in their thoughts, participants chose to write these words as the markers of their Course I experience: Understanding, Balance, Confidence, Exuberance, Language, Assertiveness, and Inspired!
A Unique Approach - What a powerful way to instill or refresh core leadership principles in your teen leaders, business, association, nonprofit or club!
“I have heard only wonderful things about the training from staff and CIT’s! Susan Brown, School Age Site Director—South County Family YMCA. Join the YMCA in this special opportunity to grow your future leaders!
Parallels to the workplace and personal interactions both inside and outside the world of horses are regularly discussed. Targeted to any age group and either females and/or males, Course 1 is designed for up to 15 participants. Contact us by email or 941-412-9333 to reserve your session dates!
Special Olympics
InStride is the Equestrian facility for Sarasota County Special Olympics. We provide coaching and training for qualified athletes to learn about horsemanship and equestrian sports. Each athlete has the opportunity to participate in Area and County Equestrian Games and some of these athletes qualify for the State Competition. This is a seasonal program running from January through May of each year.
Oak Park School
Since our inception, InStride has worked with the Sarasota County School District to provide quality hippotherapy services to qualified students at Oak Park School. Over the years it has been fulfilling to work with students who might not otherwise be able to participate in our Hippotherapy program.
Parelli Natural Horsemanship
InStride is the homebase for Donna Blem, a 2-Star Licensed Parelli Professional (one of less than 300 in the world). Do you have a dream of having a true relationship with your horse? Imagine going to the gate to get your horse and he is so excited to see you that he comes running to the gate.
Donna can be your guide. Every problem can be solved without force when you use love, language and leadership. This is why Parelli Natural Horsemanship has become the world’s leading method for preventing and solving problems and, most important, establishing a true relationship with a horse.
It teaches you how to see things from their perspective and to use strategies that make sense to the horse. Begin your journey by contacting Donna on her cell at 941-223-4733 or by email.
Read the Parelli SAVVY Club Magazine (August 2012) Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, for a great article about both InStride and Donna!
