The heart of our Session Program is to provide a safe place for children, horses and families to experience hope, healing and encouragement. In each session, through a myriad of methods, there is one main purpose—to Mentor the Child.
This is accomplished by inviting children to come just as they are. The leaders of Hope Rides work hard to pair kids with an activity or horse that will encourage them forward toward hope and personal growth.
All activities are chosen at the discretion of each individual leader. Some of these session activities include working with/riding horses, crafts, games, chores, woodworking and character building life skills. All activities with the children are structured to accomplish our primary goal of creating a safe and loving environment to mentor the child.
2024 Schedule:
Hope Rides Session Program Sign Up Help Sheet 2024
How To Schedule A Session:
The session program is open June-August. The ranch accepts requests for sessions one week (7 days) before the next session availability. Each schedule opens at 7:00 am the morning of the 7th day prior to the next weeks session availability. The schedule will remain open and spots will be filled throughout the week until the day sessions take place. Required ages 7-18.
Follow these simple Steps:
Complete all necessary paperwork prior to visit using online forms. Required forms include the Participant Application and the Family Contact Information. These are located under the Visit the Ranch – Forms section.
Sessions are filled on a first come first serve basis as time stamped.
Hope Rides Visitor Release Form
Each week a wait list will be maintained. In the event that a session becomes available for the week, we will open that session to the individual first in line on the waitlist and work our way through it until it is filled.
Each time you go online to submit your session request you must indicate the following information:
- The name of the child.
- Childs DOB
- Session times in preference from top to bottom. (Please note all times that work for you)
- If your child has any Special Needs please indicate those to allow us to assess proper planning for the session.
- Email notification within 36 hours confirming your session. If you do not receive an email with 36 hours of your request we were not able to meet your current request. Please continue to submit a request for future sessions.
Example of Session Request format:
I would like to request for Bobby Jones, DOB 11/12/1990. Our session requests include (from top to bottom) Request 1: 10-11:30 / Request 2: 11 – 12:30/ Request 3: /Request 4:/ Request 5: Special Needs: In this space please indicate special need information that would be helpful for us to plan for the session and understand your child’s needs, chore, or play activity.
What to Expect:
A typical session is 90 minutes long. The first 30 minutes is spent in some combination of chore, play or educational activity. This typically occurs within a small group setting and Hope Rides volunteer staff. The remaining 60 minutes of each child’s session is conducted with one student, one horse and one session leader. The 60 minute sessions can vary somewhat in nature depending upon the specific needs of a child. Security and safety of all involved is our first priority. While riding is always something we strive to provide for a child, not all session will result in riding.
- Please wear appropriate clothing including long pants and closed toed protective footwear. We do spend time outside so putting on sunscreen and or wearing a hat is recommended. All the necessary paperwork can be found above. Anyone who plans to visit the ranch needs to complete the paperwork.
Cancellations:
If you need to cancel your session for any reason we ask that you please let us know ASAP so that we can open the spot immediately to a child waiting in the wings! In the event that a session is scheduled and there is a no show with no call, Hope Rides does reserve the right to restrict an individual’s use of the ranch if there is an abuse of the ranch property, animals, volunteer or services in anyway. This has not been a problem to date and we do not expect it to be in the future.