Montgomery Area Nontraditional Equestrians

The Montgomery Area Nontraditional Equestrians (MANE) is situated on a 44-acre property in East Montgomery featuring a large outdoor riding arena and a large covered riding arena as well as a 3-acre sensory integration trail. The site is a solely MANE-operated and occupied facility. A paid Executive Director, Program Aministrator, and Equine Director/Volunteer Coordinator enable MANE to serve adults and children with disabilities through a safe and comprehensive therapeutic riding program.  The MANE program runs an exceptionally lean operation and adheres conscientiously to a “work smart” philosophy. With an administrative overhead of less than 6%, MANE represents an outstanding value for donors. Logging more than 8,500 volunteer hours annually, MANE has become a hub of community service improving the lives of more than 430 program participants and their families each year.

 MANE has built a new facility on this property which has reduced maintenance man-hours and expenses, houses additional horses, provide more functional instructional arenas and classrooms, and eliminate weather related concerns. The expansion project provides a riding complex including barn, enclosed arenas, offices, and paddock areas.  The new facility was designed to accommodate Special Olympics horse shows.

 While the primary interventional medium of the program is therapeutic riding, MANE has grown to include health and wellness initiatives for the mind, body, and soul of our clients and their families, as well as the volunteers who serve them. To this end, our “Field of Dreams” sensory integration trail has been conceptualized and implemented. The trail was designed for people with disabilities and their families to be accessed by horse, utility vehicle, and wheelchair or on foot. The MANE “Field of Dreams” represents the largest and most elaborate therapeutic riding sensory integration trail of its kind in the United States today, and many other programs have emulated this model.

Counties we serve: Autuaga, Elmore, Montgomery

Keywords:  horses, hope, disabilities, therapeutic, riding, children, adults, autism, interns, cognitive, developmental, emotional, physical, therapy, MANE