Sonrisas Trails Therapeutic Riding has been providing therapeutic horseback riding to those with physical, mental and emotional challenges through a carefully structured program of equine activities for almost 40 years. We have had children take their first steps after riding the horses in our program. We have seen other children begin to speak after years of being non-verbal after learning to give instructions to our horses. Our veterans begin to restore a sense of normalcy and reduce anxiety while adjusting to their post-war lives after working with our horses. These are just some of the life changing benefits of therapeutic horseback riding at Sonrisas Trails. These seemingly small accomplishments are the difference between existing and living.
We serve a yearly average of over one hundred riders, but touch hundreds of more lives through our ground-work programs and community outreach with our pony Buttercup. The majority of our riding population are children ages 3-11 that come from local ISDs in the Concho Valley and we also have adult community classes where our oldest rider is currently 94! The majority of our riders come completely free of charge and are never turned away.