Bridle Paths

Goal: $5,000.00

Specific Need

Bridle Paths seeks to raise $5,000 through Give Choose to help us to provide equine-assisted activities for military families through our Horse Power for Military Families Fund. With these funds, we can provide twenty equine-assisted learning sessions for military families, at no cost to them. As described in greater detail below, in these experiential sessions, military families partner with horses to learn about themselves and their relationships, working on skills such as mindfulness, communication, boundary-setting, and collaboration.

Bridle Paths has provided services to veterans, service members, and families referred by various nonprofit organizations, the Virginia Department of Veterans Services, and certain military medical facilities for the past several years. We have received both federal and local grant funds to support our equine therapy work with veterans and service members, and we hope to receive additional funds through upcoming grant opportunities.

Bridle Paths recognizes that the population of military families in this area is large and growing, and that trauma-informed mental health and related services and family support are underserved needs at this time; we know that when one person in a family serves, each family member also serves in his or her own way. We serve these families at no cost to them, in gratitude for the service that these families provide to our community. In our experience, it is challenging to maintain reliable access to funds to support our work with military families. Therefore, we seek donations through initiatives such as Give-Choose to support this significant and growing need in our community.

Working with horses can be extremely helpful for families in addressing emotional and psychological challenges in that it allows - in fact requires - us to be in the moment, authentic, and congruent in body, mind, and spirit. Through mounted and unmounted programs, Bridle Paths offers a safe and supportive environment in which participants can be honest and authentic, think clearly about their challenges, and achieve growth, learning, and healing.

Horses are uniquely suited to helping individuals and families address challenges. Horses are prey animals, acutely attuned to their environments and to nonverbal communication, and in they live and engage in a herd environment that offers safety and community. Although difficult emotions (such as anxiety, distrust, and perhaps even fear) can arise when working with horses, those emotions can be processed in a safe way, working with the horses and with trained professional staff. Through working with horses, participants can address directly such challenges as anger management, self-harm, post-traumatic stress, boundaries, and attachment. Participants work in a natural, outdoor environment, with a strong experiential component that facilitates active learning and problem solving. Participants can employ problem-solving skills to address issues relating to boundaries, relationships, leadership, and communication, and then can proceed to learning new skills, finding trust, and taking responsible risks with the horses. These skills translate directly to experiences outside the barn environment, and enable participants to reconnect and relate with the world in a more authentic way.

Among the functional goals and objectives realizable for our participants are:

(1) Cognitive development, including improvements in learning, recall, sequencing, and application of information regarding grooming, tacking, and applicable safety procedures around horses;

(2) Physical development in areas such as balance, coordination, stamina and proprioception;

(3) Executive functioning skills, including planning and organization, memory, initiation, flexibility in new situations, decision-making, motivation, and planning and prioritization;

(4) Impulse control and self-awareness;

(5) Emotional and social development, including consideration of boundaries, relationships, resiliency and optimism, leadership, and communication, with attention to connection, trust, interaction in group settings, and responsible risks.

Mission

The mission of Bridle Paths is to offer strength, support, and healing to individuals and families through safe, effective, and high-quality equine-assisted services.

It is our vision to CREATE authentic connections, in partnership with horses.

Connect with our community

Nurture Relationships

Practice Emotional attunement

Focus on Abilities and possibilities

Maintain Trust with clear communication

Prioritize Ethics and integrity

Profile

Bridle Paths is a nonprofit organization based in Leesburg, Virginia, that offers unique programs for individuals with invisible challenges - attention deficit disorder, autism spectrum disorders, anxiety and depression, seizure disorders, self-harm, suicidal ideation, brain injuries, post-traumatic stress, and trauma. We offer adaptive riding instruction, equine-assisted learning, and equine-assisted psychotherapy services to individuals and families faced with physical, cognitive, psychological, and emotional needs. Horse-human connections build mindful presence, awareness, and honest communication. Most of our participants reside in the Loudoun County area, with others coming from Fairfax County, Washington, D.C., and Maryland. We presently have eleven dedicated program equines; for a number of these equines, the program represents a second or even a third career, in some cases for horses that were viewed to be of otherwise limited use and viability.

Bridle Paths is a member of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) International, the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia, and the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA). Katie Fallon, Bridle Paths Executive Director, is a PATH Certified Advanced Level Therapeutic Riding Instructor, PATH Certified Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning, and EAGALA Certified Equine Specialist, and she provides services to clients on a volunteer basis. Ms. Fallon has received a certification from the HERD Institute in equine-facilitated learning, and she has joined the equine-facilitated learning faculty of the HERD Institute as well. Additionally, she received certification early in 2020 as a Masterson Method Equine Specialist.

The Bridle Paths program was incorporated in 2012, and has grown tremendously since its inception. Bridle Paths’ eleventh year was marked by continuity and collaboration. We supported participants with invisible challenges such as anxiety and depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation, brain injuries, and experiences of trauma in building mindful presence, awareness of self and others, and honest communication. Our emotionally-attuned services help participants to manage stress, regulate emotions, and build authentic connections, in partnership with horses. Consistent revenues from therapeutic services and donors, along with new relationships with community organizations, position us well to continue to pursue our mission to offer strength, support, and healing to individuals and families through safe, effective, and high-quality equine-assisted services. Outlined below are our goals for 2023 and associated results.

Develop sustainable programs for veterans, service members, and their families

Bridle Paths delivered equine therapy groups for 55 veterans and staff from military medical centers and the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs with our 2022 VA Adaptive Sports Grant. We are one of 14 organizations nationwide to receive a 2023 VA Adaptive Sports Grant to provide equine therapy for veterans and service members in fiscal year 2024.
We continued our collaborations with Team Red White and Blue and the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run, hosting both family equine therapy and equine-assisted learning sessions.
We began a partnership with the Virginia Department of Veterans Services Virginia Veteran and Family Support to provide equine-assisted psychotherapy sessions for military families.
We received a grant from the Rotary Club of Leesburg, which will permit us to provide a year’s worth of adaptive riding sessions for veterans.

Expand equine-assisted learning (EAL) programs.

We partnered with a local behavioral health facility to provide weekly EAL sessions for more than 50 clients and facility staff.
We began a collaboration with the Ryan Bartel Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to teen suicide prevention, to serve local teens through the FORT and other initiatives.

Provide training and certification opportunities for equine-assisted services professionals.

We hosted our first Fundamentals of EAGALA Model Training for more than 40 mental health professionals and equine specialists.
Executive Director Katie Fallon delivered an in-person equine-facilitated learning certification for the HERD Institute in 2023, with two more certifications scheduled for the summer of 2024.
Katie Fallon presented on our Making the Connection EAL and equine therapy programs at the HERD Institute conference, and at the first-ever Military Horse Sense Online Conference sponsored by Horse Sense of the Carolinas.
Katie Fallon joined staff from the Masterson Method to present on equine bodywork for EAS horses at the PATH Intl. conference in October 2023

Build operating funds to care for our horses.

Volunteer hours totaling more than 6,000 supported all aspects of operations, including the establishment of volunteer teams to support website development, social media, and online fundraising and customer relations management.
Haflinger mare Burrito joined our healing herd.
Bridle Paths served 31 unique adaptive riding clients in nearly 800 lessons. We served 16 unique equine-assisted psychotherapy clients in more than 50 sessions, and established relationships with local mental health professionals.
Revenue from therapeutic services exceeded $140,000.
We hosted our first Horsepower for Healing fundraiser at the Vineyards and Winery at Lost Creek, raising more than $20,000.
Contributions to the program exceeded $70,000. These gifts allow us to provide enhanced wellness care for our horses, allocate funds to serve military families at no cost to them, and invest in technology and administrative improvements to support program growth.

In 2024, we look forward to: