A therapy organization is going to do some horsing around this Sunday.
HOrses Helping PEople Inc. will have its annual Fall Festival fundraiser Sunday at 9722 SW 153 Ave. in Archer. The organization provides occupational therapy for patients of all ages that have a variety of disabilities. It was started 12 years ago in a Shands at UF physician’s backyard and is now at a 40-acre location.
HOPE will host pony rides, a bounce house, carnival games, a petting zoo and live music, said Kristen Cooper, executive director of HOPE.
The organization uses horses as therapy, rather than traditional clinical therapy, Cooper said.
“For a lot of patients having numerous therapy and doctors appointments throughout the week, this is kind of a chance to come out and have therapy without even realizing it is therapy,” she said.
The festival is free, and activities cost between $1 and $4. Cooper said she hopes to raise $3,500 for the upkeep of the property and animals.
The therapy is provided by the program’s “six-and-a-half horses”: Candy, Sammy, Chilly, Alvin, Andy, Harry and Rocky, the miniature horse. Cooper said the horses, which are often older and had show careers, are donated by people in the community.
“The horses can really judge who needs them and what they need out of them,” she said.
For Cathi Brown, a founder and board member of the organization, the outcome is well worth the cost of upkeep.
“This gives patients a new view of the world,” she said. “It gives them hope and motivation.”
