Programs

Gleneayre is one of only a handful of equine-assisted facilities in southern New Jersey and the only program in our immediate area that provides three unique programs to serve the local community.

• Working Student Program: Each student ages 10-19 is assigned a horse to ride and care for all through the year in a safe space to learn, develop, and practice life skills, self-confidence, and responsibility. The program includes school support, vocational training, camaraderie with peers, and supervision by caring adults as students learn to ride and work with horses. Riding opportunities include participating in horse shows, in the Interscholastic Equestrian Association programs, and in clinics with noted professional trainers.
• Equine-Facilitated Learning (EFL): Group sessions of unmounted activities with horses are tailored to help promote planning, problem-solving, communication, cooperation, and other life skills. The trusting nature of the horse-human connection encourages participants to lower their defenses and their habitual reactivity and become more receptive to new ideas and positive relationships with others.
• Equine-Facilitated Mental Health (EFMH): Conducted by a licensed mental health professional, EFMH sessions are experiential in nature and held for individuals and groups. Participants learn about themselves and others by participating in activities with the horses, and then processing (or discussing) feelings, behaviors, and patterns.

As an equine-assisted program, we are unique in our choice and management of our horses. Initially, horses are carefully selected for their temperaments and abilities to enter our Working Student riding program. When the horses are no longer suitable for the riding program (often because of age), they move into our unmounted equine-facilitated group programs. All horses that enter our programs have a forever home at Gleneayre.