Equine Skills Program

If interested, please contact Heather Suoto - hsouto@farmingtonpolo.com

Program runs June – mid-August and meets every other Tuesday from 5pm-6pm

The Hometown Foundation Inc.’s Equine Skills Program focuses on the therapeutic healing a horse can provide for program participants, while building a community and network of individuals who will support one another in an inclusive and accepting environment. Our Equine Skills Program offers equine-assisted activities and equine skill services to individuals of all ages who possess impairments, functional limitations, intellectual or physical disabilities, as well as those who suffer from PTSD, abuse, trauma, or psychological disabilities.

Our Equine Skills Program takes place at The Farmington Polo Club property. The 80-acre property in the heart of the Farmington Valley is home to over 30 polo ponies, along with goats, cats, turkeys, cows and mini ponies. In addition to equine skills and education, participants also get to work with the beloved goats and learn about goat care. The horses involved in the program are part of the club's polo lesson program. While powerful on the polo field, the selected equines show their deep embrace to human interaction and highly enjoy their time with the group. The bonds that are formed between the horses and individuals over the course are truly life changing.

The Equine Skills Program is focused solely around ground training work between the program participants, the horse, and the staff member. The focus is on the interaction between the participant and horse to enhance communication with the animal. Horses overall can provide an extreme amount of emotional support for an individual, which is why equine skills is vital to use in various therapeutic settings as the presence of the animal allows for a stronger breakthrough for the participant.

The goal of the program is to build self-confidence within our program participants while increasing their emotional awareness and intelligence along with increasing their communication skills. The program works to establish trust in other and trust in self, increase empathy, establish impulse control, and assist in increasing the participant’s comfort levels and emotional awareness.

Through this program the horses provide a beneficial sense of non-judgmental and unbiased peace as they interact with the participant’s socioemotional and behavioral actions. The participant and horse can communicate through behavioral actions rather than words with a therapist. In many cases, this allows the participant to first improve their communication with an animal and others around them.

The Equine Skills Program directly represented the efforts of The Hometown Foundation and Farmington Polo Club with the overarching goals to benefit individuals in need and bring the community together.