StableStrides - Elbert, Colorado

Tami P.

My daughter Carlie has gone to Stable Strides for over 2 years now on Saturday mornings. It’s a magical place for sure. The volunteer staff is so wonderful. They help Carlie get her horse ‘Bonus’ all ready to ride and let her brush him before they ride. She is very comfortable riding Bonus and has even learned to trot! They have fun games to play and she has some good friends. It’s a wonderful experience!

Tim C.

We absolutely love this organization! Our daughter has been going to StableStrides for almost two years now as part of her therapy for Apraxia. These sessions with her therapist Autumn (who is also amazing) have always gone very smoothly. Over time she has ridden several different horses and there has never been any issue and we have always felt she was safe.

She is always treated so well by the ladies there and they often go out of their way to make her feel comfortable and have fun. It’s hard to express how much we appreciate that and how much it truly means to us. We honestly could not recommend them enough!

Frank T.

We have been here almost 3 years. Our two daughters participated in programs in Texas, Virginia, and Washington state. Stable Strides has excellent Horses, Volunteers, and Program Staff. They are very active in the community. We love coming here each week.

Robert

Jackie is a therapist they have at this location. She told my daughter it was her failult for being violently assaulted at school by an older boy. I am absolutely disgusted that a so called therapist would say this to a child. I do not recommend this place for anyone.

Emily C.

PPTRC is such a wonderful place. The way they work with the volunteers and students is just mind blowing. I've seen in just one session was amazing. A kid who couldn't get his posture to a kid with some of the best posture while he was having the time of his life. If you can I would definitely recommend calling the place about volunteering and/or riding lessons.

Michael B.

I was recommended for Equine Therapy to help with my PTSD. It was very rewarding and I loved the program and was able to attend more sessions. I'm now working with trainers to learn how to train horses for their program. Great people with a wealth of knowledge that truly care about the people and horses in the program.

Nathan B.

My daughter and I were visiting Colorado Springs in August of 2018 for a father-daughter vacation. I had reached out to the Center and spoke to Jenna initially and explained that we have my daughter in therepeutic riding in our home state of Oklahoma and are here for a week. It was explainined via phone that we would need to do an intake in order to ride. We scheduled the intake session for Thursday and explained we were leaving on Sunday. We drove an hour from our hotel in Manitou Springs to the Center and soon discovered from a person named Chester that we had to sign up for weekly riding sessions. I had to explain several times that we were on vacation and that would be impossible. Chester stated that we needed for my daughter’s doctor to complete the paperwork also in order to ride and I stated, I could have that done right then. Chester looked at me very surprised and stated once again that they could not do it unless we signed up for weekly lessons. Although Chester gave me numbers to 3 riding centers (only 2 actually did riding lessons), I explained that we had a chance for a regular riding session with Academy Horse Stables (Garden of the Gods) and that they were now full for the rest of the week and this should have been explained via phone to me that we had to sign up for monthly lessons.

My special needs daughter sat on the bean bag in Chester’s Office visibly heartbroken. I asked Chester if I could continue to sit in his office, since we had a 4:00 intake appointment with him anyway, and try to find a solution. He acted annoyed and said I could sit outside of his office. Within 20 minutes of leaving, I had someone who knows them contact them to see about a riding lesson for my daughter and their excuse was that there was a longhorn convention (which was never even mentioned to me) and they could not even do a 15-minute trot-walk for my daughter.

Chester’s lack of apathy of a heartbroken special needs child due to their error and overall pompous-arrogant lack of professionalism not only caused the grief of a child, but also the loss of a potential donor as I am 100% owner a successful company along as being a partner of a private equity group. As explained to Chester, a 15-minute walk on a horse would have sufficed. Total disregard for our time.

I have friends in Colorado that have attended PPRC events and even donated money. Perhaps they were unaware this is how they act.

I would recommend an overall assessment of Chester for his EQ as a fit for the industry in which he works. Poor professionalism and lack of apathy is not a contributing combo for working with special needs kids and their parents.

Lisa M.

Stablestrides is an incredible program to experience firsthand. The connection between horse and rider is so powerful and the results are incredibly beautiful ♥️