Grey Horse Equestrians (greyhorseequestrians.com), a greater St. Louis area-based nonprofit therapeutic riding organization, is launching a new non-riding program to develop life skills in children with complex trauma needs. 

Grey Horse Equestrians already offers mounted equestrian programming for veterans and individuals with disabilities; Stable Moments (stablemoments.com) expands that mission with a ground-based, non-riding model built around mentorship rather than horsemanship instruction.

Stable Moments is an internationally recognized, evidence-based program model in which Grey Horse Equestrians has recently been certified.

Grey Horse Equestrians' Stable Moments program is now accepting applications. The deadline to apply is August 15. The program will begin in September.

Research shows that the most important factor in helping children move through adverse childhood experiences is one stable relationship with a healthy adult. Stable Moments matches one child with one horse and one community mentor, for one hour a week over nine months — a typical school year. Sessions take place on the ground, working alongside the horse rather than riding it, making the program accessible to any child regardless of riding experience or physical ability.

The Stable Moments model is specifically designed for children in foster care, adopted children, or those who have experienced childhood trauma caused by abuse, neglect, and/or abandonment. Childhood trauma affects brain development, and Grey Horse Equestrians takes this into account to provide healing during mentor sessions, applying a trauma-informed approach that runs through all of the organization's programs, from mounted riding lessons for veterans and individuals with disabilities to Stable Moments' ground-based mentorship for foster and adopted youth.