Work to Ride is a nonprofit prevention program in Philadelphia centered on horsemanship, equine sports, and education, The Trace reports. It teaches young people how to develop relationships with each other through caring for horses. In exchange for the lessons, the kids help maintain the stable. The idea is that activities like mucking stalls can provide a therapeutic break from the daily challenges young people face. Research has shown that working with horses can increase confidence and reduce stress and anxiety. Competitive sports and team building help build social skills, like conflict resolution. Building community is also one of Work to Ride’s primary goals — along with building empathy. The empathy necessary for the task, program directors say, is a key component for keeping kids safe, including from violence, in the long run. Caring for horses teaches empathy because participants are responsible for noticing — and tending to — anything that goes wrong before they can first saddle up.
Other groups across the city and state have also tapped into horsemanship as a way to heal and promote safety. On the other side of Pennsylvania, Hope on Horseback works with the Crime Victim Center of Erie County to provide equine-assisted healing for trauma and sexual abuse survivors. And on a little block in North Philly, a man affectionately known as El-Dog, Elliss Ferrell, isn’t turning away any child that comes to his Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club. That riding club, which Ferrell started after observing the effects of gun violence on kids in his area, will soon celebrate 20 years of programming. Each equine program “provides a different service,” said Nicole Bryan, a volunteer and staff member with Ferrell’s program. “We are first and foremost a community center,” she said. “That makes us different from other programs that focus solely on the art of equestrianism.”
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