Hugs for Horses Therapeutic Riding Program

07/17/2024

Apply NOW! No cost to participants. A different way to give confidence in reading skills using horses as peers in learning. For kids one or more years behind in reading skills.

Only a few spots left. Accepting applications till 7/19.

07/12/2024

Horse Powered Reading®️and Therapeutic Riding Camp for kids who have completed 1st grade and up who are at least one year behind in their reading. No cost to rider. Space limited.

Camp is FREE if you have a child struggling with reading or a grade level behind. We just got approval for a second Horse Powered Reading Camp at Hugs for Horses. Located in Georgetown. Contact info is on flyer. — at Georgetown Equestrian Center.

07/04/2024

🎆 Celebrate the 4th of July with Old Georgetown Creamery! 🎆

Make it a perfect Independence Day with ice cream, music, and fireworks!

Start your evening with the 4th of July Concert on The Lawn at the Kaminski House Museum, featuring music by Indigo Choral Society from 7-8:30 PM. Feel free to bring a chair for the lawn.

After the concert, swing by Old Georgetown Creamery for some delicious ice cream before heading to the city of Georgetown's fireworks display at 9:30 PM. We're open until 9 PM as usual, so take advantage of our special deal: Buy 1 scoop, get the 2nd scoop FREE!

Enjoy a sweet treat, fantastic music, and a spectacular fireworks show. It's the perfect way to spend your 4th of July! 🇺🇸🍦

See you soon at Old Georgetown Creamery!

06/26/2024

Taking applications now! Spots limited.

05/30/2024

When people hear our name, Hugs for Horses, they often think we are a horse rescue. And we kinda are! While saving horses is not our mission, we are often approached by horse owners far and wide who can’t, or don’t want to, take care of their old/sick/lame horses anymore. We get, “If you don’t want him, we’re going to have him put down.” Often they don’t tell us quite the whole truth about their horse’s health, personality, and training until we are there to see with our own eyes this “free” horse.
Now, meet Sandra! Note her ETF tattoo. Sandra had been an Embryo Transfer recipient mare used to artificially inseminate, gestate, birth, and nurse 7 “test tube” foals over several years. When she became too old to be an optimal recipient mare, this company sold her to a feed lot to be fattened up and auctioned off to be trucked to Mexico for slaughter. The woman who contacted Rona about taking Sandra had bought her from the feed lot pre-auction, but then allowed her over time to decline to the point Rona found her when they went to look at Sandra. Sandra was extremely skinny, had horrible heaves (like COPD in people), and a skin infection so bad puss was running down her face. Rona decided to give Sandra a chance at great life in her quest to find a perfect Hugs’ therapy horse. If Rona ended up having to put Sandra down, at least she’d have been given the best feed and medical care,and a clean stall and lots of TLC before she died.
I took these pictures of Sandra 2 weeks after Rona got her. Rona gave her antibiotics for the skin infection. For the heaves, Rona took Sandra completely off of hay, put her on a diet of alfalfa cubes and senior feed, and gave her a course of steroids. Sandra will never be given hay again because it often harbors a mold if not properly stored that many horses are allergic to. According to the vet, Sandra will always have lung damage caused from allowing the heaves to become so bad. But, her improvement at our barn is astounding! Two weeks in and she is steadily gaining weight, her heaves are in remission, and her skin infection is almost cleared up. And, we found she has the sweetest disposition, very grateful to be in a place that must seem like Heaven to her. We are cautiously hopeful that she may, one day, have what it takes to be a miracle-working Hugs’ Therapy Horse!

05/23/2024

School is soon out for the summer and this week our classes came for the last time this school year. Here’s a few images of this week’s last ride….Until we see you again! 💕

05/15/2024

Love our little Sampit Elementary School class of 4 year olds that comes on Tuesdays, where little miracles happen on horseback! Wren Pigg is a wonderful, enthusiastic teacher for these kids! ❤

05/11/2024

I have thousands of great Hugs pictures on my iPhone from over the years. Today, this picture I took 2 years ago, a sweet student in Maryville Elementary School’s pre-K program, has made me smile BIG! Are you smiling, too? -Anne Marie 😀

05/09/2024

We are grateful to all who participated with us in Palmetto Giving Day. What a fun, inspiring, impactful event! To all who donated to Hugs, you are a CHANGEMAKER in the lives of our exceptional kids and adults. You are helping those challenged physically, be stronger; those challenged emotionally, be more regulated and calm; and those challenged intellectually, be better able to absorb learning. Thank YOU for making lives better, one person at a time! ❤️

05/08/2024

https://palmettogivingday.org/organizations/hugsforhorses
Were’re closing in on the finish line. It’s just minutes left till 6pm. Please help Hugs help more! 🤗

05/08/2024

https://www.palmettogivingday.org/organizations/hugsforhorses

Hurry! Give before 6pm TONIGHT when Elsa 🏇will turn into a PUMPKIN 🎃 if Hugs’ goal🥅 isn’t met! Click the link above!

05/08/2024

https://www.palmettogivingday.org/organizations/hugsforhorses PLEASE DONATE NOW! And SHARE!
These are just a few of the over 70 kids and adults with a range of disabilities we serve each week … autism, intellectual disabilities, emotional disabilities, physical disabilities, blindness and a combination thereof. AND they are ALL SO WORTH IT! Be a change maker in one person’s life! PALMETTO GIVING DAY ENDS AT 6PM TODAY, May 8!

05/08/2024

It’s been a great and now it’s time for a reckoning and dessert!
We’re within an inch of halfway to our goal! Please donate, https://www.palmettogivingday.org/organizations/hugsforhorses which will be doubled with our match and challenge monies! Please BRING US OVER THE HUMP! Then, as your reward…You DESERVE dessert. Say, an ice cream from our , Old Georgetown Creamery! Sooooo Gooood!

05/07/2024

Elsa’s AT&T of Myrtle Beach Business Buddy helped her drop the Plinko since she couldn’t reach!

05/07/2024

Make sure if you are at the Kaminski House Museum for the Palmetto Giving Day event to stop by Elsa’s PGD Business Buddy for some yummy dessert. She will be grabbing some ice cream after Plinko at 6:10.

05/07/2024

After talking to Billy at Tidewater Properties of SC, LLC, Elsa had to make a stop at her bank. She talked to Matt about property loans for more pasture property. If you are needing a loan go talk to Elsa’s favorite loan officer.

05/07/2024

Elsa is on Front Street! Had to make a stop at her favorite real estate agent’s office. She is inquiring about a new pasture. She knows Billy Mitchell at Tidewater Properties of SC, LLC can find her the perfect pasture

05/07/2024

It’s ! click here: https://tinyurl.com/HorsesHeal. With over $20,000 in match and challenge monies for the taking, it’s THE PERFECT TIME to show YOU CARE! Your donation DOUBLES! Be a CHANGE MAKER for one of the 73 exceptional kids and adults who Hugs’ works with every week!
PLEASE SHARE

05/07/2024

Woo hoo! Get up! Its Palmetto Giving Day !
Time to CAFFEINATE (think Coffee
and then DONATE! (Choose https://tinyurl.com/HorsesHeal)

05/04/2024

Great pictures!

05/04/2024

Elsa is having a blast at the Festival of Wine and Food in Georgetown. Stop by and visit her and grab some ice cream for her Palmetto Giving Day Business Buddy, Old Georgetown Creamery.

05/04/2024

Elsa is in a hurry to eat some ice cream! She is joining her Palmetto Giving Day Business Buddy Old Georgetown Creamery today for the Georgetown Food, Beer & Wine Festival! With the event approaching, they are kicking off with a special initiative: for every double scoop of ice cream sold today, we'll donate $1 towards this cause. Join us on Front Street to support and start making a difference. Elsa hopes to see you come eat some delicious ice cream with her.

05/03/2024

On Sunday, 30 of our individual and small group riders showed their horses in front of their cheering section of family and friends! Every rider came home with ribbons, smiles, and good memories!

05/03/2024

Elsa said she was so glad I brought her a Beanz Coffee this morning. She needs to caffeinate for her busy weekend and Palmetto Giving Day. Stop by Beanz today and get a cup of the best coffee ever. Elsa likes her coffee iced. How do you like your’s?

05/03/2024

This evening the barn was transformed into an elegant Derby Party venue to host members of Georgetown County, SC Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours and their families. No horse races … but we did give pony rides! So much fun!

05/02/2024

Elsa is craving a sweet treat from her Palmetto Giving Day Business Buddy, Old Georgetown Creamery! Who wants to meet Elsa for ice cream this weekend? Time and day will be announced soon.

04/30/2024

Just one week to go to Palmetto Giving Day! Woo hoo! Hugs’ goal during this 36 hours of online giving is an ambitious $60,000, but totally attainable with YOUR help considering we have over $22,000 in 1:1 Matching Gifts! Can’t wait!

04/28/2024

CONGRATULATIONS to Rodgers and Leah, our Riders of the Year! Leah Martinez has been riding since she was 2 years old, for 20 years! And Rodgers Mitchell, 28, has been riding since he was 18 months old! We are so proud of both of these amazing young adults and look forward to having them every week. WAY TO GO!

04/28/2024

‘ RIDE AND SHINE’ SHOW DAY #1 IS TODAY! The weather is FINE and the barn’s in a BUSSLE making everything ready for this afternoon. Can’t wait!