Julie Julie

Support our Rainbow Riders this Give Local Piedmont Day

Dear Rainbow Friends, Families, and Supporters,

As the saying goes, "if you do more, you need more,” and that’s certainly true for Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center. From small beginnings 40 years ago, we now serve 300+ children and adults per year and impact hundreds more through our life-changing programs, all of which means we need your help now more than ever!

Rainbow started a nomadic life in 1985, moving from local area riding schools to private barns with a handful of volunteers and staff. In 2010, the organization moved to its current home in Silver Lake Park and created Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center - complete with our indoor arena and viewing area, office space, fully equipped learning loft, outdoor arena, and a state of the art 12-horse barn.

The more than 300 children, teens, and adults we support each year come to us in pursuit of physical freedom from life-impacting disabilities, to ease the effects of a wide variety of mental health challenges, or just to learn how to groom and ride a horse when learning is challenging through traditional paths.

Our impact does not end with the individuals directly involved at Rainbow - therapeutic riding positively impacts the entire family and often the wider social network. So for every student, our impact is manyfold, making us an important community partner.

But to continue to do this we need YOUR generous support. Our 80+ volunteers give their time to Rainbow every week, sponsors and donors contribute to major fundraising events, but ALL OF US can give at Give Local Piedmont next Tuesday, May 13th, 2025.

This FUN community crowdfunding event is an important call to action to support our critically needed therapeutic riding programs. Whether you give $10, $100, or even $1,000, every dollar directly benefits our programs and riders like Grace:

"Rainbow Riding has supported our daughter’s growth in more ways than one. Since Grace could talk, she has struggled with sensory sensitivities, severe anxiety, and emotional regulation.

“In fact, the first time we visited Rainbow Riding we had to carry her out due to a significant meltdown. As a parent, I always felt the need to apologize or explain such behavior but at Rainbow Riding, I could tell there was no judgement or reservations about working with our daughter. I knew they wanted to help her as much as we wanted to get her support. Maddie started slow with Grace as we expressed our concern that she might struggle with the helmet and wearing pants in the heat but, there was no expectation. She truly went by Grace’s pace. The instructors told us that these sessions didn’t always need to involve riding to be successful.

“As her sessions progressed we watched her emotional flexibility improve, her core support strengthen, and her ability to follow directions skyrocket. It was thrilling! But perhaps the most profound development was her confidence. Up to this point in her life, Grace couldn’t access extra curricular activities. She has always had friends who played soccer, did ballet, or swam and due to her struggles, Grace was never able to participate in these things. I could tell it bothered her. Until now. Finally, Grace had a hobby. It was unique and challenging and it was an activity that quite literally gave her the reigns.

“So much of her life has been out of her control and I can think of the many times that Grace has cried out in the middle of a meltdown “I can’t help it!”. But in learning simple horse riding cues at Rainbow Riding, Grace has gained a sense of control over something much bigger than her, which I think is symbolic on many levels. Rainbow Riding has changed our lives in more ways than we can count and I am so grateful for the opportunity to watch my daughter thrive in this way."

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Julie Julie

Rainbow’s Outdoor Camp for Kids presents KAYAK CAMPS

It's time to ditch your winter gear and get ready for some fun on the lake at Rainbow's Kayak Camps!

ROCK (Rainbow's Outdoor Camp for Kids) will be hosting five inclusive camps on Saturday May 3rd, May 17th, June 14th, July 12th, and July 26th, from 10am - 12noon. Each session costs just $20 per person and is suitable for ages 9-18. Space is limited to 10 campers per session, so booking early is essential!

Please contact Robin on rainbow@rainbowriding.org to reserve your space or get more information. Sign up for one or all and we'll see you at the lake!

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Julie Julie

VOLUNTEER OPEN HOUSE: Saturday, April 12th, 2025 - 10am to 12noon

Fancy coming down to your favorite therapeutic riding center to see what volunteering at Rainbow is all about?

Join us next Saturday, April 12th, anytime from 10am - noon, to meet the herd, the team, and see what makes Rainbow so special!

No appointment necessary, please just swing by and say hi!

Find us at the entrance to Silver Lake Park in Haymarket: 16198 Silver Lake Road, Haymarket, VA, 20169

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Julie Julie

Our Volunteer of the Month for March is JOE!

Congratulations to Joe who's been named the Rainbow Volunteer of the Month for March! Joe joined Rainbow just a couple of months ago and has already made a huge impact here! If you'd like to join Joe as part of our Volunteer team, simply email volunteercoordinator@rainbow.org or head over to our website and complete an application form at:

https://www.rainbowriding.org/volunteer-application-form

And watch out for details of our Volunteer Open House coming up on Saturday, April 12th!

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Julie Julie

EARLY GIVING FOR GIVE CHOOSE DAY IS OPEN!

Today sees the start of EARLY GIVING for the Loudoun & Northern Fauquier Counties Community Foundation's GIVE CHOOSE DAY.

This year's 24-hour online fund raising event takes place on March 25th and you can donate to Rainbow by simply clicking this link and adding us to your shopping basket.

Every donation helps, and we've put together our Spring shopping list to show you just how far your donation will go. Thank you all for your generous support!

$30: one week's supply of grain for a horse

$50: one fly mask and one bottle of fly spray to keep our horses itch free

$75: tuition for one student's riding lesson

$100: sponsorship of one child for a day at camp

$175: full care for one horse for one week

$500: hay for one horse for one year

You can see more about the fund raising event here.

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Julie Julie

RAINBOW’S 2024 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

We are thrilled to announce that our Volunteer of the Year for 2024 is the wonderful Joan Bushore! You can read all about Joan's Rainbow experiences here and if you'd like to join our wonderful team of volunteers, please do get in touch at volunteercoordinator@rainbowriding.org

Joan, thank you for all you've done for Rainbow over the past year and all you continue to do -- it's a pleasure working with you!

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Julie Julie

Please Help Our Rainbow Riders This Giving Tuesday

Today’s the day to show your support for our Rainbow riders by making a donation on Giving Tuesday!

With your help, we’ve been providing equine assisted activities to a variety of students with physical, emotional, and mental health challenges for nearly 40 years. 

Some riders want to improve mobility, others want to increase their ability to understand the world around them. The goals are as many and varied as the students who ride with us, but all of them want to change their lives for the better!

Demand for our services is now higher than ever, particularly at a time when adolescent mental health has become an epidemic and the number one health concern for parents. But we can’t do it without your donations.

We currently serve more than 300 students per year from across the area including Prince William, Fauquier, Culpeper, and Rappahannock Counties, but we have a waiting list of 70+ and desperately need funds to train both new horses and Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructors.

As we approach Rainbow’s 40th anniversary, we want to make this our biggest and best fundraising season yet! Support us this Giving Tuesday so we can support those who need it most in the community by giving as generously as you can.

With many thanks from the Rainbow Team!

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Julie Julie

THANKSGIVING ROCK CAMP

Get ready to ROCK this Holiday! Join us for our THANKSGIVING ROCK camp on Saturday, November 23rd, from 10am to 1pm. Craft a stunning Thanksgiving table centerpiece using pinecones and plants you've gathered at the farm, then cap off your creative session with a tasty pizza party!

Our inclusive camp is open to 9-14 year olds for just $15 - or FREE for previous ROCK Camp attendees.

To register, call us at 703-794-5308 or email rainbow@rainbowriding.org by November 20th.

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Julie Julie

Be an Eco-Warrior at our next ROCK Camp - Saturday, October 12th

Join our next ROCK camp on Saturday, October 12th, and become an Eco Warrior! Help us make the world a greener place and learn more about keeping our environment cleaner together.

To register, call us at 703-794-5308 or email rainbow@rainbowriding.org by October 9th.

Further ROCK sessions are scheduled on October 26th and November 23rd, each only $25, designed for students aged 9-14. Let's make a difference!

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Julie Julie

FALL BUZZ AT RAINBOW

Welcome to the Fall edition of Stable Thoughts, the newsletter of Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center.

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