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."