The power of horses is nothing short of magic — at least, that’s what instructors at Blue Mountain Therapeutic Riding think. The organization recently kicked off its new program, Healing
Blue Mountain Therapeutic Riding has had to hit the trail with its horses a few times since it started in the Walla Walla Valley in 2013.
But despite challenges from floods and now a pandemic, the help it gets from locals and volunteers has kept it on its feet.
The non-profit organization, which offers adaptive horse riding for children and adults with physical, mental and emotional disabilities, started in Lowden. It then relocated in 2018 to the Mojonnier area southwest of College Place.
Then, said co-founder and Executive Director Mary Murphy, came the late winter flood earlier this year.
âIn February our center was flooded so we had to move,â she said. So staff saddled up for 10-acres it leased near Milton-Freewater and immediately set up for riding classes, with a lot of help from neighbors and others.