Welcome to the Southern Vermont Therapeutic Riding Center at Winchester Stables. The mission of the Southern Vermont Therapeutic Riding Center is to enrich, educate and expand the lives of individuals with special needs through
equine assisted activities.

Program Overview

While the benefits of Therapeutic Riding have been medically documented, statistics alone cannot fully describe the true value of this service. The look of confidence, pride and achievement on a rider's face when he or she has successfully completed a task is the most profound measure of its value. To put it simply, Therapeutic Riding works and the benefits are ongoing.

In 1980, back in her native New Hampshire, Lorna established Highlawn Riding for the Handicapped. A decade later, Lorna and her family relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina, where she started the Helping Horse
therapeutic riding program.

Lorna obtained her NARHA (North
American Riding for the Handicapped Association) Advanced Therapeutic Riding
Instructor Certification in 1995 and accepted a Therapeutic Instructor position at Horse Power Therapeutic Horsemanship in Temple, New Hampshire.

After a number of years as a Principal Instructor at High Hopes Therapeutic Riding in Old Lyme, Connecticut, Lorna returned to New Hampshire to take her current position of Training and Education Coordinator at Horse Power. As such, in addition to her teaching schedule, Lorna is responsible for all clinics, workshops and the Instructor Training School at Horse Power.

Beyond her responsibilities at SVTRC and Horse Power, Lorna serves as an evaluator for and is a member of the NARHA Certification Committee.

An alum of Boston University and the
University of Massachusetts, Amherst,
Bevin has been with Winchester Stables
in one capacity or another - excepting a
brief yet many-hatted stint with the Equine Journal - since her first teaching position in the summer of 1999. She's been in her current post since 2007.

2007 was also the year that Bevin trained Little Red Khorvette, the horse that was crowned Arabian Sport Horse Under Saddle Champion at the Arabian Sport Horse Nationals in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Bevin is also an active and successful
"dressage" and "eventing" competitor
(dressage is competitive horse training
while eventing can be thought of as an equestrian triathlon, consisting of dressage, cross-country endurance and show jumping) who competes at the Preliminary Level and coaches students at events throughout the northeast (she has been a United States Eventing Association Level 2 Certified Instructor since 2004).

Bevin lives in Brattleboro, Vermont, with her husband, Chris.

Session Rates:
$35 for Group Lessons
$50 for Private Lessons

Session Dates:

• Volunteer Training:
  June 22 from 4 - 6 p.m.
  
  
• SVTRC Camps:
  July 26 - 30 and August 2 - 6:
  Morning (9 - 12:30) horsemanship camps for children (6 - 12) with special needs. Riding and horsemanship lessons included.

Applicant Packet:
Click here to download the Applicant Packet.

Call for Volunteers:
Horse experience not necessary but horse sense is! Training is mandatory, volunteer requirements based upon availability.
Open to people ages 14 and up. For details and to apply, click to download the Volunteer Packet.

SVTRC in the News!
Click here to download Therapy by Horseback by Jaime Cone and visit the Brattleboro Reformer online for the latest news.