About Us
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Congratulations to our President/Founder, Terry Holmes-Stecyk, who has obtained her certification as an Equine Specialist with the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl. as well as certification in the Eagala Model as a qualified Equine Specialist,
Both organizations require a licensed, credentialed professional and a qualified Equine Specialist who structures sessions incorporating horses or donkeys to effectively address the client’s treatment plan or learning goals. |
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Tender Little Hearts was conceived as an equine therapy outreach program for children and adults. We aspire to create an environment where every horse is given a purpose to enrich a human life, bring joy and comfort, and leave every person with a reason to smile.
This corporation was organized exclusively as an assisted equine therapy outreach for children and adults. Tender Little Hearts Mini Tales and Equine Assisted Services provides the promotion of literacy services and reading encouragement for children as well as assisted therapy activities for children and adults with special needs, development issues or disabilities, veterans with PTSD or are in need of emotional relief therapy, homes serving abused or at-risk children, foster homes and centers, Hospice, hospitals, skilled nursing care facilities, senior care centers, memory care facilities and more. These services include the use of a qualified miniature therapy horse or miniature therapy donkey and handler. Tender Little Hearts Mini Tales brings reading opportunities to those who would benefit from the interaction with a therapy animal. By using our miniature therapy horses and donkeys to encourage readers, we provide a safe, empowering environment to spur on literacy growth. Together, we can inspire readers to develop new confidence in reading, giving them the opportunity to unfold their imagination, gain new knowledge and stretch their confidence in what they can accomplish. Tender Little Hearts Equine Assisted Services visits touch the lives of those most in need. They provide therapeutic comfort, a source of emotional confidence and confidentiality in their interactions. The simple act of petting animals releases an automatic relaxation response, lowers anxiety, reduces loneliness, increases mental stimulation, provides a happy distraction, even acting as a catalyst to reduce resistance in the therapy process. Miniature horses make great companions for therapy because they can mirror and respond to human behavior. Being herding animals, they rely on an acute stream of sensory data to sense safety or danger; they can also hear the human heartbeat within four feet, and research on heart-rate variability indicates that horses have a profound ability to synchronize their own heartbeat with that of human beings. When people are introduced to the herd environment for therapy, horses respond within the same spectrum of physical and emotional responses that govern their own behavior, allowing therapists an insight into the inner psychology of the client. |
At Tender Little Hearts Mini Tales and Equine Assisted Services,
we are driven by a single goal — to do our part in making the world a better place.
we are driven by a single goal — to do our part in making the world a better place.
