High Lonesome Therapeutic Equestrian Center

🐴✨ Another great week at High Lonesome! ✨🐴

This week our riders worked on balance, coordination, and confidence through a variety of fun activities—including ring toss while riding! 🎯🐎 These exercises help strengthen hand-eye coordination while keeping riders engaged and having fun.

We also had some exciting trotting work happening in the arena! Watching our riders progress and gain confidence with each ride is one of the best parts of what we do. ❤️

Our Special Olympics athletes are also almost finished with their summer session, and we couldn’t be more proud of the progress they’ve made! 🏇🏅 They are working hard and preparing for the next steps in their competition journey.

Every ride is more than just time in the saddle—it’s building skills, confidence, independence, and partnerships that carry far beyond the arena. 💙🐴

🐴💙 Volunteers are so much more than what you see during lessons!

Our volunteers don’t just help in the arena or care for our horses. They’re behind the scenes fixing equipment, tackling maintenance projects, unloading supplies, making improvements, updating the barn, and helping keep everything running smoothly.

There is soooo much that goes into keeping High Lonesome going, and we couldn’t do it without the incredible people who give their time, skills, and energy to our mission.

Every helping hand makes a difference. Thank you to all of our amazing volunteers! 🐴❤️

🐴 Dressage Week at High Lonesome! 🐴

All of our riders have been working on dressage this week! But what exactly is dressage? It comes from the French word dresser, meaning “to train” or “to school.” It’s all about communication, balance, precision, and partnership between horse and rider. ❤️

And those letters around the arena? 👀 They mark specific locations for the movements in a dressage test. There’s even an old story that the letters came from the placement of people and horses around a royal court during a king’s courtship—although the true origin of the letters remains a mystery!

Our riders of all levels are working hard, and our Special Olympics athletes are putting in extra practice as they prepare for the State Games in September! 🏅🐴

Every rider. Every level. Every accomplishment matters. ❤️

🍝 Dinner for a Cause! 🐴

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 25, from 4:00–9:00 PM, and join us at Mariolino's in Murphy for a delicious meal while supporting a great cause!

A portion of the evening's proceeds will be donated to High Lonesome Therapeutic Equestrian Center to help us continue empowering individuals of all abilities through equine-assisted services.

Bring your family, invite your friends, and enjoy an amazing meal—all while making a difference in the lives of our riders and equine partners.

📅 Tuesday, August 25
🕓 4:00–9:00 PM
📍 Mariolino's – Murphy, NC

We hope to see you there! Thank you for supporting our mission. ❤️🐴

There really is no better welcome home. 🐴💚

One of our favorite sights is being greeted at the entrance to the driveway by our amazing equine partners as they enjoy their evening grazing time. Peaceful moments like these remind us why we do what we do.

Our horses are more than just partners—they’re family, and they make High Lonesome Therapeutic Equestrian Center feel like home.

🎉 Support High Lonesome with Your Spare Change! 🎉

From today through October 31st, if you’re visiting either Harrah’s Cherokee Casino location and using an NRT machine to cash out your tickets, you can choose to donate your change to High Lonesome Therapeutic Equestrian Center!

Every penny donated helps us continue providing therapeutic riding opportunities for children and adults in our community.

It may be just spare change to you, but those small donations add up and make a big difference for our riders and horses.

Thank you for supporting our mission, and if you’re headed to the casino, please consider choosing High Lonesome at the NRT machine. Every little bit helps! ❤️🐴

Please share this post to help spread the word!

🎉 Enter for Your Chance to Win! 🎉

Support High Lonesome Therapeutic Equestrian Center and enter to win YOUR CHOICE of either a YETI Cooler or a Blackstone Griddle!

🎟️ Drawing Date: September 19

Every ticket purchased helps support our therapeutic riding program, allowing us to continue empowering abilities through equine partnership for children and adults.

📍 Winner must be able to pick up the prize. We are unable to ship these items.

Thank you for supporting our mission!

📣 Please like, share, and help us spread the word! Every share helps us continue changing lives, one ride at a time.