Equine therapy program for people with special needs is now open in North Franklin

After more than a year, Flying Free Therapeutic Riding Center is open in North Franklin. Until now, the labor of love to help people with physical and emotional challenges did not have enough money to launch.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step: a step that starts on horseback for two young riders.

“I love Avvy, she is my favorite horse,” April Botting, age 12, said.

April was born with Spina Bifida, and seven-year-old Jospeh Merkel with cerebral palsy. Equine therapy is a central part of their physical therapy.

“Because of my disability, I don't have as strong of a core as most people do. So it really helps with getting that activated,” Botting said.

Now, April and Joseph are some of the first students taking lessons with Flying Free Therapeutic Riding Center.

“I think it's very awesome and definitely inclusive,” Botting said.

The new program started with the new year.

“It is so beneficial for adults and kids, because it is it is very hard to find programs for adaptive,” Melanie Merkel, Joseph’s mom, said.

“There isn't another program like it in this part of Connecticut. We drive 45 minutes to come here,” Laurel Botting, April’s mom, said.

However, the launch is 16 months in the making.

“I'm just so grateful that this happened. I never thought it would, and I believed in it. And then the pieces started to fall into place,” Kirsten Robbie, Flying Free director, said.

Robbie, a certified PATH instructor, created the nonprofit to serve people with special needs that she previously taught in another program called Camp Care. When it unexpectedly shut down in fall of 2022, it left dozens of clients waiting to get back on the horse.

After a year-and-a-half, Robbie and Flying Free volunteers not only fundraised $80,000, but also found a permanent home for the program at Nasin Hill Farm in North Franklin.

“Basically, I had to choke back tears watching a few people come through those doors last week, honestly,” Robbie said.

One week into the program, 18 people have gotten back in the saddle, and Robbie hopes to grow the program going forward.

“We help children and adults ages three and up with special needs of all kinds, from anxiety and things that you maybe can't see as well, PTSD, to really physically-involved clients with CP, spinal bifida, traumatic brain injury, autism,” she said.

With an indoor arena, the program can run year-round.

For Joseph and April, a session in the saddle not only draws a big smile, but also builds strength.

“Sitting on a horse, you kind of really don't have a choice but to use those muscles,” Merkel said.

For April, horseback riding was the tool that first taught her how to walk without crutches when she was just six years old.

“She literally, she dropped her crutches and took off and walked for like 20 feet,” Laurel Botting said. “Everybody was in tears that day that she did that.”

A horse’s gift, connecting us with our own footsteps.

Flying Free Therapeutic Riding Center participants pay privately for lessons, or receive outside scholarships to ride for 10 weeks.

Those interested in signing up can email FlyingFreeTRC@gmail.com or visit the program's website.