WHITEHOUSE, Texas — Stabrite Therapeutic Equestrian Center strives to empower members of the community living with various disabilities.
Cindy McCall is the executive director of the center.
"Some of these kids that come out here, they're wheelchair-bound and they don't always feel like they're like everybody else," she said. "But you put one of those kids on a horse and they're on top of the world."
Nick Cooke is a regular. He's been with the center since it opened in February, but he's been riding for ten years now. You could say he's a pro.
Riding horses is fun, but there's more to this lesson than what meets the eye.
Kim Oliver, the program director, said, "we do fine motor, gross motor, cognitive."
These are all skills that Cooke and other students learn during their rides but will use in their everyday lives.
The staff at Starbrite say they have six horses, or six and a half if you count Tonto - a miniature horse and a rescue. The other six horses are Penny, Connor, Bob, Lucy, Sevvy of course, and honey.
This small team is making some major headway in the community one student at a time.
