Heartland Therapeutic Riding, Inc.

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Overland Park, KS
Heartland Therapeutic Riding, Inc.

Heartland Therapeutic Riding is a therapeutic riding center serving children and adults with disabilities in the Kansas City area, since 1978.

Heartland Therapeutic Riding, Inc. was founded because of the determination and drive of one mother who refused to accept that an individual with a disability should be excluded from horseback riding, because of their diagnosis. Literally proving where there is a will, there is a way. In 1977, Jean Baum established Heartland Therapeutic Riding after horseback riding was suggested as a potentially helpful (future) activity for her nine-month old daughter, who had special needs. Jean learned more about the benefits of therapeutic riding from Lida McGowan, who founded the Cheff Center for therapeutic riding, in Minnesota. After attending the lecture, Jean was convinced that the Kansas City area would greatly benefit from this type of center. After discovering a staunch opposition to the very idea of individuals with disabilities riding horses, Jean established the first therapeutic riding center in Kansas City. was one of the first therapeutic riding centers in the country, and has earned the status of PATH, Intl. Premier Accredited Center. Heartland currently serves more than 100 incredible riders and has a team of more than 120 amazing volunteers, yet we have never forgotten all of the hard work, determination and dedication that it took to get here. We are committed to helping individuals with disabilities through equine assisted activities and therapies. We strive to change lives, one ride at a time.

04/05/2026

Happy Easter from your friends here at Heartland Therapeutic Riding💗🌷🐰

04/03/2026

04/01/2026

🧠 Educational Wednesday: Rider Safety in Adaptive Riding 🐴💙

Safety is our top priority—always. But what does that actually look like in adaptive riding?

✨ Every rider is carefully matched with a horse based on their needs, size, and riding level
✨ Our instructors are specially trained and certified to work with riders of all abilities
✨ Each session includes a team—side walkers and horse leaders—to provide hands-on support as needed
✨ All riders wear properly fitted helmets and use adaptive equipment when needed
✨ Horses are selected for their calm, gentle temperament and are put through training even as they are in the program to ensure that they stay sharp and are able to take care of our riders

We also take time to understand each rider’s needs so we can create a safe and supportive environment 💙

03/31/2026

Myth Monday: Horse Colors

MYTH 🐴: A horse’s color determines its personality
FACT ✅: Personality comes from training, experience, and temperament—not color...

🎨 Though we all have our favorites 😉
💬 What’s your favorite horse color?

Bonus: Did you know that we have seven different colors and patterns of horse here at HTR?

03/30/2026

🐴✨Tux N’ Boots 2026 is only 25 days away!✨🐴

We’re are still looking for a few amazing people and businesses to help make this event unforgettable:
👏 Auction item donations
👏 Sponsors (opportunities start at $3,000)

Your support helps us continue providing life-changing experiences for our riders. 💗

🎟️ Grab your tickets, reserve a table, donate, or become a sponsor here:
https://my.onecause.com/.../vevt:ae429214-d2b4.../home/story

03/27/2026

Happy Friday! Caption this photo of silly Lightning😋

03/26/2026

🐴✨Tux N’ Boots 2026 is coming up!✨🐴

We’re are still looking for a few amazing people and businesses to help make this event unforgettable:
👏 Auction item donations
👏 Event volunteers
👏 Sponsors (opportunities start at $3,000)

Your support helps us continue providing life-changing experiences for our riders. 💗

🎟️ Grab your tickets, reserve a table, donate, or become a sponsor here:
https://my.onecause.com/.../vevt:ae429214-d2b4.../home/story

03/25/2026

Educational Wednesday 💙

True or False: Therapy horses are just “calm horses.”

Answer: FALSE.

Therapy horses are:
✨ Highly trained
✨ Desensitized to equipment & sudden movement
✨ Emotionally intuitive
✨ Patient beyond belief

It can take YEARS to develop a great therapy horse. It can also take a couple weeks to make a great therapy horse. Some are naturally inclined to what we ask them to do, others need to work into the job. Our instructors and staff also put a lot of time and energy into desensitization, training and mock lessons to make sure that our horses are prepared and safe to enter into our Adaptive Riding and Hippotherapy lessons.

Drop a 💙 for our amazing equine partners.

03/24/2026

Goodbye Winter❄️... Hello Spring🌷

03/23/2026

Myth Monday🤔

MYTH 🐴: Horses only sleep standing up
FACT ✅: Horses lay down for deep sleep—they just don’t stay down long!

😴 Yes… they DO take naps! Our therapy horses can be caught snoozing in the back pastures on their days off or even curled up in their stalls between lessons!
💬 Have you ever caught a horse sleeping?

03/21/2026

🐴✨Tux N’ Boots 2026 is coming up!✨🐴

We’re are still looking for a few amazing people and businesses to help make this event unforgettable:
👏 Auction item donations
👏 Event volunteers
👏 Sponsors (opportunities start at $3,000)
Your support helps us continue providing life-changing experiences for our riders. 💗
🎟️ Grab your tickets, reserve a table, donate, or become a sponsor here:
https://my.onecause.com/.../vevt:ae429214-d2b4.../home/story

03/20/2026

Thank you for coming out to saddlefit the WHOLE HERD (that's a lot of work!). We had a generous donation of saddles come in and were able to get a few of those fit to our horses so we can utilize them in future lessons🎉 Making sure that a saddle is fit properly to a horse is important to keep the horse comfortable and able to work!

Address

19655 Antioch Road
Overland Park, KS
66013

Website

http://www.HTRkc.org/

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Our Story

Heartland Therapeutic Riding, Inc. was founded because of the determination and drive of one mother who refused to accept that an individual with a disability should be excluded from horseback riding, because of their diagnosis. Literally proving where there is a will, there is a way. In 1977, Jean Baum established Heartland Therapeutic Riding after horseback riding was suggested as a potentially helpful (future) activity for her nine-month old daughter, who had special needs. Jean learned more about the benefits of therapeutic riding from Lida McGowan, who founded the Cheff Center for therapeutic riding, in Minnesota. After attending the lecture, Jean was convinced that the Kansas City area would greatly benefit from this type of center. After discovering a staunch opposition to the very idea of individuals with disabilities riding horses, Jean established the first therapeutic riding center in Kansas City. Heartland Therapeutic Riding, Inc. was one of the first therapeutic riding centers in the country, and has earned the status of PATH, Intl. Premier Accredited Center. Heartland currently serves more than 100 incredible riders and has a team of more than 120 amazing volunteers, yet we have never forgotten all of the hard work, determination and dedication that it took to get here. We are committed to helping individuals with disabilities through equine assisted activities and therapies. We strive to change lives, one ride at a time.