Building a stronger community by helping animals AND people!
Join us in enriching the lives of our community members through meaningful programs that help them connect with horses and each other.
We offer opportunities for interaction and connection with horses to members of the special needs community as well as provide programs for those who do not fit into existing programs. Contact us to learn more!
What sets The Big Purple Barn apart from other facilities?
1. Our horses are all permanent residents who needed a safe and secure home. We did not go out and purchase our horses for lesson use or to sell. We spent months, and in some cases years, rehabilitating our horses. We put careful and individual effort into the training and use of each of our horses and work hard to ensure they fill a niche in our programs that best suits their health status and personality. We continually strive to keep them happy, healthy and productive. Our sanctuary program is the foundation of everything we do! In addition to the horses, we have resident pigs, sheep and goats that help further foster a love of animals and introduce people to urban agriculture!
2. We are 100% volunteer staffed. From our board of directors to our instructors to our barn staff, we are ALL volunteers who do this for the love of animals and of sharing that love with others. You will find a warm, family atmosphere at the farm without all of the hustle and bustle of large lesson stables.
3. We approach the exposure and education of our program participants much the same way we approach caring for our horses. We take a private approach to the education of our participants in a safe, supportive atmosphere. Here, you will get to know the horses and the staff like your own family. We have zero turnover in our resident staff and our equine resident population is stable. We take the time to care about the people involved in our programs and welcome them in like family. There is no big lesson barn merry-go-round here! We are all friends, all family, and all in this for the love of horses!
4. We offer scholarship opportunities for riders in need so we can provide access to a broader range of participants. We go above and beyond in terms of offering a broad range of programs for all members of our community and we work hard to continually meet the changing needs of our community. Lessons are just a tiny component of our overall mission. The money that is generated by any of our fee based programs goes directly to fund our sanctuary program and our resident equines!
5. Finally, you will find the horses of The Big Purple Barn to be our most outstanding quality. Our horses LOVE people. From the moment you pull up you will be greeted by horses who are interested and interactive and genuinely happy to see you! It is not uncommon for our horses to argue with each other over your attention. Our horses are exposed to children of all ages and among the safest and most character filled horses you are likely to meet. Our resident pigs, goats and sheep are also here to teach and inspire!
We encourage you to come visit us and see for yourself what makes us stand apart!
The Big Purple Barn provides access and opportunity for many individuals and families that would otherwise not have the chance to discover horses and the amazing healing and growth that can be experienced when working with them! We work with youth and adults on the spectrum and with disabilities that exclude them from traditional therapeutic riding as well as main stream riding stables. Many of them do not qualify for medically mandated therapeutic riding and at the same time, find the environment of the typical riding stable too overwhelming. We custom craft opportunities for interaction and enrichment for individuals with needs we can accommodate.
From basic interactions to riding lessons to competitive opportunities, we strive to provide a supportive, inclusive environment. Some of our clients are on the autism spectrum, others have various developmental delays, anxiety or minor physical disabilities. We are not a therapeutic riding facility but we are able to work with a niche of a participants who flourish under our care.
To learn more about the individual programs we offer, please complete the CONTACT form on the home page. We would love to have you SCHEDULE A TOUR and come meet us and our horses, sheep, pigs and goats and learn about the opportunities here at the Big Purple Barn!