Therapeutic Horsemanship Program

Pegasus Therapeutic Riding is proud to partner with Shrub Oak International School to provide their students with equine therapy’s powerful, life-changing benefits.

At Pegasus, we recognize that the healing power of horses goes far beyond riding. We have developed a therapeutic horsemanship program using individualized, experiential learning combined with a holistic approach that is particularly beneficial for children, adolescents, and young adults on the autism spectrum. The program was designed using the Pegasus Emotional Growth and Social Understanding System (PEGASUS). Developed by a team of talented educators, mental health professionals, and instructors certified by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH), PEGASUS is based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which includes physical and emotional safety; connection, love, care, and belonging; esteem and self-confidence; and self-actualization and purpose.

Shrub Oak International School students benefit in many ways from participating in our Pegasus program, including improved physical health in addition to cognitive benefits such as improved adaptability, impulse control, and self-regulation, and social-emotional benefits including connection, empathy, increased confidence, and decreased anxiety. Horses also help students develop an understanding of boundaries. Students learn how to communicate with the horses they interact with and create a dialogue, whether spoken or unspoken, to evoke an appropriate response, an essential skill in life. At Pegasus and at Shrub Oak, each student moves at their own pace and works toward individualized goals guided by an expert team of caring, skilled professionals.

At Pegasus, we view our holistic approach as being equivalent to the mind, body, and spirit, which parallels our commitment to meeting participants’ cognitive, physical, and social-emotional needs. The talented staff at Shrub Oak International School work to do the same, we feel fortunate to collaborate with a program that shares so many of our own values.

Shrub Oak International School thoughtfully tailors academics to the evolving personal and cognitive needs of each individual student. Offering a varied curriculum, Shrub Oak International School uses evidence-based principles to guide students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) through core academics like math, science, English, and social studies.

To learn more about Shrub Oak International School and their academic programs, please visit www.shruboak.org.