Air base teams with Hearts & Hooves
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE — On a sunny, warm spring day, families from the Exceptional Family Member Program at the Little Rock Air Force Base met at Hearts & Hooves Therapeutic Riding Center, located in the countryside near the base. There, families experienced a unique partnership forged between the base, the center and the horses that live and work there.
Hearts & Hooves, in Sherwood, serves individuals with special needs, at-risk children and veterans through companionship with horses. Led by Michele Easter, executive director, the farm promotes independence through therapeutic riding and equine-facilitated learning to enrich the lives of everyone who participates in Hearts & Hooves’ programs.
On March 23, Easter, her staff and a farm full of volunteers hosted a special event that included a Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office display, a bouncy house, games, refreshments and rides on the center’s horses.
“The horses offer a really unique learning opportunity because we generally relate better to animals than we do to people,” Easter said. “It’s a little less intimidating, so the children and others find it easier to learn to relate to a horse and to relax around a horse.
“That’s what we are looking for, that sense of calm and peace, and the horse teaches them that.”
As some children and adults raced stick horses, ate burgers and socialized nearby, more children and their parents lined up at the riding ring for their chance to ride horses named Bon Jovi, Peanut and Sam I Am, among others.
“These aren’t just regular horses on the farm,” said Steve Jones, airman and Family Readiness Center EFMP coordinator. “These are trained animals, specifically trained to work with kids or anyone with special needs.
“This is the first time we’ve done this. What we’re doing here today is a good opportunity for our families to have a good time with the horses at Hearts & Hooves,” he said.
His goal for the event was for the program’s families to come out, siblings together, and have fun without feeling many of life’s pressures.
Easter said she was excited when Jones contacted her with the idea.
“We have volunteers from the base and spouses of active duty who are employees here, but I’ve not had a partnership where we’ve done activities together before,” Easter said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity.”
Emily Fortenberry recently moved to the Little Rock Air Force Base with her activeduty spouse and their two children. This was her first EFMP event in Arkansas.
“We are here to get out and meet other families who are dealing with what we are dealing with,” Fortenberry said. “It’s nice to have other people who have been on that same emotional level and can relate.” Families from the Exceptional Family Member Program at the Little Rock Air Force Base play games during an event held at Hearts & Hooves Therapeutic Riding Center in Sherwood on March 23. The EFMP provides support to military family members with special needs and includes a variety of personnel, medical and family support functions.