Once again, Horses & Horizons Therapeutic Learning Center Inc. is looking for volunteers to assist with therapeutic horseback riding lessons for children with disabilities.

The organization is getting ready to begin its fall session of lessons. For the program to be safe and effective, many volunteers are needed.

Staff will teach people, so experience with horses and/or people with disabilities is helpful, but not necessary.

The upcoming session is six weeks long, beginning the week of Sept. 12. A training session for new volunteers is scheduled for Aug. 20 from 1-5 p.m. at the center, which is located 10 miles south of Tamaqua near Route 309. Anyone who wishes to become a lesson volunteer is required to complete this hands-on training.

Horses & Horizons is a registered nonprofit organization that is staffed entirely by volunteers. It offers therapeutic riding lessons on Monday and Wednesday evenings. You are asked to give one or two hours of your time on either lesson night for the six-week session.

Fourteen is the minimum age for lesson volunteers. There is no maximum age, provided a volunteer is in good health and can walk for an hour at a time. In the interest of safety for riders and everyone involved in lessons, volunteers must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 before the start of the session. New volunteers will be trained as side aides who assist riders during lessons.

The organization also needs people with horse experience to become horse leaders, and it welcomes the volunteer assistance of professionals in the allied health fields of physical, occupational, and speech therapy.

The center serves clients with a wide variety of disabilities including cerebral palsy, autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit disorder, developmental delays, intellectual disability, Down syndrome, and traumatic brain injury, among others.

HHTLC also needs people to assist with grounds maintenance, cleaning saddles and bridles, and fundraising.

If interested, contact Jane Ostroski at 484-375-5354 or jeohhtlc15@gmail.com.

For more information on Horses & Horizons Therapeutic Learning Center, visit www.horsesandhorizons.org or call Elaine or Harvey Smith at 570-386-5679.