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Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding, Inc. |
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MISSION STATEMENT
Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding improves the lives of children and adults with disabilities at the area’s oldest nationally accredited therapeutic horseback riding center.
Welcome to CATR's website!
 CATR staff and volunteers are dedicated to helping students find joy and accomplishment through riding. Charleston Area Therapeutic Riding, Inc. (CATR) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization serving individuals with a variety of disabilities and conditions since 1991. With the assistance of certified instructors, physical therapists, doctors, psychologists, special education teachers, and a well-trained volunteer corps, we now serve over 130 children and adults per year whose disabilities include:
- Autism
- Cerebral Palsy
- Downs Syndrome
- Emotional Disabilities
- Learning Disabilities
- Head Trauma
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- Mental Disabilities
- Speech Impairments
- Spina Bifida
- Seizure Disorder
- Visual/Hearing Impairments
- Multiple Sclerosis
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Many people ask how riding and working with horses actually makes a difference in the lives of students with disabilities. Therapeutic Riding activities offer a motivating combination of sensory, cognitive, and emotional stimulation that facilitates mobility, socialization, and independance. The horse's rhythmical swinging movement challenges the rider's whole body to continually respond with natural movements. Tight muscles relax, lax muscles are strengthened, coordination is improved, and circulation increased.
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