ManeGait Therapeutic Horsemanship uses the healing power of the horse to equip people with special needs, military veterans, and first responders to move beyond their boundaries. Their dedicated professional staff is committed to using equine therapy to transform the lives of their riders. Riding a horse provides a multi-dimensional movement pattern similar to the human gait. This motion influences the rider's body, leading to increased flexibility, core strength, fine motor skills, and intellectual functioning.
ManeGait Therapeutic Horsemanship was established in 2007. ManeGait's founding family includes community leaders Bill and Priscilla Darling and their daughter and son-in-law, Landon and Zach Schneider. Bill and his brothers were original founders of Darling Homes where Bill served as President for 25 years. Bill and Zach recently launched Tradition Homes, a McKinney-based home building company.
Located on 14 beautiful acres in Collin County, ManeGait is the developer and practitioner of the GaitWay to the Brain Program. The first program of its kind, GaitWay integrates brain-building exercises into the framework of equine therapy. The program is supported by neurological research that documents the impact of brain-building activities on individuals with physical, cognitive, sensory, and behavioral disabilities. The program was studied by Texas Women's University in 2015-17. Study results confirmed the benefits of this program reporting improvements in participant motor skills, communication, vision, focus, and many more cognitive attributes.
In addition to their excellent results-proven programming, ManeGait creates a welcoming, family-like atmosphere for students, volunteers, and staff. The weekly riding time promotes close connections between rider, trainer, and horse alike.
Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, ManeGait was shut down from March through most of May. The week of May 26, they reopened welcoming their riders and volunteers back for weekly lessons. In response to COVID-19, ManeGait is taking every precaution in modifying their programs to help ensure the safety and health of returning riders.
ManeGait currently has 200 people on their waitlist. With the cancellation of fund-raising events this spring due to COVID-19, they need help in the form of donations and volunteers. There are several ways to donate, including monetary donation, event sponsorship, and becoming a ManeGait Champion. There are also several ways to volunteer, and part of the volunteer training can now be completed online.
Visit their website to learn more about ways to get involved, including online donation options and volunteer training at http://www.manegait.org/.
