EMERALD HOLLOW
THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER
About
EHTRC
Partnering Humans with Horses to Promote Well-Being
WHO WE ARE
We are educators who focus on providing our participants with customized and comprehensive programs to challenge them to push beyond their perceived limits in a safe, controlled, and compassionate environment. Lessons are taught by our team of skilled, licensed PATH Intl. certified professionals and assisted by our trained volunteers. Our gentle, well-mannered horses are also invaluable educators and partners. Equine-assisted services have been shown to educationally, physically, emotionally and socially benefit participants in so many ways.
Our goal is to offer a positive experience that addresses each participant’s strengths and builds opportunities that enhance their goals. It is our wish to challenge participants to fulfill their goals and even exceed their expectations, both physically and mentally.
HISTORY
In spring of 2001, Emerald Hollow Farm began as a small boarding and rescue farm, taking in older and unwanted horses who needed a forever home. After a few years we added a horseback riding lesson program for children and adults. In the spring of 2010 we were contacted by Latham Centers and began a weekly therapeutic riding program. It was then that the magic happened as we watched the horses we loved so much bring such joy and self-esteem to individuals with special needs. In addition to learning to ride, the students also learned how to safely handle and care for their mounts and we watched the bond between student and horse grow even deeper. Shortly after Latham Centers began riding with us, we were contacted by Cape Abilities to run a similar program for them. In addition, we began to be contacted by families and individuals who were also interested and in need of a therapeutic riding and horsemanship program.
Due to the wonderful results and the tremendous response from the riders and their families, by 2014 the therapeutic program had grown to the extent where additional staffing, volunteers, and equipment was needed and we began to pursue the dream of finding like-minded and like-spirited individuals to help us form a separate, nonprofit corporation that would allow us to assist countless other riders with special needs. Six wonderful men and women stepped up to the challenge and volunteered their time and talents to serve as Board of Directors and in May of 2015, "Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center, Inc." was established.
EHTRC is proud to be the first PATH Intl. (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) Premier Accredited Center established on Cape Cod.
ACCREDITATION
Our
Team
Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center, Inc. is governed by a volunteer board of Directors, managed by an experienced and dedicated executive director, and further assisted by the most wonderful group of volunteers who support our daily operations.
STAFF
Nicole Sheridan
Program Director
Nicole grew up on her family's 22-horse boarding facility and started riding at the age of six.
Since obtaining her instructor's license in 2010, Nicole has taught students of all ages and abilities the joys of horseback riding.
Nicole has also obtained her PATH International Therapeutic Riding Instructor Certification and her Horsemanship Association Riding Instructor Certification in English (Level 3 with Jumping) and Western (Level 2) riding. She is currently pursuing her PATH Intl. Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning certification.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Don Cameron
President & Treasurer
Don grew up in Scotland and graduated from Cambridge University. He emigrated to the Boston area in 1971 and spent many summers on the Cape. After retiring from a career in computer software and systems consulting, he settled in Orleans. Having often felt an urge to be of service to others, he then trained in energy medicine and obtained professional certification. After opening his practice, he found he was particularly drawn to help survivors of emotional and physical traumas. Noticing that many of their symptoms were like those from combat PTSD, he decided to focus his practice on helping Veterans with PTSD. Don’s father was a WWII Veteran, and Don has always felt a connection with Veterans. For years he volunteered with the Cape & Islands Veterans Outreach Center. Then, in 2017, an invitation from a friend on EHTRC’s board led him to join the board himself. He was intrigued to learn more about their Veterans Program, so he met the program sponsor at the Hyannis Vet Center and was invited to give his energy medicine treatments there as a volunteer. So he now enjoys the balance between his interests in energy medicine, Veterans and EHTRC. Don is also on the board of Orleans Can, a nonprofit advocating for town-wide wastewater management to protect our ocean and freshwater environment.
Michelle Andrews
Secretary
Michelle moved back to Cape Cod in 2018. She has a masters degree in instructional design and works at Cape Cod 5 on the training team. Looking for a way to give back to the community she came to Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center as a volunteer. Drawn to horses and helping people she instantly fell in love with the farm and quickly learned how the organization has made an impact on so many individual’s lives here on Cape Cod. When asked to join the board at EHTRC she gladly accepted the position.
Anne Puzzo
Director
Anne relocated to Cape Cod in 2017, after retiring from a career in education. She spent twenty plus years in the Granby CT. Public Schools system as a biology and chemistry teacher, as well as serving as science department chair. A lifelong horse lover and owner, she knew the benefits of therapeutic riding and was hoping to find an opportunity to volunteer in such a program. Serendipitously, on a trip to the Wellfleet Library, she saw a flyer seeking volunteers for EHTRC. She started volunteering as a side walker and horse leader and now works primarily in horse care. The special relationship between the instructors, students, and horses at EHTRC creates an environment that she finds both uplifting and rewarding. Serving on the board provides her with a meaningful opportunity to support the mission of the center. Inspired by the students at EHTRC, she began riding again after a thirty-year hiatus. She can be found partnered with Geyser as often as possible. When not at the farm, she volunteers in the lab at the Center for Coastal Studies and sings with the Outer Cape Chorale.
Catherine McClintock
Director
My love for horses started as a teenager when I stayed with my brother and owned my own horse. After graduating from college with a BS in Physical Education/Health and a Masters in Women’s Studies I taught for 28 years and coached girls’ sports for 16 years for the Newburgh Enlarged City School District in New York. After retiring in 2001 I moved to Cape Cod. I soon realized that there was a horse farm just down the road from the house I purchased. That is how I found Nancy and Emerald Hollow Farm. I started riding and found my love for the horse again. I believe that horses help us heal. When Nancy asked me to help her start a Therapeutic Riding Center I said yes. It’s been a real joy and very fulfilling to be part of this program. Oh, I also own a horse named Flash. LIFE FULL CIRCLE.
Shea Mahoney
Director
Shea graduated from Boston University with a BA in English. She has always loved animals, especially horses and sharks, and knew she wanted to work with them in some capacity. Shea originally came to Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center as a volunteer looking to spend a few hours a week around the horses, and discovered immediately that the work being done at Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center was special and that she needed to be more involved. Shea realized that she could use her English background to do more for the people and animals she cared so much about and so she completed classes at Roxbury Community College to earn a certificate in grant writing. Shea is a volunteer grant writer for Emerald Hollow Therapeutic Riding Center. Shea works at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s Chatham Shark Center and for Trillium Brewing Company.