SOAR Program

The COVID pandemic and the effects of social distancing have had a toll on everyone. For teenagers, this has been exceptionally difficult. Teens need frequent social interactions with their peers to feel connected. That connection has been lost for many teens due to social distancing, quarantines, and remote learning. Depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation were already a pandemic with our youth before COVID hit. Now, many children who have never experienced depression or anxiety before are feeling isolated and deeply depressed.
It is our goal at Back In The Saddle - Equine Therapy Center (BITS-ETC) to address the mental health crisis many in our community are facing. Mental health issues have never been so prevalent as they are now!
Because of this, we created the SOAR Program. SOAR is a 8-week long program that meets once per week for 2-hour sessions, combining therapeutic riding and mental health counseling. This program is designed to help teenagers who are experiencing loneliness, depression, anxiety, PTSD, and other challenges in life.

Know someone who needs our help? Fill out the application below and send it to info@bitsetc.org today!

Download SOAR Application
Soar Program
Teenage girl with horse at BITS-ETC.
Teenage girl with horse at BITS-ETC.
Two teenagers petting horse at BITS-ETC.

With permission from our clients, we are able to share some experiences that illustrate the impact BITS, and therefore you as BITS’ supporters, has had on their lives.  –

“Parents of a child with multiple disabilities contacted our Executive Director out of desperation. They were at a loss as to how they could help their daughter; she was in and out of the state hospital and treatment centers. They feared for her life.  We immediately started her in our SOAR Program.

When she first came to us, she didn’t speak a word. She was very withdrawn, never smiled or had any facial expressions except for sadness and pain. By week three she started opening up a little bit more and started talking to us. By week five she opened up to her mental health provider at the SOAR Program and told her about all of the hard things that were going on in her life and how much she was struggling.

By week seven she was leading horses around with all the confidence in the world.  She set up an obstacle course for her peers and stood in the middle of the arena and gave them clear instructions as to what she wanted them to do. We invited the parents to watch the riding lesson during their children’s last week, and they were in tears by the end of the lesson. They could not believe the growth they saw in their daughter.”

To see such a transformation in our clients is greater than we ever could have imagined! The work we do makes a difference in the lives of so many in this community, and you all have been such a large part of that. Thank you all so much for all that you have done, and for any support you may extend in the future.