The Power of the Horse: Why Sunrise Matters

For more than 45 years, Sunrise Inc. has been bringing people and horses together in Richmond, Indiana, creating opportunities for confidence, connection, healing, and joy.

At Sunrise, we believe there is something special about the relationship between a person and a horse. A horse doesn't care about a diagnosis, a disability, a difficult day, or what someone may have struggled with before they walked through our doors. A horse simply meets you where you are.

Sometimes that first connection is as simple as reaching out to touch a horse's nose. Sometimes it is learning to groom, leading a horse around the arena, or taking the reins for the first time. For others, it may mean building strength and balance, learning to regulate emotions, developing communication skills, or discovering a confidence they didn't know they had.

Those moments may look small from the outside. At Sunrise, we know they can be anything but small to the person experiencing them.

More Than a Riding Lesson

Sunrise provides equine-assisted services to individuals with a wide range of abilities, needs, and life experiences. Our programs are designed to help participants develop physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and life skills through carefully structured interactions with horses.

Our instructors, volunteers, and equine team work together to make each session safe, purposeful, and welcoming. That takes much more than a horse and an arena.

It takes trained professionals.
It takes specialized adaptive equipment.
It takes dedicated volunteers.
And it takes healthy, well-cared-for horses.

Our horses are not simply animals standing in a barn waiting for a lesson. They are partners in our programs. Their health, training, comfort, and wellbeing are essential to everything we do.

Your Support Reaches Every Part of Sunrise

Sunrise recently moved into a new home at Earlham College's Suzanne Hoerner Jackson Equestrian Center, giving our programs a brighter, safer, and more accessible space to grow. This new facility has opened exciting possibilities for our participants—but maintaining a quality equine-assisted services program comes with significant ongoing costs.

Fundraising helps bridge the gap between what we charge participants and the true cost of providing these services.

Your support can help provide:

Professional instruction and continued staff training
Adaptive and specialized equipment
Veterinary, farrier, chiropractic, and other equine care
Safe, well-maintained facilities
Hay, feed, bedding, and everyday barn necessities
Scholarships that help ensure financial circumstances don't prevent someone from participating
Opportunities to expand programs and serve more people in our community

Many Sunrise participants pay a reduced lesson fee, and scholarships help make services accessible to families who need additional assistance. The actual cost of providing a lesson is significantly higher than what participants pay.

That difference is made possible by people who believe in what Sunrise does.

A Horse Can Be the Beginning of Something Bigger

A child who once lacked confidence may learn to lead a 1,000-pound horse.
Someone working through anxiety may discover that they can slow their breathing, focus, and try again.
A rider with physical challenges may experience a new sense of independence and movement.
A veteran may find a place where they can simply be themselves.
A young person struggling with emotional regulation may learn that communicating clearly and building trust with a horse can make a difference.

These are the reasons Sunrise exists.

We don't measure success only by how far a horse travels around an arena. We measure it in the moments when a participant sits a little taller, tries something they were afraid to try, smiles a little bigger, or realizes, perhaps for the first time, I can do this.

Help Us Keep the Sunrise Shining

Sunrise is a community-supported organization. Our horses, participants, families, volunteers, instructors, and supporters are all part of the same team. Every donation, sponsorship, fundraiser, and volunteer hour helps keep that team moving forward.

When you give to Sunrise, you're not simply helping maintain a barn or pay for a riding lesson;

You're helping a participant discover confidence.
You're helping a family find an affordable place where their loved one can grow.
You're helping keep a horse healthy and ready for the next person who needs them.

And you're helping ensure that the power of the horse continues to be available to our community for years to come.

Your support makes the connection possible.

Help Sunrise continue to harness the power of the horse to inspire confidence, healing, and joy in every participant.

Sunrise's Spooktacular Silent Auction & Barn Dance

Connecting community and healing through the power of the horse