| Three cheers for Breeana!
Breeana graduated from St. Andrews Presbyterian College with a BA in Therapeutic Riding and came to work at a small therapeutic riding program with two horses, fifteen riders and limited volunteers. This was NVTRP 10 years ago! Breeana’s knowledge and dedication served to energize this program into one with twelve horses, over 90 riders per week, a database of over 900 volunteers, and expanded services to include hippotherapy and lessons for youth-at-risk and recovering military service personnel! Wow.
Breeana not only dedicates herself to NVTRP, but also contributes her skills to the therapeutic riding and equine industries as a whole. She was certified in 2003 by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) as a Master Level Instructor (the highest certification level an instructor can achieve). She has served on the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia Board of Directors, is a NARHA Instructor Certification Evaluator, and NARHA Accreditation Site Visitor. Through the years, she has helped train and get certified nine of NVTRP’s very own instructors. She also currently serves as the Chair of the Fairfax County Equestrian Task Force.
As an instructor, she is able to teach an effective and fun lesson to any rider. She teaches excellent lessons for riders with a wide range of cognitive and physical disabilities, from those who need three volunteers and are working on their sitting balance to riders who are learning dressage and jumping. She is kind yet firm and uses her creativity to keep things exciting. We have seen her teach lessons where the cones that the riders were weaving were active lava volcanoes rather than just boring old cones!
Breeana’s passion is contagious. She has touched the lives of countless volunteers, riders and their families, and her peers through her amazing work. Through her leadership, NVTRP is now at this exciting brink, working to purchase Little Full Cry Farm to finally create a permanent home for NVTRP. With this permanent home, NVTRP will continue to expand its services and will be a place for people of ALL abilities to belong and dare to reach the unattainable.
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