Our Mission and Our Programs

Medicine Horse Program enhances the mental health and life skills of youth, adults, families, and groups through therapeutic interaction with horses.

Medicine Horse Program fulfills our values and beliefs through four core youth programs:

HopeFoal Project™: This award-winning class partners rescued Premarin foals with depressed and anxious teens. The teens work with trained therapists and horse handlers to help gentle the foals. In the process, both foal and teen are healed.

Healing With Horses™: In collaboration with Hospice of Boulder and Broomfield Counties, this 2006 NOVA Health and Human Services award-winning class helps children deal with issues of grief associated with the loss of a loved one.

Just Say Whoa™: This class, in partnership with Boulder BEST program and others, is designed for truant teens and repeat juvenile offenders. Through interaction with horses and therapists, the class helps teens confront their complex lives.

Equus Integration Project™: This growth and learning class breals down barriers among diverse populations, building the communication and leadership skills of non-English-speaking teens.

EquineAbility™: Through horse activities, creative expression and body movement, this EAP program addresses the psychological, emotional and social aspects of individuals with developmental disabilities.

Scholarships for all of the core programs are available.

HopeFoal Project™ Featured on ABC World News

Reporter Erin Hayes and ABC camera crews filmed for two days at Medicine Horse, focusing on the HopeFoal Project™. The program was featured on the national news. To see the clip, click on the ABC logo. The HopeFoals have been proudly sponsored by Mychelle Dermeceuticals for over three years.

Jazz Update

Jazz, an off track thoroughbred, is one of our newest program horses. Jazz broke down on the racetrack, pulling a ligament. He ended up on a feed lot, ready to go to slaughter. He was rescued by Pebby Johns who donated him to Medicine Horse, where he has coliced four times in the last four months. Vets have prescribed an expensive treatment, and we need your help to save Jazz.

The vet diagnosed Jazz with ulcers, a dangerous condition that can lead to a fatal colic. With your help, we can heal Jazz's ulcers. He needs a daily dose of Gastroguard for one full month. Those who have horses know that Gastroguard costs $35 per day. Please join us as one of Jazz's caretakers. For $35, you can guarantee a pain free day, and healthy recovery. Use our Paypal "donate" button below, and just put "Jazz" somewhere in your message. Or, you can simply mail a donation, addressed to Jazz at Medicine Horse Program. Jazz is our first horse to get mail!

Thanks to your generous contributions, Jazz is healing. We have raised almost half the money to pay for Jazz's treatment, but still need your help to pay for the full treatment. He has not coliced for two months! His eyes are brighter, his coat is shining, and he is fast becoming a favorite therapy horse. One child said, "I am at Medicine Horse because I get stomach aches that keep me from going to school. I connect to Jazz because he gets stomach aches like me. Jazz is teaching me how to release and relax. I am getting better too!"

Colt Camp Update

New Colt Camp is filled for the first week in August. Please register now for the second week, as it is filling too! For more information on this exciting riding and training camp, and to register your children, please click here.

Kathy King Johnson Named Executive Director of Medicine Horse

Medicine Horse Program is pleased to announce that Kathy King Johnson has been named Executive Director of Medicine Horse. Johnson, who has served as chief operating officer for the program for the past seven months, succeeds Karolyn A. Gazella, who will step down as Executive Director and join the Medicine Horse Board of Directors effective March 1.

"As COO, Kathy, together with Karolyn, has overseen dramatic improvements at Medicine Horse, both in facilities and programs, and she is the ideal person to succeed Karolyn in the position of Executive Director," said Cliff Neuman, Board Chair.

Before joining Medicine Horse Program, Kathy was a premier dressage trainer at Table Mountain in Golden. Kathy is a graduate of the University of Michigan honor's English program and is a Hopwood award winning writer. She has a master's degree in education from the University of Houston where she taught rhetoric and composition while doing doctoral work.

"I am very excited about the opportunities that we have at Medicine Horse and believe that we can make great strides in providing further support for the at-risk youth population that we are honored to serve. I look forward to working closely with our Medicine Horse community of friends, donors and volunteers to continue our important work," said Kathy.