PROGRAMS
New participants please click HERE for FULL Spring 2024 Registration
Please click HERE for payment link
Please click HERE for Financial Assistance Application
Please check out the NDSU Bison Strides Facebook page for educational videos, posts and updates.
Please see below for Bison Strides programming options at the NDSU Equine Center.
Adapted Therapeutic Horsemanship
This equine assisted service is designed to teach participants horsemanship skills. Documented benefits include improved social skills, balance and posture, as well as greater self-confidence and increased self-awareness. Participants must be at least 5 years old, able to sit independently astride a moving horse for 45 minutes, weigh less than 170 pounds, and have no contraindications for horseback riding.
Military and Veterans Horsemanship Program
Equine Assisted Learning
Equine Assisted Learning is an experiential learning approach that promotes development of life skills through equine assisted activities (PATH Intl., 2021). The Bison Strides program promotes self-awareness and problem solving skills, in addition to providing equine interaction opportunities that teach honesty, respect, empathy and communication. The program is open to youth aged 8 to 17 years and will be focused on social and emotional growth for individuals with challenges in those areas, as well as for those with behavioral or mental health diagnoses.
Physical and Occupational Therapy
The military horsemanship program is open to veterans and active duty military personnel. This program is primarily ground-based and focuses on building a relationship with the horse, focused on mutual respect, clear expectations, and trust. These interactions provide an opportunity for self-reflection, emotional awareness and stress tolerance. Our military and veterans horsemanship program is supported 100% by donors and grants so there is no fee to service members for this program.
In partnership with Bison Strides, Beyond Boundaries Therapy Services offers physical and occupational therapy using equine movement (also known as hippotherapy). Beyond Boundaries therapists use evidence-based practices and clinical reasoning to purposely manipulate the movement of the horse to engage the client’s sensory, neuromotor and cognitive systems to achieve functional outcomes (American Hippotherapy Association, 2020). Clients must be at least 2 years old and have no contraindications for mounted equine movement. Individuals interested in registering for physical or occupational therapy incorporating horses should contact Katie Havelka directly or call Beyond Boundaries at 701-356-0062.