What Horses Can Teach Us: A Collaborative Program with Boys and Girls Haven

This fall, Maryhurst entered a partnership to bring the Boys and Girls Haven’s Equine Vocational Training Program to the youth participating in Maryhurst’s Day Program.

Maryhurst’s Day Program is one component of the agency’s independent living services, a set of programs that are designed to ease the transition into adulthood by offering training in job and life skills.

As part of the Equine Vocational Training Program, participants engage in both therapy and traditional skill-building. Through a curriculum of horse care, employability skills and positive character traits, kids in the program are learning the building blocks to career and life success.

Here’s more from the Boys and Girls Haven:

The program is organized into three phases. Students begin in phase one which focuses on using horses for therapy and teaching basic job skills. Once students have mastered basic job skills, they are free to move on to phase two, which pairs them with internships and skill-building opportunities. Students finish the program in phase three which focuses on securing and maintaining a job in the community.