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Our Mission is to promote and enhance the physical and emotional growth of people of all ages and unique abilities through the use of therapeutic, outdoor experiences including interactions with horses and other domesticated animals.
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The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and freedom.
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- Sharon Ralls Lemon -
Courageous Connections Equine Therapy
Proudly serving Snohomish County, Washington!
These different programs offer participants, of all ages and abilities, a safe and unique opportunity to partner with horses while working from the ground. Check out each of our programs below!
What we hear from our volunteers:
'This is a life-changing experience'
We need your help!
In addition to arena help, we also need help with a variety of other activities such as Newsletters, Social Media, Marketing, Fundraising, and Event Planning. If you are a senior who is willing to share your time and experience, please contact us!
We couldn't exist without our Donors. Your donations provide scholarships to participants in need and help us care for our beautiful horses. Every dollar helps!
Message from Board of Directors –
Giving Thanks
We are incredibly grateful for your support, which makes our mission possible. Thanks to your generosity, Courageous Connections continues to grow and transform lives. As we reflect on 2024, we’re excited to share our accomplishments and look ahead to the goals we’ll pursue in 2025.
As we write this, the garden is a muddy mess of cardboard and plastic. There is a long open trench between the arena and the new addition. We still have a fair amount of work to do, but this year brought incredible progress to our property. Thanks to Dan Thompson & Taxpayers of WA State Grant, we’ve completed significant repairs: new roofs and gutters, plumbing and electrical upgrades, and fencing for most of our pastures. The new waiting room and ADA-accessible bathroom are nearly complete, and our garden has been excavated with irrigation, raised beds, and a greenhouse in place.
Signature programs like Equine Encounters remain at the heart of what we do, offering participants a place of acceptance and growth. The impact of these programs on our participants’ lives cannot be overstated. People like E, who was with us for about a year. On her application, her mom wrote, “E struggles with too many things for any one person to bear, let alone an 11-year-old child…puberty, middle school, pandemic, lock down, gender issues, and a terminally ill parent are a few examples”. When she left this fall, her parents wrote, “E has been offered a once-a-week intern position. As much as she enjoys Courageous Connections, she has decided she would like to “graduate”. We want to thank you so much for what you all have done for her. Finding you was a huge step to improving her mental health and helping her find this stability in her love of horses (even if we’ve had to continue to find ways to say “no” to her requests to buy a horse of her own). We will never forget this”. Stories like this remind us why our work matters.
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We look forward to 2025 with anticipation and excitement. New pathways will make the garden accessible to all, and the addition of goats, chickens, and bunnies will diversify the experiences we offer. Our workshops for Cancer Lifeline, Continuum Hospice, Denny Juvenile Justice Center, and Bridge Foster Care will continue to provide vital support for those participants.