Conroe - Montgomery Edition | January 2025

BY LIZZY SPANGLER

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What they’re saying

Operating their respective entities is essentially a 24/7 job, between day-to-day operations, taking care of the horses and running programs, providers said. “You have to have a business acumen. … You are a ranch manager, you are a donor manager, you are a volunteer manager, … and it is a business that never goes to sleep,” Gagnon said. “It’s 24/7.” Among their goals, officials said they aim to increase their volunteer and client bases as well as undergo renovations in 2025.

Between 2017-23, the number of facilities in the U.S. that offered equine-assisted services grew 81.6%, according to data from the Ameri- can Horse Council. Scott Harper, president of the Conroe/Lake Conroe Chamber of Commerce, owns a ranch on which Unbridled Hope leases its space. He said that as the Conroe and Montgomery community grows, so too does the need for equine-assisted services. “Equine therapy has been used in so many different ways to assist in rehab, adaptive therapy and also recreational activities for those with special needs,” Harper said. “There are just limited resources for those families and seeing the growth of [the Unbridled Hope] program shows that.”

Capt. Doniel Flores, a combat veteran who flew helicopters during his time in the Army, said he was broken and suicidal after multiple deploy- ments. The equine-assisted therapy program at Sunny Creek Ranch kept him alive, he said. “It breathed life into me to give back to others,” he said. Kody Wall, who served in the United States Marine Corps and now works at Sunny Creek Ranch as the veteran outreach coordinator, also said he believes veterans learn how to be less mission-driven as they work with the horses to accomplish various tasks. “We have a lot of tasks that we’ll have our vet- erans do that we then question, ‘Was that a failure or success?’” Novak said. “Through veterans’ eyes, they’ll often say, ‘Well, that was a failure. We didn’t get the horse in the square.’ From my eyes, as the equine specialist, it was a success. You all worked together, no one lost their temper, the horses are safe, you are safe. ... Reframing life into what is a success and failure ... is a benefit.”

Entities’ 2025 goals

1 Serenity Equine Services • Build a new equestrian facility and open its new location along FM 149 2 Sunny Creek Ranch • Create an indoor climate- controlled space 3 Henry’s Home Horse & Human Sanctuary • Grow to serve 1,000 veterans per year • Double volunteer recruitment 4 Unbridled Hope • Grow at least 50% • Increase partnerships 5 Cherokee Outlaw Ranch • Raise funds for a covered arena

Equine-assisted services in the U.S.

+26.5%

2017 2024

+13%

+81.6%

From left, Doniel Flores, Marla Neely, Shannon Novak and Kyle Wall are among the sta members at Sunny Creek Ranch. LIZZY SPANGLER/COMMUNITY IMPACT

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SOURCES: LOCAL NONPROFITS AND BUSINESSES/ COMMUNITY IMPACT

SOURCE: AMERICAN HORSE COUNCIL/COMMUNITY IMPACT

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