Kamloops Therapeutic Riding Association
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Interested in sponsoring one of our Heroes? 

Parent A Horse

"Kate"

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~Kate is owned by KTRA- donated by Marion Bell~

Birthday: Kate was born in the year 2000
Breed: Canadian X
Color: Dappled Bay
Gender: Mare
Fun Facts:
1) Kate has been at KTRA longer than any of the other horses!
2) Kate is very independent and likes to be the boss of her herd 

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"Autumn"

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​~ Autumn is owned by KTRA ~

Birthday: Autumn was born in the year 2000
Breed: Miniature Horse
Color: Bay
Gender: Mare
Fun Facts:
1) Autumn is the smallest horse at KTRA, and although Autumn is small, she is still a horse not a pony! 
2) Autumn was abandoned by her previous owner and rescued by “My Little Pony Horse Rescue” in October 2013. Autumn was adopted by KTRA in 2014. 
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"Gracie"

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~Gracie is owned by KTRA - donated by Jenna Belhumeur ~

Birthday: May 21, 2003
Breed: Quarter Horse/Welsh Pony
Color: Strawberry Roan
Gender: Mare
Fun Facts:
1) Before Gracie came to KTRA she competed as a Hunter/Jumper
2) Gracie LOVES to ‘bob for apples’ 


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"Chevy"

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~ Chevy owned by KTRA- donated by Katie Leach~

Birthday: Born in June, 2007
Breed: Canadian/Morgan
Color: Chestnut
Gender: Gelding
Fun Facts:
1) Before coming to KTRA, Chevy competed in eventing and explored lots of trails with his previous owner
2) Chevy is known for having an outgoing personality and a wild hairdo!

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"Usti"

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~Usti is owned by KTRA- donated by The Savard Family~

Birthday: Born in the year 2001
Breed: Canadian Warmblood
Color: Sorrel
Gender: Gelding
Fun Facts:
1) Before coming to KTRA, Usti competed as a Hunter/Jumper
2) Usti is the tallest horse at KTRA, and his full name is Ustinov! 
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"Tandy"

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Tandy is leased by KTRA from Daylen and Matina Callison ~
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Birthday: Born in the year 2005
Breed: Paint/Draft
Color: Bay Paint
Gender: Mare
Fun Facts:
1) Tandy will eat just about anything! She loves bean and cheese burritos, granola bars, cookies and donuts!
2) Before coming to KTRA Tandy was used as a trail horse 
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"Montana"

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~Montana is leased to KTRA from Daphne Dodd~

Birthday: Montana was born in the year 2004
Breed: Quarter Horse/Paint
Color: Black and White Paint
Gender: Mare
Fun Facts:
1) Montana is ridden in a bridle called a “Hackamore”, which does not include having a bit in her mouth
2) Montana sometimes gets mistaken for a dairy cow due to her striking and unique markings! 
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"Milo"

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Milo is Leased to KTRA from Ashley Sudds~

Birthday: May 23rd, 2000
Breed: Morgan cross
Color: Black
Gender: Gelding
Fun Facts:
1) Milo LOVES to jump!
2) Milo is known as our resident “drama queen”  
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Horses On Trial

Dusty - Grey mare, 18yrs old, Quarter Horse x Paint
Angus- Sorrel gelding, 16yrs old, Quarter Horse cross
Reese- Bay mare, 14yrs old, Canadian Warmblood
Piper- Black mare, 6yrs old, Welsh Pony cross

If you feel that your horse may be a good fit for us please contact Ashley at asudds@ktra.ca - thank you!

What is included if you free lease your horse to KTRA?
Full-board - includes hay & grain (if required)
Regular Vet Maintenance - teeth and vaccines
Regular Farrier Matinenance
De-Worming
Professional Saddle Fitting
Equine Massage (if required)
Regular Exercise Schedule

    Wish to donate or free lease
    ​
    ​your hero to KTRA?

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The Ideal Therapy Horse

Although therapeutic horses come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and breeds, they tend to share some common characteristics.  Most therapeutic riding (TR) horses fall between 14 hands (the size of a large pony) and 16 hands (the size of the average race horse).  A suitable TR horse will typically fall on the “stocky” side, with a short-coupled confirmation.  Because some riders can have low muscle tone or difficulty balancing, even gentle work can be taxing on the muscular-skeletal system of these animals.  For this reason, a sturdy bearing is important for the long-term comfort and usability.  TR horses do not need to be top performers, but must be sound and possess good, clean gaits in order to produce the type of “three-dimensional” movement (up/down, back/front, side/side) that is associated with therapeutic benefit.

Offer a Retirement Home

Although their work with KTRA is not physically demanding, our horses are subject to quite the difficult job! For most of their lessons, our horses are led by a horse leader but also receiving input from the student and the two side helpers. Think about how you can become overwhelmed when receiving 4 different signals of how to do the same thing! The average therapeutic riding horse can spend about 5 years in a program before reaching burnout. KTRA allows our horses tell us they are ready for retirement in a variety of ways – some physical and some behavioral – it depends on the individual horse.
When a horse is ready for retirement, we begin the task of finding them a qualified home, one where they can spend their days just being a horse.

If you are interested in providing a forever home for our special friends, please contact asudds@ktra.ca


​Retired Heroes

"Troy"

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Retired July 1, 2016 - thank you to Sherry Kahanyshyn for giving our gentle giant a loving 1/4 retirement home. Troy will still be a therapy horse for 2 weeks out of the year at a summer camp for kids with disabilities in Williams Lake! We love and miss you Troy but are so happy for you!


Breed: Quarter Horse X Percheron

Born: 1993
Sex: Gelding
Donated by: Wendy Sanford in July 2011

Troy is an approximately 16+hh, gentle giant. With his previous owner he was a trail horse and learned to do tricks. The trail rides became too much for Troy, so his owner kindly donated him to KTRA. Troy is our most versatile horse with his large build he is able to carry some of our bigger riders but he always rises to the occasion when asked to carry a little one as well. He can be used in our camps for kids to experience the thrill of vaulting and he also just loves to hang out with his human friends.


"Fantasy"

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Retired July 25, 2017 - thank you to Erin Mackenzie for giving our special angel a loving retirement home. Enjoy your trail rides together! Fantasy aka Lucy LOVES having one special person to dote on her. 

Breed: Dutch Warmblood Thoroughbred X
Gender: Mare
Color: Chestnut
Birthday: April 29, 1999 – 17yrs old as of 2016
Owned by KTRA

​Fantasy used to compete in 3 day eventing but was leased to us by her owner in 2013 after she went back to school and did not have the time to ride her consistently. She has quickly become one of the staff and riders favorites, because of her quiet calm nature and willingness to try anything. Fantasy is now wheel chair lift trained and can carry our more supported riders with ease. She absolutely loves to switch it up on occasion and go on a trail ride

"TJ"

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Retired December 4, 2017 - thank you to Gabriela Sladkova for lending your gentle giant to us. He is very special and we are happy that he will now get to enjoy his full retirement out on the pasture on your ranch. 

Breed: QH Percheron X
Age: 24 in 2017
Color: Grey
Gender: Gelding

"Hudson"

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Retired March 2019 - thank you to the Smith family for giving our Grumpy Grandpa his last forever home! Enjoy the trails Hudson!
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Breed: Quarter Horse X Percheron
Born: July 1997
Sex: Gelding
Leased from Sara Sellmer in October 2014

Hudson is approximately 15.3hh and a very new member on the KTRA therapy team. Hudson has had much success with his owner in 3 day eventing in the past. Today at 18 years young he is looking to slow it down just a little by becoming a therapy horse. He has passed his 45 day trial with us and we are very excited to see Hudson in action with some of our youth at risk riders this spring.

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"Max"

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Retired June 16, 2019 - thank you to Erica Gray Gowan and her family for adopting him! Her son, Colton, will be using Max to practice archery on horseback and moving cows with his Grandpa! 

Breed: Quarter Horse
Born: 2003
​Sex: Gelding
Donated by: Don Preston c/o Ken Waterston

Max is a retired western pleasure horse. He is super sweet and extremely calm. Our Youth At-Risk participants love to work with him due to his kind nature. Max is well trained and can stop on a dime!

"Cassie"

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Retired September 2020 - thank you to Shirley Kimery, who originally donated Cassie to our program, for providing her forever retirement home. 

Birthday: November 11, 1997
Breed: Paint
Color: Flee Bitten Grey
Gender: Mare
Fun Facts:
1) Before coming to KTRA, Cassie competed in Hunter/Jumper
2) Cassie’s favorite game to play is “hard to catch” in her paddock 

"Sunny"

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Retired Spring of 2020 - thank you to Bill Anderson for providing a lovely retirement home for Sunny in Pritchard, BC. Sunny will be keeping Bill's mare company and providing Bill's partner with a horse to use on the occasional trail ride.

Birthday: Sunny was born in the year 1998
Breed: Paint
Color: Bald Face Sorrel with White Stockings
Gender: Gelding
Fun Facts:
1) Before Sunny came to KTRA he was used as a dressage horse
2) Sunny is our main horse for riders in wheelchair!
 

"Sandy"

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Congratulations to Zoey on her first horse! Sandy is going to love having a little girl to dote on her. 

Birthday: Sandy was born in the year 2008
Breed: Quarter Horse/Appendix
Color: Sorrel
Gender: Mare
Fun Facts:
1) Sandy loves kids Before Sandy came to KTRA she was ridden by a 5yr old girl!
2) Sandy came to KTRA with a superficial scar on her nose – although it does not look pleasant, the scar does not hurt Sandy at all! 

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  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are >
      • MEET THE BOARD
      • MEET THE STAFF
      • 30 Years
      • Our Strategic Plan
    • Facilities >
      • Boarding
  • Horse Heroes
    • Parent a Horse
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Volunteer
  • Community Riding Lessons
  • Contact
    • FAQ