"The horse is a great equalizer.... he takes you for how you make him feel."
- Buck Brannaman
Our Mission
HORSES CHANGE KIDS. KIDS CHANGE THE WORLD.
The Pony Express is a community-based equine rescue organization dedicated to mentoring kids and committed to creating life skill and leadership learning opportunities utilizing horses as teachers, healers and agents of change.
WE'RE BACK TO GETTING KIDS ON HORSEBACK AT HOWARTH PARK
The Pony Express offered its first program at Howarth Park in 1982. Since then, we have served over one million kids providing pony rides, riding lessons, and camps. A primary goal of The Pony Express is to ensure that all kids are able to learn and grow with horses. By providing experiential and reflective learning opportunities with horses, The Pony Express empowers youth to discover and realize their full potential.
Join us through October at Howarth Park on Saturdays and Sundays from 11AM to 430PM
Making The Pony Express Barn Anew!
Sending big horse hugs to our amazing donors at Helpers Community (helperssf.org) for making it possible for us to do a much-needed restoration project on The Pony Express barn.
Thank you!
About Us
The Pony Express is an equine rescue that partners horses with humans in nature to provide a safe place and space in which to experience the healing power of our horsepower.
The collective wisdom of horses provides humans with an interactive canvas designed to promote self-awareness, insight, and leadership skills. In the horse’s relational behaviors, we see what is commonly referred to as “mirroring.” Mirroring behavior is a clear demonstration of the horse’s ability to read and respond “in kind” to the energetic field they are perceiving.
Our Founder
Linda Aldrich founded The Pony Express Equine Assisted Skills in 1982. As Executive Director of her non-profit organization, Linda has provided a life skill/leadership program for youth ages 12- 18 years of age utilizing their rescued horses as teachers, healers, and agents of change. Linda has her MA in Education, is finishing her MA in Counseling and has several degrees in Equine Facilitated Learning, Leadership, Wellness, and Coaching. Linda is currently working towards her certificate in Equine Assisted Connection TM.
Why Horses?
Honest
Horses are large, powerful nonpredatory animals possessing incredible strength and beauty. Working through fear and building confidence arise naturally when engaging with these animals. Horses are particularly good at helping humans because of their honesty and the way that they are designed biologically. As prey animals, horses read the energetic field and us when we are in their field. They respond honestly to whatever stimulates them. Horses show up as mirrors for us to see things about ourselves that sometimes we like, and sometimes we do not. Their honest feedback can help us grow in self-awareness and encourage transformational change to occur.
Authentic
Our desire to relate and connect with a horse requires that we be present, focused, and engaged. In return, horses give us instant and authentic feedback without judgement. Working with horses provides endless opportunities for real life metaphors. As we work through specific exercises in the horse arena, our thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and patterns emerge, reflecting real life experiences that are often occurring in our daily lives. Horses help us to become more mindful as we navigate the process of making progress towards becoming the best version of ourselves possible. Incorporating the unique engagement of horses and the specialized skill sets of a human team interacting with the innate potential of our clients to find solutions is the real power behind our horsepower.
Connection
Horses create opportunity for relationships, but a relationship with a prey animal can be challenging. The horse’s agenda first includes finding safety, food, and comfort in its environment. When these needs are met, horses become responsive to other dynamics. They become curious. They experiment with boundaries. They negotiate hierarchy and respond to leadership. The human must explore ways to create that connection and align him or herself to the horse’s particular psychology and language. If the human client is successful setting up an interaction to achieve response and connection without producing threat, fear, or discomfort for the horse, those skills can transfer to creating improved connections in the human world.
A Message From Our Herd
We are pleased to announce we have a Platinum Seal of Transparency on GuideStar.org
The Science Behind the Work We Do
The Healing Powers of Equine Rescue
"Those who teach us the most about humanity aren't always humans."
Donald L. Hicks
How You Can Help
You Can Donate Directly to the Pony Express Location, just send a check to:
The Pony Express
6413 Sonoma Hwy.
Santa Rosa, CA
95409
The Pony Express Channel
Featured Blogs
Making Memories
Making memories; moments in time now passed but not forgotten. Remember when is above all a shared experience between friends, family, and loved ones that tightens old bonds while creating new ones. The good ones lift us up when we’re down, bring joy to our hearts alongside miles of smiles that add pep to our step when we hit rewind.
Summer Of Love
It’s been a summer. A summer of love. Our long-awaited return to Howarth Park was met with an outpouring of love and support. The miles of smiles in the Howarth Park Pony Corral are back. It took five long years, but The Pony Express corral is once again filled to the brim with the unbridled enthusiasm of new, and old generations of horse lovers.
Counting Our Blessings for You
Giving Tuesday is a day where everyone, everywhere can do something to support the good causes and communities that mean so much to them. Making it count in ways that celebrate and encourages giving in all its forms. It is a day that encourages people to give back in any way they can.
It Takes a Village
I met “Jessie” when he was 12. He was introduced to me by his grandma. She was at her wit’s end. Jessie’s dad was in prison, his mom addicted to drugs, leaving Jessie in the care of his caring, but clearly overwhelmed grandmother. “Can he please join your program?” she asked.