HorseSense

HorseSense Dedicated to enriching the lives of youth, adults and military Veterans with disabilities. Therapeutic Riding Program

Cellar wanted to say hi and he hopes everyone had a purr-fect Saturday🐾•••
08/23/2025

Cellar wanted to say hi and he hopes everyone had a purr-fect Saturday🐾
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Summer Session 2025 is a wrap🎬Thank you to all of our riders and volunteers for such a wonderful summer! Our team will ...
08/22/2025

Summer Session 2025 is a wrap🎬

Thank you to all of our riders and volunteers for such a wonderful summer! Our team will be ready to welcome everyone back for fall in just a few short weeks 😆🐴
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Yesterday HorseSense was lucky enough to be a part of Great Rivers United Way’s Day of Caring. They coordinated a group ...
08/21/2025

Yesterday HorseSense was lucky enough to be a part of Great Rivers United Way’s Day of Caring. They coordinated a group of individuals to come up and volunteer for the morning to complete various facility/maintenance projects. All we have to say is this group worked hard and we are so grateful!

Our hardworking crew added magnesium to the indoor arena, paint the deck outside our office, w**d and mulch, finish the screenings in our new dry lot shelter and more. Many hands make light work and were so grateful for community partners that send volunteer groups our way to help check off things on the ever growing to-do list.

Thank you GRUW and to everyone who came out!🐴🤝
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Evening lesson vibes🌅🐴•••
08/20/2025

Evening lesson vibes🌅🐴
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Thank you to Great Rivers United Way for asking us to be a stop on yesterday’s Community Impact Tour! The team was able ...
08/20/2025

Thank you to Great Rivers United Way for asking us to be a stop on yesterday’s Community Impact Tour!

The team was able to chat with community members about our program, give them a tour, and explain how our recent grant from Great Rivers United Way will be implemented at HorseSense. Everyone also got to meet some of the horses and it was the highlight of the tour of course!

Thank you to Great Rivers United Way for this partnership opportunity. Our team loves sharing our mission and being able to give individuals a small glance into what we do🐴
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Ponies, Pinots, & Pilsners is NEXT WEEK! Join us on Thursday, August 28th from 5-8:30 at Horstmann Homestead Farm and Ev...
08/19/2025

Ponies, Pinots, & Pilsners is NEXT WEEK! Join us on Thursday, August 28th from 5-8:30 at Horstmann Homestead Farm and Event for the fun🐴🍷🍺

Get your tickets here➡️ https://horsesense-for-special-riders.networkforgood.com/events/89516-ponies-pinots-pilsners-2025

Tickets are only required for those participating in the tasting. All non-tasters and those under 21 are completely free to attend!

Join us for lawn games, delicious food from Chef's Table, complimentary cookies from Linda’s bakery, raffles, tractor rides, and more! Tasting options will include Elmaro Vineyard, 608 Brewing Company, and Humble Forager Brewery.

Please note this is a cash event for all raffle purchases and any full size drink purchases from the venue bar.
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Happy Tuesday from Poptart🐴•••
08/19/2025

Happy Tuesday from Poptart🐴
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Horse Observations during lessons are a rider favorite!Riders enjoy making the arena a bit “crazier” than normal with ta...
08/18/2025

Horse Observations during lessons are a rider favorite!

Riders enjoy making the arena a bit “crazier” than normal with tarps, barrel pyramids, boxes, and more! We talk about what we think the horses will do with the various objects and make some predictions. Once our predictions are ready we bring in the horses and let them off lead! Riders LOVE seeing what the horses think of all the craziness and Fancy is definitely a top choice with these lessons. We talk about the horse’s body language and how we can tell if they like or don’t like something as well as how our predictions compared to the reality of the encounter.

A fun way to learn about new things!
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✨REMINDER✨ Ever wanted to tour HorseSense? Here’s your chance!We’re one of three stops on an upcoming Community Impact T...
08/15/2025

✨REMINDER✨

Ever wanted to tour HorseSense? Here’s your chance!

We’re one of three stops on an upcoming Community Impact Tour hosted by Great Rivers United Way during its all-new United Way Week! Join the tour and visit HorseSense and two other local nonprofits doing great work, NEXT WEEK, on Tuesday, August 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Registration is required and must be done with Great Rivers United Way – see: https://www.greatriversunitedway.org/impact819
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We love watching the relationship grow between riders and their volunteers ❤️🐴•••
08/14/2025

We love watching the relationship grow between riders and their volunteers ❤️🐴
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Lesson snapshots 📸•••
08/13/2025

Lesson snapshots 📸
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This past Friday HorseSense welcomed a group of Veterans from the La Crosse Area YMCA Wellness Warriors program for a mo...
08/12/2025

This past Friday HorseSense welcomed a group of Veterans from the La Crosse Area YMCA Wellness Warriors program for a morning outing and it was a blast! The group learned about what we do, received a short tour, and spent some time with a few herd members. Since it was a nice warm day we opted to do some painting and bathing which all horses and humans throughly enjoyed😆

Wellness Warriors is a Veteran focused group that offers 8 week sessions. The group will learn, do activities, and discuss different wellness topics that are based on the eight Dimensions of Wellness. The program is offered about four times a year and rotates between the two YMCA branches. Check out the YMCA website to find out more!

Is your group interested in a morning at the barn!? HorseSense offers unmounted group outing options as part of our HorseSense for Heroes program and our new Hoof & Heart Connections program. Hoof & Heart Connections is open to a vast array of groups, organizations, schools, and more! Contact us on our website if you’re interested and we’re happy to connect🐴
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Address

W4102 Ober Road
La Crosse, WI
54623

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Our Story

HorseSense is an organization dedicated to enriching the lives of individuals with and without disabilities through a friendship with the horse. We strives to improve the bodies, minds and spirits of riders by providing weekly therapeutic horseback riding lessons that:

Create a positive environment for learning Emphasize the capabilities of each rider Improve physical health Provide a sense of accomplishment and control

There are several benefits youth and adults with cognitive, physical and psychological disabilities experience throughout lessons as they master their riding skills. Sitting astride a horse increases balance and coordination, strengthens muscles and brings about body awareness, for example. And through complex, interactive lessons, riders practice their speech, reading and problem-solving skills as they learn to follow instructions. Other benefits include: improved reflexes, weight-bearing ability, range of motion, stamina, hand-eye coordination, sensory integration, left/right discrimination, decision-making, independence, patience, physical fitness and responsibility.

The impact of therapeutic horseback riding is life-long as such benefits hit the very core of our riders: their identities. Riders build their self-esteem and self-efficacy by regulating their emotions to convert negative feelings into constructive motivation. This motivation they experience throughout lessons carries into their everyday lives, empowering them to believe in themselves and their abilities.