LEAD Therapeutic Riding

06/03/2026

LEAD is pleased to welcome Tami Blaschke to our Board of Directors. During her 3-year term, she will join our devoted Board members in their duties to advance our mission, raise funds vital to our work, and help build valuable community and business partnerships.

A New Mexico native, Tami grew up ranching with her father Wess (W&W Ranch) and is the 4th generation at the helm of the family farm and ranch. Tami has 20+ years of professional experience in event planning, fundraising and sales. She was a major sponsor of LEAD's inaugural fundraising dinner and auction this past October and served as the volunteer event director.

She divides her time between her home in Columbus, Texas, where she lives with her husband John and son Braxton, and the family ranch in New Mexico.

Welcome, Tami!

05/26/2026

LEAD isn't just about horses. It's about the powerful connection that develops between horses and humans that allows people to come "as they are" and be accepted unconditionally. Horses don't need us to be perfect or whole or without challenges. Rather, they accept us exactly as we are, with sensitivity and without judgment. Their trust allows us to open up our thoughts, emotions and challenges in a trusting environment that promotes healing.

Our tagline is "Healing People Through Horses" and we've seen incredible healing happen in children and families that they only had dreamed possible.

We'd love to tell you more about LEAD, our mission and how our rock-star team of horses are helping lead kids toward healing!

05/26/2026

It's hard to believe that our Spring Session is already over! Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers, supporters, riders and their families for making it such a great one!

Over the 8 weeks of this session:

❤️ A teenager helped teach a horse to focus in the ring and in doing so, she learned valuable skills for coping with her own ADHD

❤️ A teen with nonverbal autism is speaking some words now and has the confidence in himself to guide the horse by himself, with help nearby if needed

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05/25/2026

This Memorial Day, we pause to remember the selfless and courageous men and women in uniform who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom and for our great nation. 🇺🇸

Because of you, we live in peace and with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. ❤️ 💙

05/25/2026

05/24/2026

A few of our trailblazers celebrating completion of spring session. We will be back June 4 for summer session🤠🐴🤍

05/13/2026

Sometimes the healers need healing, too. 😷🏥
LEAD was honored to pay a special visit to Presbyterian Healthcare Services' Lincoln County Medical Center during National Hospital Week to celebrate the extraordinary medical professionals, support staff and administrators who are always there, 24/7, to care for our community.

It is well-documented through research that horses make a real and lasting positive impact on the health of humans—so it seemed only fitting to bring a little "horse therapy" to our peers in the health care industry who work so hard to help us all.

Thank you for all you do and Happy Hospital Week!

05/08/2026

We're almost halfway to our May Day Hay Day goal of one donation for each day of the month! THANK YOU to the following individuals for stepping up with enthusiasm and generosity:

🌺 Robin Thomas
🌺 Buddy Simpson
🌺 Dara Jenkins
🌺 Tami Blaschke, in honor of her mom and son's birthdays
🌺 Jennifer Bridgman, in honor of her birthday
🌺 Rita Krempin, in honor of her mother-in-law's birthday
🌺 Derek Houck

Let's add your name to the list! Simply choose a date in May and make a gift in the amount of that date. (May 10 = $10 and so on)

Your gift this month will help keep our horses fed and support our daily operations so we can keep helping kids all year long.

💳 Pay by Paypal or CashApp
https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/H8YM9WLKF2TAJ
https://cash.app/$LEADTHERAPYRIDING

✉️ Send checks to:
LEAD Therapeutic Riding
PO Box 1904
Ruidoso, NM 88346

Let's get that calendar filled! THANK YOU for your support! ❤️

05/07/2026

Soon summer will be here, and that means one of our favorite volunteers, Brenda McPherson, will soon be back with us!

A volunteer since LEAD's earliest days, Brenda lives outside the area most of the year, but when she comes back to town in the summer months, we can always count on her invaluable assistance and gentle, generous spirit. The kids love her, and we do, too!

Thank you, Brenda, for sharing your "summer vacation" with all of us at LEAD. We are so grateful for you! ❤️

05/04/2026

We are small but mighty! 💪 Did you know that with our small team of volunteers, LEAD runs more than 260 individual and group sessions with riders every year, all at low to no cost for the families we serve?

Sessions run three times per year (Spring, Summer and Fall) on Friday afternoons, all day on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. And even at that, we still have a wait list!

This is proof of something Helen Keller once said: "Alone we can do so little. Together, we can do so much."

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers and supporters for helping us deliver 260 sessions per year and counting!

With your contributions of time, talents and treasure supporting LEAD, we can do even more!