STRIDE Homepage

Through a special partnership with horses, Southcentral Therapeutic Riding (STRIDE) offers a holistic approach to improve the bodies, minds and spirits of children and adults with special health needs. We strive to be an inspiration and educational resource to the equine assisted therapy profession.

Instructors certified by
Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH).
PATH is committed to safe, ethical and professional equine assisted therapy.

STRIDE Forms

All documents are in Adobe Acrobat format and will need Adobe Reader. Click the button below for the reader.

You can help STRIDE by clicking on the 'DONATE' button below:

Indoor Arena News

STRIDE's heated indoor arena in the Valley is nearly complete! Thanks to David and Kristin Vernola for their hard work and dedication in making this dream a reality. We'll soon be working with children and adults with special needs year round! See arena building project pictures!

The Vernola's passion for helping people and working with horses defines their life. Learn more about the history and future of STRIDE on the Ridge in their own words.

Calendar of Events

Our Friends:

American Legion Post 33

Mat-Su Health Foundation

Member Center

Welcome to STRIDE Online!

Buy your tickets to the 3rd Annual Cowgirl Affair! Buy online, and pick them up at Will Call.

View event details!

STRIDE is a nonprofit corporation with IRS 501(c)(3) status dedicated to helping children and adults with special needs discover new abilities and achieve new heights through therapeutic, educational and recreational activities involving horses. We just celebrated our 16th anniversary, completed the 2011 Summer Program (view pictures) and we invite you to participate in planning and implementation of our program expansion in 2012!

Click here to see more pictures of STRIDE in action!

You can join the fun and help create magic in a number of different ways. STRIDE is continually in search of enthusiastic volunteers. We need help with everything from cleaning tack to planning major fundraising events. Experience with horses is helpful, but definitely not necessary, so please don’t be shy about getting involved! See our volunteer page for current opportunities that might interest you.

Don’t have time to volunteer, but still want to help? How about sponsoring a rider or a horse? The very nature of our program, results in high overhead costs. Keeping horses in Alaska, though absolutely worth the effort is an extraordinarily expensive venture. In order to keep this program going and growing, the income STRIDE receives from program fees must be augmented with donations of both funds and pro-bono services.

Please browse our web site to learn more about the benefits our therapeutic riding program brings to the local community, and then review our wish list to find out how you can help make our dream of creating a year round therapeutic riding center a reality!

Instructors certified by Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH). PATH is committed to safe, ethical and professional equine assisted therapy.