STARS, Inc.

Welcome to STARS The Special Troopers Adaptive Riding School is an organization changing people’s lives every day. We provide a form of positive, successful healing using the human/animal connection to forever change the way people experience the world. At STARS, we improve the well being of individuals with physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, or social challenges through therapeutic horseback riding and other animal-assisted activities. With the help of specially-trained horses and instructors, we provide a creative, supportive setting where clients, volunteers, and staff arrive excited and leave transformed with every visit. STARS is a non-profit organization and an important community for families and caregivers, providing a unique form of support, respite, release, and understanding. One of the Midwest’s Most Respected Therapeutic Programs As one of Siouxland’s most established nonprofit organizations, STARS is also one of the oldest and most respected therapeutic riding programs in the Midwest. The STARS program has been confidently making miracles since 1984. Our impact in the Siouxland area is wide-spread. Over our history, hundreds of clients have experienced the benefit of therapeutic riding and experienced significant physical, emotional, and cognitive breakthroughs. Our participants, volunteers, donors, and board members have become family, facilitating long-lasting and powerful change in the Siouxland community. PATH International (formerly NARHA) Operating an effective therapeutic riding requires specialized skills. STARS utilizes one of the most experienced teams in the country, with professional instructors certified through PATH International (formerly the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association or NARHA), the national organization which sets the standards all therapeutic riding programs. STARS adheres to stringent standards, ethics, certification, and credibility established by PATH as a leader of the Equine Assisted movement in the United States. For More Information on PATH International, visit www.pathintl.org.