Horsin’ Around blazed its trail for the 2025 riding season on Saturday with a cookout and guided rides around its ring for special needs children, men and women.

Saturday’s event entailed grilled hotdogs and all the fixings as well as the regularly scheduled rides on the organization’s horses Raven, Champ and Prince. Volunteers helped equestrians mount and dismount the horses as well as navigate the pen itself and obstacles such as weave poles and barrels.

Studies have shown that therapeutic horseback riding offers the rider a sense of calm and allows them to focus and relieve anxieties, something that is incredibly difficult for some individuals with special needs. Horsin’ Around is the closest facility to McMinnville and Warren County to offer this service for the public, making them a true asset to many in the community who benefit from the unique therapy only horseback riding can provide.

“Horseback riding helps with posture, balance and even social skills. With our autistic riders, sensory issues can be a really big deal with both children and adults,” McBride said. “These horses, believe it or not, can tell the difference of when they have a special rider versus one of our volunteers. They know when to be gentle and when they can ride a little freer.”

McBride admitted she wasn’t a horse person in the beginning, but she learned to love them because of the benefits they provided to the special needs community.

“We had a nonverbal child speak on a horse, and I was hooked,” McBride said of the moment she knew the program was a step in the right direction.

The Horsin’ Around Farm is outfitted with a club house, which features a kitchen area, a pool table donated by Oasis Church, storage, a handicap-accessible bathroom and adult changing table in addition to seating and tables.

“There’s also a quiet room so if anyone gets overstimulated, they don’t have to go home,” McBride explained. “They can go in there, calm down, and then they can come back out and enjoy the rest of the day.”

McBride went on, “A lot of times with families who have special needs individuals, it can be very easy to get overstimulted. I had a mom tell me all these birds chirping were bothering her child — if it gets to be too much for them, they can go to the quiet room, where they can read or look at a book or sit on one of the beanbag chairs until they’re ready to come back.”

Established in 2016 with collaboration from McMinnville Breakfast Rotary Club, Horsin’ Around is a McMinnville Special Games program where individuals with special needs get to participate in equestrian therapy. Weather permitting, rides are scheduled for the first Saturday of each month at its farm located at 1680 Harrison Ferry Road. The monthly rides typically begin at 9 a.m. and end at noon.

All individuals ages 5 and up with a special need, diagnosis or disability are welcome to participate and must sign a waiver before riding.

Horsin’ Around is always in need of volunteers and those interested can reach out to McBride at (931) 808-8816.