Bonnie Riley: Owner and Director of the Riley Equine Center
OUR HISTORY
The Riley Equine Center is a family-owned and operated company in Boonville, MO which was established in 2010. Bonnie Riley, the owner, and heart behind the Riley Equine Center was inspired to start offering psychotherapy and assisted riding lessons to people with disabilities because she knew it could benefit people like her son. In 1992, Bonnie's son Bart had a serious accident that left him permanently and severely disabled. After much thought and government assistance, the Riley Equine Center has been up and running. Today, the Riley Equine Center is proud to still provide therapy to all forms of people and continue breaking disabled barriers.
Meet Bonnie Riley:
Bonnie is a Licensed Psychologist who has always had a passion for horses. She decided to combine her passion with her profession to offer Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP). Equine Assisted Psychotherapy challenges people to utilize gained confidence and leadership skills through guiding horses to complete tasks together. This cooperation between the rider and the horse helps the rider better understand themselves since horses have the ability to mirror human body language.
Horses have the ability to mirror exactly what human body language is telling them. Humans and horses both are social beings. Just like humans, horses have defined roles within their herds, and distinct personalities, attitudes, and moods. Horses provide vast opportunities for us to learn about ourselves. Interacting with horses in a therapeutic environment is an effective way for individuals to reflect upon their behaviors and gain a deeper understanding of themselves while also working physically to achieve new goals.
OUR MISSION
As a team of caring individuals, we strive to provide educational and therapeutic horseback riding experience to strengthen the body physically and mentally, improving the overall quality of our riders' lives.
WHAT WE HAVE TO OFFER
We offer riding lessons to all age groups, therapeutic riding as well as recreational riding. We have a physical therapist and licensed psychologist on staff for therapeutic riding and equine assisted psychotherapy. Riley Equine Center employs CHA (Certified Horsemanship Association) instructors. Some scholarships are available at some times. Packages at reduced rates are available. Price depends on whether a physical therapist is needed. Covered, climate controlled arena with viewing area available.
