Our Mission
Hearts in Harmony is the “nonprofit arm” of Dark Horse HMS, allowing us to broaden our reach and serve more people in need. We use horses to help humans become better versions of themselves. Because horses give honest feedback with no judgment or ego, they respond positively or negatively according to what the person's body language and internal energy communicate.
At Hearts In Harmony, horses are the catalyst for helping people challenge their perspectives and accelerate personal and relational growth. Through the powerful horse-human connection, participants' emotional scars may begin to heal and new life skills develop. Positive and productive social interaction, improved academic performance, improved cognitive functioning, increased problem solving, emotional regulation, positive leadership skills and communication strategies are some of the benefits our programs can provide.
Horses help change lives, develop stronger individuals, and build stronger communities. We invite you to be a part of the change! Donate, volunteer, and/or inquire about building a program to fit the needs of your group's needs today!
A recap from one of our Renaissance Programs
“The best part about my time with the horses was doing things without the rope, and my horse still wanting to be with me. It proved to me the bond we have created.”
Our Programs
Renaissance Academy
Students from the Anderson Alternative (middle and high) School have the opportunity to learn life lessons through horsemanship over six-twelve weekly sessions. These students learn about positive leadership, communication, trust, respect, and problem solving strategies. We are seeing improvements in self-confidence, communication, self-awareness and self-control while learning how to be team players.
The horses open the door to a healing therapeutic environment that helps people heal from past trauma, abuse, and to develop positive life skills. This program focus is on developing strategies for healthier living, such as emotional regulation, positive communication and leadership skills, healthy boundary setting and building self-esteem. Our goal is to help these students develop and practice positive ways to self-regulate and thrive in relationships after a lifetime of trauma and neglect. These students are headed in a negative direction, we want to provide mentorship, counseling and teach them life skills to help redirect them on a more positive path.
Of the past participants, 73% of the students had fewer discipline referrals than they did before participating in the program. Not only did the number of referrals drop drastically, but the severity of the incidents also decreased as well. 73% of the students had better attendance and fewer tardies. 45% of the students had better grades during and immediately after the program ended. Changes are being made, sign up today to be a mentor and invest into the lives of these young people!
Read more about the success of this program here.
Availability/time
Thursday Mornings, 9-11am
Benaiah program
The "Benaiah Program" serves adults recovering from addiction in Anderson County. Benaiah was a warrior from the Bible who fought courageous battles, one battle was with a lion, in a pit, on a snowy day. Benaiah came out, but the lion did not. We all have "lions" that we face, the question is, how do we persevere to overcome these hardships in our lives and who is our village of support? We want to be part of that village!
We partner with and serve the women from Shalom House Ministries and the men from The Bridge Recovery Center. This is a supplemental program, we deepen the recovery experience of the participants by giving them hands-on practical ways to practice what they are learning through their 12-step programs. The experiential learning reaps great reward. It takes what the are learning, the negative patterns that they are struggling with and throws them in their face….they have to face their habits head on. The horses are so patient, so forgiving, and cannot lie. They have to change what’s inside of them to produce a different result with their equine partners. The horses ALWAYS show up to give them what they need to learn.
Availability/time
Monday (women) and Friday (men)
both programs run from 1-3pm
Horses Helping Humans (H3)
We partner with New Foundations Home for Children and Calvary Home for Children to serve youth-at-risk in Anderson and Greenville counties. These children are often struggling with anger issues, impulse control, emotional regulation, low self-esteem and communication. The horses provide a gateway to open their hearts for change. They are often intimidated by the size of the horses, and yet they are very intrigued. As they learn skills on how to communicate with the horses, we watch them blossom. Their confidence grows, they learn that positive communication does make a difference, they learn empathy, how to be patient, how to problem solve and “own their stuff” — how to do their part to make the partnership work. These are valuable lessons for everyone to learn!
See one of our New Foundations Staff workshops in action.
Availability/time
3 programs available:
Tuesdays from 4:30-6pm (New Foundations boys)
Thursdays at 3:30-5:30pm & 5:30-7:30pm (CH kids)
Veteran programs
It is an honor to give back to the men and women who serve or have served our country in the military or as first responders (police, firefighters, EMT’s). We have several different program options; we offer 8-12 week horsemanship courses, Family-Day’s at the farm for Veterans and their families to enjoy the benefits of Equine Therapy together, camps for kids, workshops and more. The horses have such a calming effect, we often hear from the participants….”I feel like I can actually breathe out here, there’s such a peace!” The horses open the door to healing, help calm anxiety, increase patience and empathy, build confidence and purpose. We have brought in rescue horses for the veteran participants to help tame and re-train, everyone had to dig deep to support what the horses needed and build trust. It was an eye opening and life changing experience all around.
We partner with Upstate Warrior Solutions, Veteran 1, WhenLifeSucks.org, Mission 22, Vets helping Vets and the VA to help connect our serves to those who need it.
Availability
Days and Times still TBD
Internship Program
Partnering with students from Anderson and Clemson Universities. We provide opportunities for students majoring in: psychology, special education, education, marketing, clinical psychology, etc. We are excited to offer hands on experience to help students understand how Equine Assisted Learning can be beneficial to all kinds of populations. Most mentorships are custom-made to fit the needs of the student and the areas that they would like to gain experience. Contact us if you’d like to start your learning journey with us!
Availability
Spring and Fall semesters
Time/hours dependent upon needs of the student
Get Involved
Hearts in Harmony is making an impact on our community and we need your help to continue the growth of each program! Please consider giving your best gift today, or sign up to bless us with a monthly gift, to provide even more scholarship opportunities! All donations are tax-deductible.
We are always looking for more volunteers, sign up here and get plugged into helping with one of our upcoming programs!!
“Like” us on social media, subscribe to our Youtube channel and stay connected through video content and updates!
What is Equine Assisted Learning?
Equine-assisted learning (EAL) is an experiential learning approach that promotes the development of life skills for educational, professional, and personal goals through equine-assisted activities. Working with horses provides opportunities to teach critical life skills such as trust, respect, honesty and communication. Horses are deeply in-tune with body language and can help participants to better understand how our non-verbal communication might be impacting or influencing those around us.
Horses are hyper-aware of their surroundings and can teach their humans to learn a heightened sense of self-awareness. Self-awareness is important in order to reveal patterns of behavior and participants can gain self-confidence while learning how to work with such a large, powerful creature. Horses provide us with a way to see our internal landscape and expose our modes of operation. They offer us the opportunity to experience humility, compassion and challenge - all critical elements to supporting self-growth and self-awareness.
Past and current program feedback
Troubled kids, adults, Vets and their families…
We exist to help anyone in need. If you are broken, hurting or in need of a helping hand, ours is stretched out, waiting to help! Contact us today to get plugged in.
With a brother who is a Marine, helping to restore family relationships and communication for veterans is something close to Bekah’s heart. Horses have proven to offer healing and restoration for Veterans, listen as Sky Barkley shares his story in this video and hear some of our past clients share their stories of the benefits of Equine Assisting Learning!