CHAPS Equine Assisted Services Executive Director Kristen Marcus is busy searching for a new horse for the facility, a process that on its own isn’t easy but is made harder by all the scams she’s had to wade through.
So much false information floating around is one of the reasons CHAPS recently earned dual accreditation to become the only equine center in Wyoming to have completed both, certifying that its therapies meet stringent safety standards and its practices have been studied and are backed by authorities in the field of equine-assisted therapy.
“I've gone through 15 scams on Facebook just trying to find a horse,” she said. “In this day and age of people being so dishonest, I just feel that for us to have both accreditations is a very distinct pledge to our community, that we are safe, we are ethical and we are holding up all of these standards with the community's best interest in mind.”
Enriching The Human Spirit
CHAPS is dedicated to helping individuals in the community learn, grow and heal through a variety of equine assisted services. It was established in 2003 as an adaptive riding program in Sheridan to serve children and adults with special needs.
Over the years, the program has expanded to offer adaptive carriage driving, equine-facilitated psychotherapy and equine-assisted learning. CHAPS works with people with a variety of diagnoses — from autism to PTSD and many in between.
"My brother, who lives with autism, has been a participant in this equine assistance program for the last two years,” said Cyrita Martini, sister to an adaptive carriage driving participant.
“While we always hoped for positive outcomes, the actual growth we have witnessed has far exceeded our expectations," Martini said. "My brother often struggles significantly with self-confidence and finds social interactions particularly challenging. He has communication barriers that prohibit him from making friends, but he has always had a love for horses, something we didn’t have access to growing up. He is in his late 40s now and is thriving because of his experiences and the people he has gotten to know and work with."
Jayden Layher, left, grooms a pony held by volunteer Barb Perry in CHAPS Pony Pals program. It focuses on socialization/verbalization, social skills, fine and gross motor skills, as well as memory and recall. (Courtesy Photo) 
Army veteran Joel Brady participates in Horses 4 Forces, an equine-facilitated psychotherapy group program at CHAPS Equine Services in Sheridan. CHAPS offers a variety of programs and recently became the only dual-accredited facility in the state. (Courtesy Photo)
Human-Horse Interactions
Participants range in age from 5 to 102 (a World War II veteran at a long-term care center). They include not only individuals, but groups of veterans from the Sheridan VA Medical Center, Veterans' Home of Wyoming and Volunteers of America, as well as foster children, women, caregivers and aged community members.
“Over 55% of our participants are veterans right now, and as of today, we have 295 individuals served here,” Marcus said.
CHAPS offers a variety of programs including Pony Pals, where ponies travel to town to serve youth and seniors during winter session. It focuses on socialization/verbalization, social skills, and fine and gross motor skills as well as memory and recall. At one school children practice reading to the horses.
“So it started out with the children literally having their back to everyone except for the horse, and just reading the stories to the horse,” Marcus said. “But as the program went on, they started turning and reading their stories to everyone in the group, which was really cool to watch.”
Haltering Hope and Horses 4 Forces are non-mounted, equine-facilitated psychotherapy group programs focusing on facilitating personal skill development that helps reduce emotional reactivity, assists in processing trauma and fosters the development of strength-based tools to work through triggers and emotions.
"As I read my story to the horse, it felt like I was in front of a judge and reading a list of my crimes,” said Carlos Bernal, an Air Force Veteran that’s part of Horses 4 Forces. “But as I continued through the story, the horse nudged me, and when I was done, it felt like the judge had just said, 'After reviewing all the evidence, there are no crimes committed here and you are free to go.' That was very freeing."
There’s also adaptive riding — a traditional riding lesson with therapeutic goals – and adaptive carriage riding – therapeutic driving that is an alternative to riding for people who are not physically able to sit astride, afraid of riding or exceed the horses' weight limits.
"Karlie continues to gain independence with sessions,” said Kelly Buckingham, parent of an adaptive riding participant. “It is wonderful to see her work through 'hard things' and feel successful and accomplished."
There are multiple benefits to human-horse interactions. Physically riders build core strength, increase flexibility and improve balance. On a mental-emotional level, working with the horses helps people improve coping skills and focus.
Marcus refers to a study done in 2017 by HeartMath and the Tao of Horsemanship on how horses can help people feel better. Researchers found that a horse has a magnetic field around its heart that extends 50 feet around their body. They then determined that humans have a magnetic field around their heart that extends four to six feet beyond their body.
“The study found that when we humans are within four to six feet of the horse's heart, their magnetic field can overpower ours and that will decrease our heart rate, decrease our respiratory rate and it just makes us feel better,” she said. “That helps decrease anxiety and symptoms of depression, while elevating our mood.”
Navy veteran Bliss Ragsdale, left, participates in CHAPS adaptive carriage riding program with trainer Tracy Shaw. (Courtesy Photo) 
Stevie Martin enjoys adaptive riding, a traditional riding lesson with therapeutic goals, at CHAPS Equine Services in Sheridan. (Courtesy Photo)
Accreditation And The Future
CHAPS became a Premier Accredited Center with the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH) in 2016. PATH is a global authority and advocate for equine-assisted activities and therapies.
In October, CHAPS also received accreditation through the Certified Horsemen’s Association (CHA), just a few months after the site visit.
“I've always valued them as a member organization for horsemen, and it just made sense for us to add them as our second accreditation,” Marcus said of CHA. “A lot of the standards are written evidence, but there were a few that we had to demonstrate, and they interviewed not only the staff, but the volunteers as well to make sure that we were doing what we say we're doing.”
To complete an accreditation a center must prove that it meets safety, program and ethical standards with a 90% passing grade. CHAPS passed both accreditations at 98%.
“My staff are some of the most dedicated and skilled individuals that I've ever worked with, and we really couldn't have made this accreditation work without all of us being on board,” Marcus said. “There are other equine programs popping up all over that have no organizational affiliation, no certifications and no safety standards to which they adhere. It is our hope that in educating the public about the importance of safety and ethical standards, they will choose a center near them that is diligently following said standards.”
Being members of both organizations increases access to online classes, conferences and networking opportunities. And due to its PATH accreditation, CHAPS partnered with the University of Kentucky in 2024 to determine the efficacy of its veteran mental health program.
“The UK found our veteran mental health program is decreasing anxiety and improving mood, focus and engagement with statistical significance at over 95% confidence,” Marcus said. “Our P value was .001. To have that small of a number in our data was absolutely incredible.”
CHAPS took things a step further in 2025, again partnering with the UK, and collecting data on all its programs. Results should be available in early spring 2026.
“Research has been showing the efficacy of equine programs for years, but now we will have data exclusive to our programs which helps us with recruiting staff, volunteers, participants and funding,” Marcus said.
She also feels confident that the new accreditation will help CHAPS grow.
“We've set a record for participation the last three years in a row, and it looks like we're going to set another record this year,” Marcus said. “So with this dual accreditation, we're hoping it's going to continue to help our organization grow and serve more and more of our community.”
