Pal-O-Mine Equestrian

Conclusion

Pal-O-Mine Equestrian meets the 20 Standards for Charity Accountability.

Purpose

Stated Purpose:
Pal-O-Mine Equestrian began in 1995 as a therapeutic horseback riding program for individuals with disabilities and other vulnerable populations. Our mission has been, and continues to be, to provide a comprehensive therapeutic equine program using horses to facilitate growth, learning and healing. Our populations include children and adults with disabilities, those who have been abused or neglected, the military and the impoverished.

Year, State Incorporated:
1995, NY

Programs

Adaptive Riding & Unmounted Horsemanship: Pal-O-Mine Equestrian provides quality adaptive horseback riding to individuals with disabilities. Adaptive horseback riding provides unique benefits to our students. The goals for each lesson are tailored to make improvements in the most needed areas of the rider’s life. Adaptive riding sessions are exceptional for improving fine and gross motor skills, balance, coordination, sensorimotor skills, language, and social skills. In addition, each one of our riding instructors excels in their field and continues with training and certification throughout their careers. Pal-O-Mine’s Adaptive Riding and Unmounted programs benefit students with cognitive, physical, emotional, and multiple disabilities. Our students range in age from 5 to 70.

Equine Assisted Learning: Pal-O-Mine’s Equine Assisted Learning programs incorporate horses experientially for educational, emotional, growth and learning. EAL uses unique approaches to create positive and constructive learning experiences for children and adolescents who are at risk of failing in the traditional academic setting. EAL sessions incorporate guided and safe horse interactions, positive interaction between students, animals and adults, as well as the incorporation of grade-level appropriate reading, writing, art and math skills. These approaches, combined with a varied and very specialized teaching staff helps to reengage the typically disengaged or defiant student and recreate a positive learning experience that carries over into the students’ traditional classroom experiences.

Equine Assisted Psychotherapy: Our Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) program follows the prescribed model designed by EAGALA, Inc., the leading international EAP training and certifying organization. Currently, Pal-O-Mine has 7 Licensed Mental Health Professionals and 11 Equine Specialists who are certified in the EAGALA model. Pal-O-Mine also is the host to the New York Metropolitan Networking Group.
All Pal-O-Mine staff/personnel participate in ongoing training and experiential workshops to further their education and skills to better serve our clients. Lisa A. Gatti, our CEO and Founder, served on EAGALA’s Board of Directors and as Board Chair from 2009-2015.
Pal-O-Mine offers individual, family and group therapy. Groups focus on the following issues: grief, trauma and abuse, eating disorders, substance abuse, addiction and codependency. At-risk youth, women’s empowerment and the military are among these groups, as well. EAP affords clients the opportunity to gain knowledge about their behaviors while providing them with an emotionally safe environment for them to develop positive alternatives. The benefits to the client include increased self-esteem, improved communication skills, assertiveness, creative thinking, problem solving, development of coping skills and taking responsibilities for themselves.

Speech & Occupational Therapy: Hippotherapy: According to the American Hippotherapy Association, “the term ‘hippotherapy’ refers to how occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology professionals use evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning in the purposeful manipulation of equine movement to engage sensory, neuromotor, and cognitive systems to achieve functional outcomes. In conjunction with the affordances of the equine environment and other treatment strategies, hippotherapy is part of a patient’s integrated plan of care.”
The term hippotherapy originates from the Greek word, “hippos”, meaning horse or equine. Hippotherapy is a treatment strategy provided by licensed and specially trained occupational therapists, physical therapists, or speech-language pathologists as part of a patient’s overall treatment plan. The therapist uses the movement of the horse to help address and improve function. The horse’s walk provides multidimensional movement, which is variable, rhythmic and repetitive. This movement is modified by trained horse handlers under the direction of the therapist. Hippotherapy can be used to facilitate coordination and timing, grading of responses, respiratory control, sensory integration skills, attention skills, speech production skills, swallowing and receptive, expressive and pragmatic language skills.
Animal Assisted Speech/Occupational Therapy: Occupational Therapists and Speech Language Pathologists are able to provide therapy services with the assistance of the wonderful animals at Pal-O-Mine, including horses, ponies, miniature horses, miniature donkeys, goats, sheep, chickens, bunnies and cats. Clients respond well to therapy incorporating activities with animals, and a variety of therapy goals can be addressed using this treatment strategy
Clinic: Occupational Therapy in Motion and Speech Language Pathology in Motion offer a variety of other highly effective treatment strategies in their Hauppauge clinic, conveniently located just 5 minutes from Pal-O-Mine at 300 Wheeler Road, Suite 106, Hauppauge NY.

Military Programs: For more than four thousand years, horses have been an integral part of warfare. Today, horses are still playing an important role in war, this time in the recovery of military veterans who have suffered emotional and/or physical injuries. Clinical evidence and generations of human experience show that horses have a special ability to help people work through emotional barriers without shame or stigma.

Pal-O-Mine Equestrian is an EAGALA DESIGNATED MILITARY PROGRAM. This designation asserts that EAGALA Certified Professionals working with the military have specialized training and experience in the military community. Sessions at the farm are action, not talk.
We offer individual, group and family sessions.

Corporate Workshops: Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) is an experiential approach that fosters real lasting change. It is a unique opportunity that goes beyond traditional leadership programs to restore balance in people’s lives while teaching critical thinking, clear communication and social skills. A typical workshop involves activities on the ground with the horses (there is no riding), which provides opportunities for team discovery through experiential learning. Prior horse experience is not necessary to benefit from this program.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, Pal-O-Mine Equestrian's program expenses were:

Governance & Staff

Chief Executive
Lisa Gatti, CEO and Founder

Chair of the Board
Blair Griesmeyer

Chair's Profession / Business Affiliation
Larsen Home Improvement

Board Size
10

Paid Staff Size
47

Fundraising

Method(s) Used:
Direct mail appeals, Invitations to fund raising events, Print advertisements (newspapers, magazines, etc.), Grant proposals, Internet, Planned giving arrangements, Appeals via Social Media (Facebook, etc.), All board members are charged with fundraising responsibilities by participating personally and soliciting participation in our events. There is also a board giving policy for give/get of $5,000.

Tax Status

This organization is tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is eligible to receive contributions deductible as charitable donations for federal income tax purposes.

Financial

The following information is based on Pal-O-Mine Equestrian's audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Source of Funds

Programs: 82% Fundraising: 4% Administrative: 14%