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Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center strives to enhance the quality of life of people with special challenges through participation in equine assisted activities and therapeutic riding. We are a place where individuals come together and where victories — some dramatic, some modest, but all significant — are joyously celebrated.
Situated on 25 acres adjacent to Silver Lake Regional Park in Haymarket, VA, Rainbow has a state of the art indoor arena and viewing area, 12 horse barn with loft space for games and activities, an outdoor arena, and ample trails for wildlife watching.
Field trips can be tailored to meet the needs and interests of individual groups, including learning about the special therapy horses, what exactly ‘therapeutic riding’ means, and how daily life on the farm works.
➊ While there may be opportunities to interact with horses on field trips, riding horses is NOT involved in field trip experiences. Riding programs are separate.
➋ Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center is a nonprofit, public charity organization 501(c)(3). Although field trips are free, any donations are appreciated and go directly towards supporting the farm and its programs.
MISSION: RAINBOW THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER STRIVES TO ENHANCE THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF CHILDREN AND ADULTS WITH DISABILITIES THROUGH PARTICIPATION IN EQUINE ASSISTED ACTIVITIES
Established in 1985, Rainbow is a non-profit organization that provides equine assisted activities to children and adults with physical, educational, mental health, cognitive disabilities and other challenges. Our students develop physical strength and better mobility, self-esteem and self-confidence while receiving benefits through an equestrian activity that accommodates their specific needs.
Under the guidance of PATH Intl. certified riding instructors, adaptive riding helps individuals experience physical and emotional rewards. In addition to our staff, a very dedicated group of volunteers and specially selected horses help to meet the needs of our exceptional students.
Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center operates under the guidelines of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.) and our instructors are all PATH Intl. certified.
Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center is a PATH Intl. Premier Accredited Center. Visit RainbowRiding.OrgOption 1 – Break into smaller groups of 5-32 students and book each group separately.
These multiple groups can either come on the same day (using staggered arrival/departure times) or on separate dates depending on your transportation options. However, no more than 1 group can be at/inside the facility at any given time with the exception of exchanging students on/off buses.
If your transportation budget is limited and your organization is within a reasonable distance to/from the ComEd facility, consider staggering your groups with start times at least 2 hours apart to utilize the same bus.
Example: [9am] Group 1 is dropped off at ComEd and the same bus then returns to school/org to pick up Group 2. [10:30-11am] Group 2 is dropped off at ComEd and the same bus reloads with Group 1 to return to school/org. [12:30-1pm] The same empty bus arrives back at ComEd again to pick up Group 2 to return to school/org.
Option 2 – Consider the ComEd Powering Lives Community Center as an alternative.
The experience is comparable to the Smart Energy Hub’s content and is recommended for Grades 6+. Howevever, groups as young as 4th grade have had good experiences at the PLCC. The interactive content does require reading that may be challenging (in general) for groups younger than 6th grade. For more information to see if this experience may be an alternative for your group, please visit:
https://FieldTripFactory.Org/ComEd-PLCC
If neither of those first two options fit your group(s), you likely need to think about an alternative experience.
If your large group size is very close to 32 students (and we mean close, like 33, 34-ish) – then go ahead and select the Field Trip Type = Large Group > 32 Students during the booking process. We’ll contact you and let you know if the request can be met. However, this means some students will have to wait and rotate with other students at various experiences at the Smart Energy Hub.
Option 1 – Break into smaller groups of 7-50 students and book each group separately.
These multiple groups can either come on the same day (using staggered arrival/departure times) or on separate dates depending on your transportation options.
The PLCC is a large facility. However, large groups are asked to divide into sub groups stagger their walking entrance to prevent bottlenecks (e.g. If the total group is 50 students, then Group A of 25 students enters while Group B of 25 students waits 5 minutes on the bus and then enters).
If your transportation budget is limited and your organization is within a reasonable distance to/from the ComEd facility, consider staggering your groups with start times at least 2 hours apart to utilize the same bus.
Example: [9am] Group 1 is dropped off at ComEd and the same bus then returns to school/org to pick up Group 2. [10:30-11am] Group 2 is dropped off at ComEd and the same bus reloads with Group 1 to return to school/org. [12:30-1pm] The same empty bus arrives back at ComEd again to pick up Group 2 to return to school/org.
If these scenarios do not fit your group(s), you likely need to think about an alternative experience.
If your large group size is very close to 50 students (and we mean close, like 51, 52, 53-ish) – then go ahead and select the Field Trip Type = Large Group > 50 Students during the booking process. We’ll contact you and let you know if the request can be met.
What can you do?
FieldTripFactory.Org is constantly working to add new programming and restart old favorites!
