ADVOCATES FOR CAMP ABLE

Advocates for Camp Able (d/b/a Camp Able of Buffalo Gap) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides therapeutic riding and life-skills training to people with special needs. Camp Able is also an animal welfare organization that provides sanctuary to horses who have been abandoned, abused or are unwanted. About two-thirds of Camp Able's clients are school-aged children with a wide array of special needs, including autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, dyslexia, ADHD, anxiety, emotional and intellectual disabilities, and other conditions. A majority of the adults who participate in Camp Able’s therapeutic riding programs are military veterans with physical or emotional challenges, including post-traumatic stress disorder.

Critical to providing therapeutic riding, Camp Able requires a healthy supply of horses trained for such use. In pursuing this goal, Camp Able identified there was an opportunity and need to establish a horse sanctuary to provide shelter and care for unwanted or neglected horses in its rural Texas community. All horses brought to the Camp Able sanctuary are provided the necessary care to return them to their best health and evaluated for use in therapeutic riding.

Demand for Camp Able's programs have continued to grow since its inception in 2014. When founded, Camp Able’s research discovered that while there were a number of therapeutic riding facilities in Texas, nearly all of them were located around the major metropolitan areas with few in the 100-mile radius around Abilene. This continues to be the case today.

Camp Able is a Member Center of PATH, Intl. (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, International) and all of its instructors (currently four) and primary horse care providers are certified by PATH. PATH Intl. provides industry standards in the areas of center administration, facility safety, equine welfare and activities. PATH Certified Professionals are individuals who have undergone a stringent certification process and possess a strong equine background. Annual training is required to maintain a professional's PATH-certification.

Camp Able offers a number of different programs to both individuals and groups, including children involved in life-skills programs at local schools, ranging from elementary through high school. Camp Able’s programs are all called “camps” and include such offerings as residential camps, nonresidential camps, day riding camps, and therapeutic riding at special events. Camp Able’s innovative specialty summer camps offer disabled children and their families an opportunity to enjoy the positive social and educational aspects of a traditional summer camp environment, something most of these families typically would not have access to. Camp Able’s therapeutic riding special events are conducted through partnerships with a number of organizations throughout the state of Texas to provide healing and educational opportunities to to people with special needs. Camp Able’s programs are complementary to each other, providing different ways that clients can work on improving their skills, communications, confidence and independence. All of Camp Able’s programs support the pursuit of the organization’s VISION, which is that independent living is a reasonable and achievable goal for all humans regardless of mental, emotional and physical capabilities, with the full acceptance and understanding of their caregivers and society at large.