SMALL MIRACLES THERAPEUTIC EQUESTRIAN CENTER INC

Small Miracles offers a truly unique service. We are the only non-profit TIC-EAS and singular Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, (PATH) Intl. organization within a 50+-mile radius, serving Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.
TIC Therapeutic Horsemanship (TIC-TH) serves students challenged with special needs and disabilities. Many TH students have endured Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). TIC-TH provides physical strength and sensory integration through the horse’s texture, color, aroma, sounds and movement, which closely mimics the human walking gait. As students learn to positively engage with their horse, soft skills, co-regulation, calming techniques and resiliency are nurtured. An ability to thrive in school and the larger community occurs that fosters social-emotional growth and fundamental life skills by building strong brains. Many of Small Miracles’ students have attained the long-term goals of higher learning and work-readiness, as appropriate, into independent, semi-independent or coached employment. Collaborations with local schools enable us to serve more students, while enhancing special education curriculum.
Trauma-Informed Care Positive Youth Development (TIC-PYD) is a strength-based program incorporating the neuro-science and neuro-biology of building strong brains in order to strengthen and enhance the fundamental life skills and personal growth and development of children and youth who have experienced ACEs, prolonged stress, and traumatic events. Through meaningful experiences and mentoring by staff— both human and horse— this program uniquely blends social-emotional development, health and wellness, academic and work-/college-readiness. Each component of this multi-faceted program helps to guide these students towards intentional living and self-regulated, positive behaviors. In turn these lead to the achievement of both short- and long-term goals, breaking down disparity, poverty and dysfunctional family cycles. Our “Miracle Herd” intuitively nurtures a willingness to try new things— the basis of all learning— developing critical thinking, problem solving, resilience, hope, and success.
Horses Empower Heroes promotes the self-sufficiency and emotional well-being of veterans navigating PTSD, TBI, anxiety, depression, moral injury, Substance Misuse Disorder and Military Sexual Trauma. The veterans’ social-emotional, cognitive and physical development are obtained through experiential TIC-EAS. This helps the veterans to talk, trust, and heal by processing past traumatic events, while being “present in life today”. Horses, being prey animals, naturally exist in a “hyper-vigilant” state similar to chronic stress, anxiety and PTSD; they are highly intuitive and “live in the moment.” Veterans and horses making connections provide innumerable teaching moments, because horses communicate through body language their human partner’s actions and emotions. This raises the veteran’s awareness and ability to co-regulate with their horse— versus hyper-vigilance. By first trusting and bonding with the horses, the veterans begin to let their guard down, bridging to Small Miracles’ staff, then generalizing to family, loved ones and the community.