{"id":64214,"date":"2026-03-27T19:24:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T23:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=64214"},"modified":"2026-03-27T19:24:38","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T23:24:38","slug":"bartow-ranch-offers-free-equestrian-program-for-riders-with-special-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/03\/27\/bartow-ranch-offers-free-equestrian-program-for-riders-with-special-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Bartow ranch offers free equestrian program for riders with special needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Heart for H.E.R.O.&#8217;s, Inc., a nonprofit based at the <strong>Rockin&#8217; W Ranch<\/strong> in Bartow, offers equestrian experiences specifically designed for children and adults with special needs.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"7c7b72\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fb-img-1646000545405_orig-768x1024.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-64215 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #7c7b72; aspect-ratio:0.7500135538086202;width:311px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fb-img-1646000545405_orig-768x1024.webp 768w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fb-img-1646000545405_orig-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/fb-img-1646000545405_orig.webp 1080w\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Program Details<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Athletic Training:<\/strong> They coach <strong>Special Olympics<\/strong> equestrian athletes, helping them develop skills for competition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Therapeutic Horsemanship:<\/strong> The program focuses on building physical strength, balance, coordination, and social skills through interactions with their eight therapy horses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inclusivity:<\/strong> Their mission is to provide a safe, welcoming environment for individuals with a wide range of physical and mental needs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Location &amp; Contact<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Address:<\/strong> 5247 Rifle Range Road, Bartow, FL 33830<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Affiliation:<\/strong> Sponsored by Rockin&#8217; W Ranch (which has served the community for over 30 years).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Website:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aheartforheros.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aheartforheros.org<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While many of these specialized nonprofit programs are funded through donations and grants to keep costs as low as possible for families, it is best to contact them directly regarding current availability and any potential fees or scholarship opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Heart for H.E.R.O.&#8217;s, Inc., a nonprofit based at the Rockin&#8217; W Ranch in Bartow, offers equestrian experiences specifically designed for children and adults with special needs. Program Details Location&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDNcL2ZiLWltZy0xNjQ2MDAwNTQ1NDA1X29yaWcud2VicD9maXQ9NzY4JTJDMTAyNCZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkJhcnRvdyByYW5jaCBvZmZlcnMgZnJlZSBlcXVlc3RyaWFuIHByb2dyYW0gZm9yIHJpZGVycyB3aXRoIHNwZWNpYWwgbmVlZHMiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.4Ob_ZzKOW69t1rDXdTQs_zqYoYj1ohKX_Ty9F8KMRYAMQ"},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[14234],"class_list":["post-64214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bartow-ranch-offers-free-equestrian-program-for-riders-with-special-needs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64216,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64214\/revisions\/64216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}