WALLA WALLA — The power of horses is nothing short of magic — at least, that’s what instructors at Blue Mountain Therapeutic Riding think.

Blue Mountain Therapeutic Riding is a nonprofit in Walla Walla that offers equine-assisted activities and therapies to help those with disabilities. The organization recently kicked off its new program, Healing with Horses, which has been in the works for several years.

The program is designed for clients with neurodiversities like autism and ADHD, as well as kids recovering from trauma. Instructors help their clients through working and learning with gentle horses.

“Most of our clients are kids that have issues emotionally regulating,” said Cortney Needham, an equine specialist in mental health. “To have the horses has been magical, because a lot of them can sense the behaviors in the horses more than they can sense the behaviors in themselves, and they’re able to start mirroring each other.”

The program began only four weeks ago, but instructors say they’ve seen huge progress for their clients. Alayna Brinton, an instructor and chief clinical officer at Anchor Point Counseling in Walla Walla, said interaction with horses could help with memory issues, cognitive processing and emotive processing.

“Not only is it playing to the strengths of how humans naturally process emotions, but it’s evening the playing field for those kids that need more sensory input or more ability to have big movements, which you can’t do successfully in a therapy room,” Brinton said.

The new program includes one-on-one counseling in a private therapy space. Needham said one way she makes connections with clients and their emotions is through the horses. For example, one of the horses is scared of the farm’s cat. She said that letting kids see this has helped them relate it to bullying in their own lives, and has given them a better understanding of it.

Healing with Horses was made possible through a $10,000 grant from Sherwood Trust, a Walla Walla nonprofit, which will help with the program’s first 200 clients.

“We’re only doing groundwork,” said Mary Murphy, Blue Mountain’s executive director and co-founder. “We’re not doing riding, so purely what we’re doing with clients is helping them learn how to groom, and then Karla (Broughton) does some great learning skills.”

Broughton, an instructor, said some of the activities include obstacle courses, hula hoops and cones, which can all help clients learn leadership skills. Murphy said horses, which are herd animals, are always looking for a leader.

“It really does something for the horse, because then they have a leader to follow, but it also does something for the clients who probably have not had any exposure to leadership skills before,” Murphy said.

Murphy said the organization has about 40 volunteers, as well 20 more who signed up at a recent volunteer fair.

“We teach them everything they need to know to be successful side-walkers in our therapeutic riding lessons,” Murphy said. “They learn how to catch and groom and saddle and warm up a horse. And I have other classes if they want to continue on their volunteer journey and become horse leaders or horse feeders or barn buddies.”

Anyone interested in the program can call Anchor Point Counseling and specify that they want to participate in equine services. They will then be put on a waiting list.

Needham said she would recommend the program to kids with issues including depression, anxiety, trauma or those who have a hard time controlling their emotions.

“If you have a kid that’s having a hard time regulating, and then you have families that are tired of not regulating, then everyone’s dysregulated,” Needham said. “But you can come here and you have a horse, and the horse can teach you what it feels like to be regulated.”

The program has seven clients, with seven more on the waiting list. However, instructors hope to expand the program soon.

“At first I wasn’t sure how we would sustain each day, but it’s truly just like therapy,” Murphy said. “We just go with it, and the horses rise to the occasion. They’re just little magic-makers.”