Red Arena Owner Jen Young was a physical therapist, not a horse person, when she set off on her nonprofit journey a decade ago.

She had learned in school that horseback riding was an effective way for people to work on balance and coordination and decided to learn more.

“I fell in love with it,” Young said. “I get so much more out of one hour on the horse than I was getting with patients in the clinic.”

The Dripping Springs-based nonprofit started in 2008 and offers equine-assisted therapies—physical, occupational and speech therapy on a horse.

Mental health and counseling services have also been added. Those participants do not ride the horses, instead they work on opening up communication, bonding and attachment in the arena.

“We’ve outgrown the space as far as number of horses we can have,” Young said. “We can’t add any more riding lessons, so that’s why we started those other programs—to maximize facility use.”

The Red Arena team is working on acquiring land nearby to expand. It is also working on raising the funds for a covered arena for the current site so classes do not have to be weather-dependent.

“It’s really hard when a family comes in and I do their evaluation and know this is going to be life- changing for them, but they have to wait,” Young said. “That’s part of my drive for a bigger location.”

Marty and Veronica Barillas said magic happens every day at Red Arena. Their son, Nico, 10, has been participating in therapy every week for the past two years.

“After a few sessions at Red Arena, my wife went to pick him up from school and when he saw her, he tapped his chest with his hand, which is his way to communicate ‘me’ and looked at her and his teacher and said ‘horse,’” Marty said.

For a son who does not speak, knowing that his relationship with a horse had unlocked that internal code inside of him to be able to say that, was life- changing for him and us, he said.

“At last year’s Red Arena Round-Up, Nico was riding his horse through various activities and when they had to pause momentarily, [he] said ‘Go,’’’ Marty said. “His ride assistants and our family couldn’t stop our tears of joy.”