By Tim Hauserman ·
Back in 2000, Doug Brimm of Incline Village was approached by his Incline friend Sam Waldman to hold a fundraiser for Waldman’s new organization, Kids & Horses. They held the fundraiser at Austin’s Restaurant in Reno, owned at the time by Brimm and his wife Gloria, and quickly fell in love with the organization’s goal to provide therapeutic horseback riding to kids and adults with disabilities.
Kids & Horses uses horses to provide physical and mental therapy to children and adults ·
They’ve been involved with Kids & Horses since. Doug began as the first member of the board of directors who was not a Waldman family member, and has served as a fundraiser, board member, executive director and chief executive officer.
Kids & Horses is a nonprofit that operates on a 6-acre ranch near Minden, Nev., and is the only certified therapeutic riding center in Northern Nevada. The group focuses on hippotherapy, which uses horses to provide both physical and mental therapy to children and adults. Currently, they have 23 horses that are used to provide therapy four days a week.
Along with kids, the organization helps horses that are aging or injured, but are suited for the slow, gentle rides with children ·
Even though it’s expensive to maintain a ranch with more than 20 horses, the program still focuses on providing inexpensive therapy. It’s only $25 a session (about a third of what you might pay in other areas) and about half the students receive some sort of assistance. The program is supported by donations and volunteers.
“Our vision now is taking children at whatever stage they are in and moving them along through an educational process to allow them to return to society to better fit in a workplace, school or family,” says Brimm. Another goal of the program is to give parents a break.
“When you have a special needs child, everyone in the family is in a special needs situation,” says Brimm.
Brimm says that he has seen firsthand the power of the bond between a child in need and a horse. He says that about 30 percent of the kids who come to Kids & Horses have some range of autism.
“We’ve seen a young autistic boy not speak a word and before long he is talking to the horse. We’ve seen it over and over again. It works wonders,” he says.
Therapy doesn’t just come from riding the horses, but in learning about the animal, he adds.
While the primary goal of Kids & Horses is to help the kids, they also want to help the horses. Age, injury or other circumstances have necessitated a change in career for many of the horses, but the slow, gentle rides with children suit them, Brimm says.
Until 2013, Kids & Horses leased the land where the ranch is located. At that time they purchased the property, which has led Brimm, and an active board, to begin to implement plans to expand their programs. They are going to remodel the main building and bring on physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists, all designed to make horse therapy more successful. Brimm hopes they will be able to double the number of children who can take advantage of the program.
Doug Brimm has dedicated his time to the nonprofit Kids & Horses to help kids and adults with disabilities ·
Why does Brimm do it? It’s not like he didn’t have anything else to do. Over the years he has been busy owning a number of restaurants in Incline Village and Reno, and his sons still own food businesses in Incline. Son Andy owns Brimm’s Catering, which caters the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, and son John operates Mountain High Sandwich Company.
“I think when you attach yourself to something that is more powerful and bigger then you, that is so special and effects children, I gravitate towards that. We have four healthy boys. To spend some time with kids and adults who just don’t have the opportunity that we had, that has been a very rewarding place for us. My time spent there is just about the most important thing I do,” said Brimm.
Kids & Horses has had to depend upon a core group of supporters since the beginning, including Brimm’s old high school classmate, moviemaker George Lucas. They could use financial assistance with operations and the planned expansion.
For more information, to volunteer or to make a donation, visit kidsandhorses.org.
Jamboree BBQ
Sept. 12 | 4 p.m. | Crystal Bay Casino
$50 adults | $12 kids | $150 VIP
Fundraiser for Kids & Horses with live & silent auctions, whiskey tasting, line dancing, raffle, barbecue, music & more.
