Today we’d like to introduce you to Marsha Anderson.
Hi Marsha, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
While researching for a paper in an animal behavior class as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, I came across a short article on the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). My immediate thought was, “What a great way to work with horses and give something back to folks who don’t get all the breaks in life!” I put that thought in one of the (too?!) many file cabinets in my brain and finished my paper. Graduate school came along and while looking into schools I saw an animal euthenics program at Texas A&M University that peaked my interest. After visiting the school (on break from my prairie dog behavior research at the Petrified National Forest in Arizona) it was locked in. Low and behold, TAMU had a small therapeutic riding program headed up by Dr. J. Warren Evans. My life’s dream was born! While obtaining my Masters Degree in Animal Science at Texas A&M University, I facilitated the TAMU therapeutic riding program and taught an undergraduate course in therapeutic riding.
My Masters Thesis Project was about looking for objective measures for selecting horses for Therapeutic Riding programs (Dr. Evans served on my committee, along with Dr. Ted Friend, Dr. Douglas Householder and Dr. Linda Parrish). As part of my graduate degree I also became a NARHA Registered Instructor (Equest in Dallas, TX had a wonderful collaboration with TAMU). While at Equest, I came up with the name Equul Access, a play on the words Equus (Latin for horse) and Equal. All individuals should have equal access to horses, period.
After wrapping up grad school, my 5-year plan was solidified – move back to MN and open a therapeutic horsemanship program called Equul Access. Ahh, the passion of youth! Six years later, after my hubby and I purchased our dream property and a storm blew the roof off our old barn, Equul Access, Inc. was born!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Rarely are things worth doing easy! Time was initially a struggle due to working full time offsite the first few years. Resources were and are a struggle. Sometimes we can get partial funding for materials but then have to try to get the work done ourselves. It took 7 years to get the heat installed in the arena! Funding continues to be a challenge as is getting volunteers. Another challenge is finding quality horses that meet our needs and are minimal cost.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We partner humans and horses to improve lives. We offer equine-assisted services for individuals with disabilities, caregivers, veterans and their families, youth at-risk and more. www.equulaccess.org
We teach full horsemanship to individual’s interests and abilities. We also offer leadership and team building work.
Many of the facets of horsemanship give people better insight into themselves and can help develop the ability to be a better human.
We are a Premier Accredited Center by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International. I am a PATH Intl. Advanced Instructor, Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning and Mentor. I am involved in the equine-assisted services industry in multiple ways as a site visitor, faculty, evaluator and more.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
We have had some bad luck regarding our barn and indoor arena. We started with a shell and the first contractor we had enclose it were incompetent and had to come back and do it again. In the last couple years we needed to replace the roof and again, a contractor we hired had an incompetent crew put the roof on and it leaked. We finally ended up getting a partial refund and hired another company to install the roof. So far so good there!
We’ve had a lot of good luck over the year but I do believe many of the good outcomes are due to putting in the work, building relationships, making a positive difference in the lives we touch, etc.
Pricing:
- Varies based on services
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.equulaccess.org
- Instagram: equulaccess
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EquulAccess
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marsha-andersonea
- Twitter: @EquulAccessInc
