What horse therapy actually looks like

A short documentary and social series for a therapeutic riding nonprofit, showing the quiet, real work of the horse and human connection.

Horses Help Southwest Iowa (HH-SWI) is a nonprofit that provides equine-assisted therapeutic services on a 20-acre ranch just outside Council Bluffs. Their programs include adaptive riding lessons, carriage driving, and horseback therapy for people with physical, cognitive, emotional, or social challenges, including kids and adults with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, ADHD, and stroke survivors from southwest Iowa and southeast Nebraska.

The approach

I spent time at the ranch with Andrea and Mickey, who run things there now. The goal was to show what horse therapy actually looks like, not a polished brochure version of it. Most sessions are one-on-one, with a team around each rider: a certified instructor, a horse lead, one or two side walkers, and the horse. I shot it the way it happens, staying out of the way, holding on small moments, and letting the patience of the horses set the pace.

Everything was captured on a Fujifilm X-T3 with a Meike 25mm T2.2, with natural light and natural sound doing most of the work.

B-roll selects

A few of my favorite moments from the ranch, cut vertical: the horses, the barn, the hay, and the quiet in between. Their call to action says it best: be part of the herd.