Healing Power of Horses: Buckboard Therapeutic Riding Academy serves Nebraska Panhandle
Located in Gering, Neb., Buckboard Therapeutic Riding Academy offers equine assisted therapy and therapeutic riding services to special needs individuals in the Nebraska Panhandle.
Kathleen “Kathy” Gatch founded the academy with the goal of empowering individuals through the strength, wisdom and beauty of horses.
Since its founding, Buckboard has helped connect hundreds of special needs children and adults with the healing power of horses through equine-assisted therapy and therapeutic riding.
Buckboard’s backstory
Kathy was first introduced to the benefits of equine-assisted therapy roughly 30 years ago after her son Ricky was severely injured in a car accident.
Complications from the accident left her 18-year-old son functioning at the mental age of two and requiring constant companionship throughout the rehabilitation process.
Kathy used her teaching background and physical education degree to help assist with Ricky’s recovery.
The two went everywhere together as he healed, and Kathy says she noticed a visible change in Ricky whenever he was around horses.
This led Kathy to look into the benefits of equine assisted therapy and eventually she became a certified therapeutic riding instructor and founded her own program.
Buckboard Therapeutic Riding Academy first opened its doors to the public in 1997. In the years since, Ricky has made a full recovery, and Buckboard has helped hundreds of other children with special needs gain confidence in themselves and experience the healing power of horses.
“My love of horses and children inspired me to form this program so special needs children could experience the benefits and enjoyment only a horse can give,” Kathy says.
Kathy retired in 2025, leaving most of the academy’s primary operations in the capable hands of Andrea “Andee” Meyers.
Andee started as a volunteer with Buckboard in 2021 and has since taken on a full-time role as arena manager and head instructor.
She works to help advance Buckboard’s mission of helping families with the assistance of her husband Matt Meyers and another employee, Kylie Hewett, as well as a network of dedicated volunteers.
Equine-assisted therapy
Buckboard Therapeutic Riding Academy combines traditional horsemanship with concepts of physical, occupational, speech and behavior therapies to assist special needs individuals.
Andee and Kathy explain the benefits of equine-assisted therapy and therapeutic riding are innumerable, from improved cognitive health and confidence to better social skills.
Buckboard’s mission is to provide an opportunity for individuals with special needs to experience the healing power of horses.
With the assistance of instructors and volunteers, participants get hands-on experience with horses both on the ground and in the saddle in a controlled setting.
Riding sessions are based primarily on riders’ individual schedules, and Andee works with school groups from the surrounding area twice a week.
“Group work allows individuals to build bonds with each other and with the animals,” Andee says. “It’s a full circle experience.”
A longtime dream of Kathy’s came true a few years ago with the establishment of an indoor arena on Buckboard’s campus.
Before this, riding was limited by weather and seasons, but today, Buckboard can offer its services practically year-round.
Like Kathy, Andee says the best part of working at Buckboard is seeing children flourish through the incredible impact of the horse and human connection.
“I get to see the best of these kids when they’re on a horse or with a horse,” Andee says. “Something about being with animals brings out the best in everyone.”
Valuable volunteers
Buckboard Therapeutic Riding Academy is a United Way partner agency and operates primarily with support from local individuals and businesses.
Kathy says support from the surrounding community has been strong since the beginning, and volunteers are pivotal to the program’s success.
While instructors are the only ones certified to teach lessons, volunteers are instrumental in supporting children during their rides as side walkers and helping enforce safety throughout lessons.
During the early years, horses were loaned from area partners who transported the animals to and from sessions. Today, Buckboard has the facilities to house horses on site, and each animal was donated by a local partner.
“The community has been a big support for us since day one,” Kathy says. “We are very community focused.”
Veteran project
In addition to continuing to serve children with special needs, an exciting new opportunity is on the horizon for Buckboard Therapeutic Riding Academy.
Another longtime dream of Kathy’s – the Buckboard Veteran Project – seeks to open the academy’s therapeutic riding and equine-assisted therapy services to local Veterans navigating post-traumatic stress disorder.
Spearheaded by Andee and Matt, this service line is still in the works as the team takes the necessary steps towards education and certification.
Veteran partners are currently taking part in some Buckboard operations in a volunteer capacity, and Andee says she has hopes of opening the program in full by this fall.
“Working with children with disabilities is very different from working with adults with mental challenges,” Andee emphasizes. “We want to be sure and do our due diligence by educating ourselves on trauma, achieving necessary certifications and getting mental health professionals on staff in order to best help the clients we’ll be serving.”
“By the time we get the Buckboard Veteran Program going, the dreams I’ve been dreaming since day one will all have been met,” Kathy says.
Kathy will celebrate her 80th birthday this summer, with decades of her life dedicated to working with horses and children.
She continues to be involved with Buckboard Therapeutic Riding Academy in a semi-retired capacity, while Andee, Matt, Kylie and other volunteers work to advance the dream she started.
For more information on Buckboard Therapeutic Riding Academy, visit buckboardacademy.org.
Grace Skavdahl is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
