About | Horses4Heroes - Horses4Heroes

ABOUT US

HEALTHY LIVING WITH HORSES

Horses4Heroes is a Las Vegas-based, national non-profit organization dedicated to empowering youth, adults and families and enriching their lives through deeply discounted recreational, instructional and morale-boosting health and wellness programs that emphasize fun and safe activities with horses.

Our large and growing national network includes more than 300 facilities in 45 states plus Canada. Through programs like Operation Free Ride, we have given thousands of free horseback rides and we are introducing a brand new audience to the world of horses.

MISSION

Affordable recreational and instructional equestrian activities for local heroes and their families.

VISION

Strengthening communities with programs that use horses to promote healthy living and lifestyles.

CORE VALUES

We use horses to emphasize 4 core values – Responsibility, Independence, Discipline and Empathy.

Membership is free for all active duty service members, Veterans, caregivers, survivors, First Responders and their families. Use the drop-down menu and select HERO for the free membership (if you qualify if any of the free categories listed above). Other heroes (nurses, special education school teachers, ….) are free if you join before 12/31/2020. After January 1, these Heroes pay just $25, one-time membership fee. Not a “Hero?” You can be our Hero by joining as a Friend, just $50 one-time. In addition, we serve at-risk youth, foster children and teens, victims of domestic abuse and violence, Veterans with Post Traumatic Stress, and others in our communities who need a hand up, not a handout.

please email us at:

info@horses4heroes.org

and follow us on Facebook.

OPERATION FREE RIDE

Since 2012, thousands throughout the country have ridden a horse for free, either by appointment at

one of our Ride Hosts or at open houses held in conjunction with equestrian events including horse

shows and rodeos: Pinto World Championship Show, Cheyenne Frontier Days, River City Rodeo in

Omaha, Senior National Finals Rodeo and the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Las Vegas.

Operation Free ride was launched on May 19, 2012, in Las Vegas, to celebrate Armed Forces Day.

In 2014 and 2016, Horses4Heroes won the American Horse Council’s Time to Ride

100-Day Challenge for introducing the most newcomers to horses!

Its what we do best.

A horse with the American flag and transparent background

Our Founder

In 2006, Sydney Knott, along with her family members, founded the non-profit, Horses4Heroes, Inc. to make horseback riding affordable for, and accessible to, the heroes in our community and their families. Today, the organization has affiliates throughout the country. Horses4Heroes is the two-time winner of the American Horse Council’s Time to Ride Challenge!

In June 2017, Ms. Knott was named the Equine Industry Vision Award winner, an annual award presented by American Horse Publications and sponsored by Zoetis. Ms. Knott is a 1978 graduate from the University of Southern California and is an award-winning practicing public relations professional with more than 40 years of experience in the industry. She resides in Las Vegas with her husband, William Cunningham, a Vietnam Veteran, and former Navy Seabee.