Providing structured horsemanship programs for children and teens in foster care, helping youth build confidence, experience connection, and gain future direction, all at no cost to participants.
WHO WE SERVE
Future Strides supports children and youth in foster care across Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. All services are offered at no cost.
We offer age-appropriate experiences for children from early childhood through age 21, meeting each child where they are and providing support that grows with them.
When capacity is reached, new referrals are added to a waitlist and contacted when space becomes available.
GET STARTED
To learn more about how our work is designed to support each child, visit our Programs page.
Know a child who may benefit? Visit Refer a Child to get started. It only takes a few minutes, and we’re happy to help with any questions.
Our relationship-based horsemanship programs are designed specifically for youth in foster care. Unlike traditional riding schools, progress at Future Strides is not measured by performance or perfection. Our work is thoughtfully structured, offering experiences that build skills for life—both in and out of the saddle. Structure is steady, but participation remains flexible, allowing each child to engage at a pace that feels right for them. We prioritize consistency, safety, and developmentally thoughtful engagement, creating an environment where children are supported, respected, and given room to grow. Here, success is rooted in trust, confidence, and connection.
What Sets Us Apart
HORSES MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
At Future Strides, horses are the core of our work. Their steady presence naturally invites regulation, awareness, and connection—without expecting anything in return.
Science shows that human–horse interaction can reduce stress, increase connection, and support the body’s natural calming systems. Over time, this interaction helps the nervous system find steadiness and balance.
As prey animals, horses live with a natural alertness and sensitivity to their environment. Through consistent, respectful handling, they learn who feels safe to be around and who does not. Horses do not offer trust freely or automatically—they respond to presence, intention, and consistency. When children work alongside horses, they witness this process in real time. A horse’s willingness to engage becomes a quiet model of discernment, offering children an embodied example of how trust is built. Through that work, awareness turns inward. Children begin to notice their own responses and how to navigate them.
Science calls it co-regulation.
We call it connection.
That grounding doesn’t just stay in the arena. It moves with the child—beyond the barn.
This work is not intended to replace therapy, school-based services, or other clinical programs. Instead, it supports them through lived, relational experience.
SUPPORT THE WORK
Future Strides is sustained through community support. Contributions help ensure access to consistent, relationship-based experiences at no cost.
Your support helps sustain the work that makes these experiences possible.