Hope Unbridled started with a hope that was never given up on. My parents prayed for four years to have another child and God answered. I was that child. We have all hoped for something, maybe that something would change, or for something to come to pass. However, many times we put a restraint on hope. We don’t want to set our hope free because there’s always doubt that creeps in. So, in horse terms, we put a bridle on it. We contain our hope to what we each personally view as realistic hope. Hope Unbridled is a place where you can let go of these doubts and let hope run free. A place where hope, healing, and a renewal of trust is not only possible but attainable. When we talk about hope, it can be a desire, or a longing, for what is not yet. This hope must be kept alive and unbridled so we may have the faith that, what is not yet, may come to pass. This is my desire and prayer for Hope Unbridled and it’s participants..

How did the seed of Hope Unbridled begin to grow? Ever since I was a child I loved everything and anything to do with horses. Yes, I was that kid who pretended to actually be a horse. I didn’t own one but knew one day I would. When I was sixteen, I began volunteering at a therapeutic horseback riding facility where children with disabilities could learn to ride. After helping out with several lessons I knew teaching equine assisted activities was something I wanted to pursue. In addition to this experience, over the course of my sixteen years of life, my parents had continued to pray for more children. God answered. However, it was in a different way than before. God led my parents to adoption. So, by the time I was seventeen, I had nine siblings (seven of whom were internationally adopted). Through personal experiences with my adopted siblings, I was beginning to understand different types of emotional, physical, and learning disabilities. This is why therapeutic horseback riding became so near to my heart.

The lessons at Hope Unbridled and my heart specifically for adaptive riding lessons started with my family. My siblings were my first students. They just wanted to know how to ride. The result, my brother found a sense of calm, my sisters, coordination, mobility, and purpose, and my youngest sibling, an undiminished love for horses. I saw firsthand the power of horse-human connection and the hope and healing it can bring.

Thank you to my family, who is as much a part of Hope Unbridled as anyone could be. Most importantly they always encourage and point me to the God of hope.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13

-Natania Hope Swiger