Foal in Love With Tahoe Donner’s Equestrian Community

By Cynthia Cendreda

The Tahoe Donner Equestrian Center is widely recognized by North Tahoe equestrians as an exceptional stable, boarding facility and jumping-off point for Tahoe Donner members and the Truckee-Tahoe community to experience what horses have to offer. Open to Tahoe Donner members and the public, the Equestrian Center offers full-day horsemanship camps for kids, private lessons, pony rides for our youngest children to gain early exposure to the joy of riding and a host of wellness and community events throughout the summer season.

Established in 1972 and then updated alongside the construction of the Alder Creek Adventure Center, the Equestrian Center has been in operation for over 50 years, helping people to discover or deepen their love for the equestrian lifestyle, one pony ride, day camps, or community barbecue at a time. While its offerings have evolved over the past five decades, the Equestrian Center remains a unique facility for discovering the infinite rewards of equine partnership, whether in the saddle or simply in the company of these fine animals.

Learning Programs

From camps and private lessons to workshops and clinics taught by renowned guest instructors, the Equestrian Center is not only a place to learn basic horsemanship but also to develop confidence and connection with their equine partners. Full-day camps are offered from mid-June through mid-August and allow kids the opportunity to gain fundamental horsemanship skills, including grooming, tacking, arena and groundwork, trail riding and more. Private lessons are offered from mid-June through mid-October and are tailored to the rider’s abilities and goals.

Young riders guide their mounts through an obstacle course during a Tahoe Donner Equestrian Camp.

More recently, the Equestrian Center has collaborated with Circus Cowgirl Kansas Carradine, a celebrated trick rider and former performer and trainer for Cavalia, an international production company specializing in live equestrian shows. Kansas brings her trick riding expertise to her Circus Cowgirl Kids Camps, where she helps beginner riders build confidence in the saddle while learning horsemanship fundamentals in a playful, supportive and western-themed environment.

A New Place for Equine-Assisted Therapies + Wellness

Studies show that equine-assisted therapies carry many benefits for experienced riders and non-equestrians alike. According to Psychology Today, a horse’s hypersensitivity allows them to become especially attuned and responsive to human behavior and emotion, acting as a “mirror” for both direct and non-verbal cues from their handlers.

In guided sessions with equine specialists, horses offer immediate biofeedback, allowing patients to gain greater self-awareness and practice emotional regulation with a non-judgmental partner. Such interactions can foster trust and empathy, enhance communication and promote presence and mindfulness, alleviating such conditions as low self-esteem, anxiety, trauma, grief and loss.

In addition to being a trick rider and trainer, Kansas is also a HeartMath® Certified Trainer and SkyHorse Equine Guided Educator who guides people in recalibrating their nervous systems alongside horses. Using methods of gentle connection and somatic, mind-body alignment with an equine partner, Kansas helps handlers/riders develop what she calls an authentic presence, whether on the ground, in the saddle or as an intentional approach to one’s life. Kansas offers opportunities for both equestrians and non-riders to benefit from her education and expertise. Upcoming events include a new unmounted Women’s Harmony With Horses Workshop and a mounted Heart Based Horsemanship Clinic.

Alternatively, hippotherapy is defined by the American Hippotherapy Institute as an integrated physical, occupational or speech therapy tool that utilizes the rhythmic, three-dimensional gait of a horse to engage a patient’s sensory, neuromotor and cognitive systems. Conducted by licensed professionals, hippotherapy can be used to improve balance, posture, mobility and communication skills. Hippotherapy does not teach horsemanship or riding skills, but instead allows the rider to make subtle postural and motor adjustments.

Dr. Irina Fedulow Plante (right) works with a student to improve their horse/human connection.

Dr. Irina Fedulow Plante is an experienced Western and endurance rider, licensed physical therapist and board-certified neurologic clinical specialist who treats equestrians for orthopedic and neurological injuries, often incorporating hippotherapy methods into her practice. She also serves as the program director of the Achieve Tahoe Adaptive Horsemanship Program and is a certified yoga and equestrian yoga instructor.

Dr. Plante is offering unmounted workshops in August and September to help equestrians improve their functional strength and riding mechanics or apply equine neuroscience to enhance horsemanship and the horse/human connection.

Equestrian Center Community Events

At its core, the Equestrian Center is more than a stable and riding facility; it’s a gathering place where everyone can delight in the joys of horses. From evening barbecues or early morning pancakes and pony rides to the annual Wild West Fest high-country hoe-down, the Equestrian Center’s events offer endless opportunities to experience and celebrate Tahoe Donner’s equestrian culture and community.

Don’t Miss These Exciting Upcoming Events:

Pancakes + Ponies
Fuel up on a hearty pancake breakfast, followed by a pony ride for the little ones. Riders must be 2-6 years old and less than 60 pounds.

When: Saturdays, Aug. 22 | 9-11AM
Cost: $45 breakfast + pony ride | $20 breakfast only

Cowgirls + Cocktails
An evening trail ride followed by social hour with beer, wine and appetizers. Cowgirls and cowboys welcome; must be 21 and over.

When: Saturday, Sept. 12 | 5-7PM
Cost: Member without horse $85 | Member with horse $55 | Public without horse $100 | Public with horse $70

7th Annual Wild West Fest
Enjoy a taste of the old frontier with a ranch-style barbecue, live music, equestrian performances, pony rides, a petting zoo and other Western-inspired activities.

When: Saturday, Sept. 5 | 4:30-7:30PM
Cost: Member adults (31+) $15 | Member kids (3-12) $10 | Public adults (13+) $20 | Public kids (3-12) $15 | Kids (0-2) FREE

Click here to see a complete list of community events, clinics and workshops.

Boarding Facilities + Trail Access

From mid-June through mid-October, the Equestrian Center offers short- and long-term boarding facilities for TD members, Truckee residents and beyond who want to keep their horses close by in the summer months, or for visitors with horses, all of whom are looking to explore the Tahoe Donner Trail System and other High-Sierra trails on horseback.

Horses enjoy their paddocks while being boarded at Tahoe Donner.

The full-service boarding includes basic or deluxe partially covered paddocks, twice-daily feedings of up to two flakes of grass, alfalfa and/or teff hay, daily watering and cleaning. Boarders are given their own closet in a tack shed to store their personal equipment, as well as use of at least one section of the arena for most of the season.

The Equestrian Center offers direct access to the vast Tahoe Donner Trail System, with connectors to other major trail networks, including the Donner Lake Rim Trail and the Johnson Canyon Trail. Riders can enjoy the solitude of pine forests, sprawling meadows, meandering creeks and bursts of wildflowers on well-maintained doubletrack or equestrian and hiker-only singletrack trails. Trail users are encouraged to practice proper trail etiquette, with all hikers and bikers yielding to horses, and all faster travelers announcing themselves before passing.

For full hours, details and offerings, click here.