Who We Are
Horses At Heart Inc. has been operating as a charitable organization since 2003 with a mission to support mental wellness in children, youth, adults, and families. Our programs promote personal development through raising awareness of self and others, teaching values of authenticity and encouraging positive community engagement.
Among the organizations that we have provided programming for are: Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), Blue Hills Child & Family Services, 360 Kids, Children’s Aid Society of York Region, York Region Autism Centre, Binnoojiyag Child & Family Services, Jewish Child & Family Services, Toronto Police 32 Division ‘Gallop to Greatness’, Girls Inc. of York Region, Big Brothers Big Sisters of York Region, York Region District School Board special education classes.
Experimental Learning
Incorporating a variety of activities into therapeutic and personal development sessions can provide multi-sensory experiences that help anchor healthy behaviours. When interacting with horses in these activities, the heightened awareness and nonjudgemental environment that is created can illustrate psycho-social blocks that allow participants to feel emotionally safe in the experience.
Under the guidance of adept and knowledgeable facilitators, processing the activities can be an enlightening and enriching experience. This can be a strong adjunct to comprehensive therapeutic treatment programs, assisting a broad range of individuals and groups to move towards their personal development goals.
Deborah Weiss, Executive Director
With a background in music and TV production, and a lifelong love of horses and riding, Deborah brings years of diverse management and facilitation experience to HORSES AT HEART.
Deborah has created numerous programs for Equine Facilitated Personal Growth and Learning and her work in psycho-social therapy is published in the academic text “Applications of Family and Group Therapy”, as well as numerous magazine and journal articles including the journal of the Ontario Psychological Association.
Deborah is a candidate for a Masters degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, is a Master Practitioner in NLP, a Level 1 facilitator of Theraplay®, and is currently studying towards certification as an Adler Professional Coach which will be an instrumental adjunct in her ‘Knowing Your Herd’ workshop which facilitates Corporate Leadership and Teambuilding.
Deborah has also received certifications in Equine Facilitated Personal Growth and Learning from a broad range of trainers and pioneers in the field, including internationally acclaimed horse trainer Chris Irwin, best selling author of “Horses Don’t Lie” and “Dancing With Your Dark Horse’, and she is a Recommended Instructor with Eponaquest Worldwide, having studied with best-selling author Linda Kohanov, whose work on leadership provides useful tools for developing collaborative teams and change management. Deborah is also a Level 1 Certified EAGALA trainer.
If you have question, please do not hesitate to contact us at (905) 898-1530 or info@horsesatheart.com
WaterStone Farms
Horses At Heart programs are run from WaterStone Estate & Farms in Newmarket/King Township. On 100 beautiful acres of rolling hills, forests, field and stream, WaterStone is the perfect venue for our personal development and therapeutic programs. This horse farm also houses the WaterStone Riding School and Equestrian Centre, and the WaterStone banquet hall. The banquet hall, which hosts many weddings and community and corporate events, is a wonderful facility for the Horses At Heart fundraisers and the educational components to our programs.
Horses At Heart offices are situated in the century farmhouse on the property and the therapeutic programs are run from this lovely and warm farmhouse. We are very lucky to have such a beautiful property to operate out of and we use all parts of the property including the indoor arena, the outdoor cross country course, and the fields and stream. The therapeutic value of this beautiful piece of nature is always appreciated by our facilitators, our volunteers, and our program participants.
