From its humble beginnings in 1993, the Shane Center has evolved into a beautiful state of the art therapeutic equestrian facility due to the efforts of the board members, the staff, the volunteers, and the families whose lives we touch. Providing exciting and innovative therapeutic equestrian services has always been our goal.
Our vision for the future includes increased accessibility, enhanced programming, and improved flexibility and adaptability to serve the evolving needs of our community.
The Main Barn
Approximately 30’x40’ with an attached run in shelter. It was originally built in 1890. In 1993 the barn’s foundation and hay loft were reinforced and horse stalls added. In 2010, thanks to the Harry C. Moores Foundation the exterior of the barn was renovated and it received a new roof and new siding, doors and windows. In 2011, thanks to the Ariel Foundation, The Community Foundation of Mt. Vernon and Knox County and the Harry C. Moores Foundation, the interior of the barns were renovated making our facility more accessible to those we serve.
The Tack Shed & Big Red
14’ x 24’ and was built in 2003. We utilize state of the art tack and riding equipment, with the majority of our students using English style saddles. Riding English is akin to learning to ride a bicycle without training wheels. It gives the riders the ability to feel the horse’s movements easier as well as learn to balance and use their trunk muscles. We also utilize western saddles for those clients who need the extra support and stability the wide base gives the rider. We have many different sizes of saddles as our clients, as well as our horses, come in all shapes and sizes. Our saddles use state of the art, adjustable air pads. The air pads are made like a therma-rest mattress used for camping and have air valves to help ensure the saddles fit each horse like a well-fitted glove. We provide up to date ASTM/SEI certified helmets for our clients to wear and have a wide variety of adaptive equipment including, “Toe Stoppers”, a “Sticky Seat”, grab straps, modified reins, and seat cushions.
Indoor Arena & Observation Room / Office
Our Indoor Arena is 62’ x 140’ and made by Super Structure out of Canada in 2006. It has a unique cover that is warranted for 15 years and provides natural light well into the evening. When the lights are needed they reflect up the cover so that there are no shadows in the arena which often cause horses to spook. The acoustics are amazing! This energy efficient building provides us with a place to ride or hold activities when the weather is uncooperative.
Our observation room/office which is attached to the indoor arena is 24’ x 24’ and was built in 2007 thanks to the Harry C. Moores Foundation, The Community Foundation of Mt. Vernon and Knox County, The Licking County Foundation, The Energy Cooperative Operation Round Up, and the Dublin AM Rotary. This building is utilized as our main office, meeting space, and waiting area for students and families. It also gives us a heated/cooled space to hold volunteer trainings and unmounted lessons or crafts.
Outdoor Facilities
Our facility also has 2 wooden mounting platforms, one wooden mounting ramp and a portable set of mounting steps to aid clients in mounting and dismounting the horses in any of our 3 of riding areas. The outdoor arena is 70’x120’ and was built in 1996 using split-rail fence. It has all-weather sand footing as well as outdoor lighting which allows the students the opportunity to ride outdoors on beautiful summer evenings.
The round pen is approximately 70’ in diameter and also has all-weather footing.We have a wash stall located just behind the main barn with a portable hot water tank to bathe the horses.
In addition to riding in either the indoor or outdoor arena, we have an outdoor obstacle course located in one of our horse pastures. We also have trails on our 40 acre property to allow our students to experience riding up and down hills, in the woods and around the fields.
Our picnic shelter was built by Eric Hora as an Eagle Scout Project in 2007. Eric not only raised the funds for the structure but arranged an army of helpers to construct it! Our gated entrance was also built as an Eagle Scout project in 2008 by Caleb Vogel. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful community of supporters!
