Location: Banks, Oregon, United States
Bradley’s Equine Assisted Therapeutic Riding Center — known as B.E.A.T. — is a nonprofit therapeutic riding program located at Horsin-A-Round Stables in Banks, Oregon, about 20 miles west of Portland.
Founded in 1997 by Phyllis Herinckx and Jackie Hopper, the center takes its name from Bradley, a student with cerebral palsy and learning impairments whose dramatic physical and cognitive improvements through horseback riding inspired the two founders to build a program that could offer the same benefits to others.
B.E.A.T. is a PATH International member center and currently serves more than 30 disabled riders each week from Portland and across Washington County.
About This Program
The story of how B.E.A.T. came to exist is inseparable from the organization’s identity. Phyllis Herinckx and Jackie Hopper witnessed firsthand how riding transformed the life of a young student named Bradley, and rather than accept that such an experience was available only to the few lucky enough to find it, they set out to make it available to their wider community. That founding impulse — rooted in a specific person’s real transformation — continues to shape how the organization approaches its work.
B.E.A.T. provides therapeutic riding sessions for individuals with a wide range of physical, mental, and emotional disabilities. Lessons are led by instructors, with PATH certification guiding the program’s standards for safety, horse management, instruction, and disability awareness. The center’s horses and ponies are carefully selected for their temperament and training, and volunteers play a central role in making every session run safely and effectively.
In addition to serving individual riders, B.E.A.T. provides therapeutic riding instruction to groups from the YWCA, Head Start, and the school districts of Forest Grove, Beaverton, and Hillsboro, extending equine-assisted experiences to children and young adults who access services through these community organizations.
The center also offers veterans programming, summer and day camps, recreational riding, and holds horse shows that give riders the opportunity to demonstrate their horsemanship skills in a competitive setting.
Services Offered
- Therapeutic horseback riding
- Recreational riding
- Grooming and tacking instruction
- Groundwork
- Summer and day camps
- Horse shows
- Veterans programs
- Group programming for schools and community organizations (YWCA, Head Start, Forest Grove, Beaverton, and Hillsboro school districts)
- Volunteer program
Who They Serve
Bradley’s Equine Assisted Therapeutic Riding Center may be a good fit for:
- Children and adults with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities
- Individuals with cerebral palsy
- Individuals with Down syndrome
- Individuals with autism spectrum disorder
- Individuals with ADD or other hyperactivity disorders
- Individuals with developmental delays or intellectual disabilities
- Individuals with learning disabilities
- Individuals with epilepsy or seizure disorders
- Individuals with head trauma or brain injury
- Individuals with hearing or visual impairment
- Individuals with orthopedic issues or paralysis
- Individuals with muscular dystrophy
- Individuals with PTSD
- Individuals who have experienced violence, abuse, or trauma
- Veterans
- At-risk youth
- Amputees
- Students referred through school districts and community agencies
Facility and Setting
B.E.A.T. operates at Horsin-A-Round Stables at 41919 NW Wilkesboro Road in Banks, Oregon, in Washington County. The rural setting 20 miles west of Portland places the center within reach of Portland-area families while offering the open, horse-centered environment that supports therapeutic work. The facility is home to a carefully selected herd of therapy horses and ponies used across the center’s programs.
- Banks, Oregon location (Washington County)
- 41919 NW Wilkesboro Road, Banks, OR 97106
- Located at Horsin-A-Round Stables, 20 miles west of Portland
- PATH International member center
- 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
- Volunteer-supported program
What Makes Them Unique
B.E.A.T.’s origin story gives it a human anchor that many therapeutic riding programs lack. The center is not named after a concept or a place — it is named after a person. Bradley, whose progress on horseback inspired two women to build a nonprofit from scratch, remains the heart of what the center stands for nearly three decades later. That personal beginning has translated into a program culture that sees riders as individuals with specific stories and potential rather than diagnostic categories to be managed.
The center’s partnerships with Head Start, the YWCA, and multiple Washington County school districts also reflect an organization that has worked deliberately to connect therapeutic equine experiences with the community institutions that serve the most vulnerable children in the region.
For families in the Portland metro area and western Washington County seeking a therapeutic riding program with deep community roots and a genuine founding story, B.E.A.T. is a program worth knowing.