Therapeutic horse farm flooded

Floodwater is keeping horses in Odessa inside the stalls. Don't mistake "equine" for "aquatic." These horses prefer dry land.

Soggy fields at Quantum Leap Farm have forced them to cancel therapeutic riding lessons all week for clients who truly need it.

"The main populations we serve are military and their family members, pediatric cancer kids and their families, kids with special needs," said Jenna Miller, a Program & Head Therapeutic Riding Instructor. "We serve about 22 people a day."

They provide healing that sometimes medicine can't.

"Maybe a child with autism saying their first words," said Marketing and Communications Manager Sarah Page. "Someone who's in a wheelchair and gets on a horse and feels the freedom of moving around again."

That's all on pause right now. Though the rain has calmed down, flood water remains. It's a health risk for horses and a major disappointment for clients.

"When we don't have lessons they get really sad or depressed about it when they don't get to have their fix," Miller said. "Riding horses is good physically, emotionally and socially for our clients so it's a huge pick me up in the middle of the week."

For now, horses are stuck inside for much of the day. Too much moisture can break their hooves. Thick mud can suck their shoes right off.

The goal, someday, is to pony up enough funding to lay concrete in the stalls so that the only "rein" they'll have to worry about is the one attached to a horse.

Quantum Leap needs a lot of help right now. They can use mulch, sand, hay or a water pump to help clear excess water from the arena. Any donations will also help the non-profit, which says the recent condition have forced them to use up resources much more quickly than normal.

They're hoping to resume services by Friday evening when they host a military therapeutic retreat.