Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga (THS) depends on approximately 140 volunteers for its daily operations. But those volunteers depend on the nonprofit, too.
That relationship between volunteers and organization began to form as soon as THS was established in 2018 and has only grown with the expansion of programs that use retired racehorses to assist with mental health and wellness needs in the community.
“From this organization’s inception, volunteers have been essential to our operations,” says Kim Weir, THS’ director of strategic growth. “They show up in all weather, always with a smile, asking what they can do, and we are so grateful for it.”
The mission of THS is twofold: The organization gives retired racehorses a safe place to live and utilizes their healing powers to offer equine-assisted psychotherapy and adaptive programming to anyone who needs it, from veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to children who’ve been bullied. While mental health professionals and certified equine specialists oversee the actual therapy part of things, volunteers are needed in virtually every other aspect of the farm. In 2025, 124 volunteers devoted almost 4,000 hours to caring for the 21 horses that live on the farm, as well as grounds maintenance, event planning, fundraising, and marketing.
Take, for example, Amy Bogatch, a former speech pathologist who worked primarily with autistic children and wanted something worthwhile to do while decompressing following her retirement. Now, she’s an all-purpose volunteer at THS.
“I do whatever the farm needs me to do,” she says. “Filling water buckets, cleaning water buckets…whatever comes up.”
Since Bogatch relocated to Saratoga from Long Island, THS wound up providing her with something else: a social network. “I’ve met so many wonderful people,” she says. “We’ve become a close-knit bunch.”
Michele Tellstone is another volunteer who serves breakfast to the herd on Tuesday and Friday mornings and sometimes on weekends. She calls THS her “happy place.”
“I definitely get more out of it than they get from me,” she says. “It’s a peaceful place to be. When I’m here, the noise of the outside world just kind of quiets.”
Tellstone, who works locally as chief compliance officer for Minich MacGregor Wealth Management, first attended a THS open house five years ago. She signed up to volunteer that very day.
If donating your time to help the horses and humans that THS supports sounds like something you were bred for, you’re in luck: Potential volunteers can have a first-hand look at the farm at an open house going on this August 25. And if you can’t wait that long? Visit thsaratoga.org/volunteer to learn more.
