Riders discover the therapeutic and community benefits of Riverdale Stables

For a lot of people, (spending time with horses) is their therapy.”

Scott Tarter, Riverdale Stables

Scott Tarter of Riverdale Stables has spent a lifetime in the company of horses.

“The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man, or whoever the person may be,” he said, updating Winston Churchill’s famous line.

Tarter, who grew up in New Rochelle, naturally connected with horses after his early introduction to them at summer camp. This passion led to a part-time job as a horse groomer at 15, followed by a degree in animal science, and then a temporary break from the industry.

One morning, working a part-time horse transport job in the early 2000s, he met a woman while waiting to pick up a horse. This woman was Elizabeth, and Tarter was enchanted. She is now his wife of 20 years and co-manager with him at Riverdale Stables as well as Twin Lakes Farm in Westchester.

Located within the greenest part of the borough, Van Cortlandt Park, the Riverdale Stables have been a scenic and celebrated part of the community since 1946. Forty percent of the stable’s riders come from within the borders of Community Board 8 and up into Yonkers.

Riverdale Stables is more of a riding school than a boarding barn — aiming to be, above all, a community resource and urban oasis that is open and accessible to people of all skill levels. 

The stables are open seven days a week, year-round, and host an average 475 riders per week between school programs and riding academy lessons. It’s home to 35 to 40 school horses of varying temperaments to match riders based on skill level, size and riding preference.

Community members have engaged with the stables through a wide range of activities, including wedding photoshoots, movie and television work, horse show teams, and wounded warrior, therapeutic riding, and hippotherapy programs. Then stables also cater to “re-riders” — adults who grew up riding horses, but life separated them for a time.

In the autumn, Gallop NYC, the city’s largest therapeutic riding and hippotherapy organization, will collaborate on programming at the stables. Therapeutic riding primarily caters to individuals interested in learning horse riding despite conditions like amputations.

Hippotherapy, from the classical Greek word for horse, hippo, utilizes the animals as therapeutic aids, enabling children with motor disabilities that hinder walking to ride the horses and simulate leg movement using the horses’ motions.

Beyond formal therapy, spending time with horses provides many with a therapeutic sense of separation from otherwise chaotic city lifestyles. Especially for those coming up from Manhattan or Brooklyn, 23 acres of greenery is enough to feel like a different planet. 

“For a lot of people, it is their therapy,” Tarter said, “there’s green grass, there’s horses out eating in the pasture. They’ll say they’ve been looking forward to this hour the whole week.”

This kind of gratitude begins early; Tarter regularly receives hand-drawn pictures from appreciative children.

Tartar also recalled an occasion at Riverdale Stables in which a blind Navy veteran who used to ride at Claremont Riding Academy was able to continue his passion even after losing his vision as an adult. While he initially tried therapeutic riding, he found the pace too slow, as it often involved just walking around with children.

Recognizing the man’s nostalgia, Tarter allowed him to ride alone in the stable’s indoor riding ring one morning before it opened to others. With a new Thoroughbred and no one else in the ring, the man was able to once again experience the freedom of riding on his own, in a low-risk setting.

Longtime riders like Kyra, now 17, recognize that sense of boundless abandon. Having ridden since age 8, she treasures her bond with her horse, Ellie.

“It’s really special to have this relationship with something so big and powerful,” she said.

The stables’ current lease is nearing its end, and it is in the process of renewing with the city for another 18 years. With the new lease, Tarter plans to double the size of the facility, replace 50 aging shed stalls, and construct a new arena specifically designed for handicap therapeutic and hippotherapy purposes.

Pending approval, construction will begin next spring.