About the Center

Wesley Woods has offered horseback activities since 1984.  We started with a small outdoor arena and a group of borrowed and leased horses who stayed onsite only for the summer.  At that time, the main activity we offered was trail riding to our summer campers.  Over the years our equine program was so successful that we started building our own herd so we could do activities outside of summer.  In the late 1990’s our Horses Helping People therapeutic riding program started serving local youth and adults with disabilities.  The program continued to grow so much that Wesley Woods’ leadership decided to take it year-round with the addition of an indoor facility.  Barnum Equestrian Center was completed in May 2004 and is home to a thriving lessons program (currently serving about 25 riders weekly), Horses Helping People, and serves thousands of trail riders every year.  In addition, many local and regional groups have enjoyed using Barnum Equestrian Center as their venue for shows, clinics, saddle club outings, and other special events.

Su Rider is the Equestrian Coordinator.  She grew up going to horse camp every year at Wesley Woods.  Her formal training began in college, where she worked at a national-level Arabian show barn and at Truman State University, teaching horsemanship classes and training university owned horses.  She also showed on the intercollegiate horse show team.  Su is a registered instructor with PATH International, the premiere therapeutic riding organization in the nation, and also a fully certified riding instructor with the American Association for Horsemanship Safety (AAHS).  All of our staff are certified either through AAHS or Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA), and are well-trained in leading guests in safe. educational, fun equine activities.