LONGMONT, Colo. — At the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center, lives change.
"We serve people with disabilities through therapy of horseback riding, equine-assisted mental health, and equine-assisted therapy service," said Executive Director Michele Bruhn.
It's not just its clients that benefit from all of this. The horses do, too.
"A lot of times, those are the phone calls that we get — of people wanting to donate horses that then get to live out the rest of their lives with us and then helping to serve people with disabilities," Bruhn said.
Now, the group that does so much for so many needs help of its own.
"It's a really challenging situation right now for us," Bruhn said.
Someone stole the center’s only working truck, a 1999 Ford F-250, from the parking lot of Home2 Suites by Hilton on S. Sherman Street in Longmont on May 26.
"Lives depend on this truck," Bruhn said. "We use the truck here at CTRC to haul horses on the property and off the property and also to get medicine and supplies. We use it for emergencies."
To make the situation even direr, without the truck, they can't haul horses off the property should a wildfire start nearby. Instead, they'd have to rely on others.
"It's critical for us," Bruhn said.
The center filed a police report and an insurance claim. Bruhn said they'll only receive $12,000 from insurance, which does not cover the cost of a new or used truck.
"We're just really hoping we can raise the needed funds soon so that we're not sitting here and waiting," she said.
That's why she reached out to Denver7, aware of the generosity of our viewers.
"It's just one of those things where I hope we have some people watching and... really can understand and feel... what this means for us," Bruhn said.
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