 Mountain Eagle's therapeutic horsemanship in Brainerd hosted an open house today in conjunction with the Lakes Area Music Festival. A free concert was provided and the public was able to learn about the services that Mountain Eagle provides. Our reporter Rachel Johnson has more. Horses Naid, while classical music filled the air at the Spirit Horse Center, saw us a Brainer today during Mounted Eagles open house. And we're hoping that this is a way for them to just come and see and, you know, see what we do and tell others about what we do. Many of the people came for the concert, and we hope the same thing for them. They enjoy the concert, but might leave with a, you know, in the back of their mind. They might think, oh, somebody I know could benefit from Mounted Eagles. Mountain Eagle's was established in 1992 to use equine assisted therapy to enhance the lives of people with physical, mental, social, and emotional challenges. The participants work with horses to help them overcome obstacles during guided activities. We work on things like following directions, focusing, self-esteem, socialization. There's just a wide variety of things that they benefit from. This is an Equicizer, a non-motorized mechanical horse that is used to relax and get riders ready for their lessons. Equine assisted therapy uses many techniques to make the riders feel comfortable, appreciated, and accepted. We want the kids to realize they can when they've been told they can't, and we want them to start maybe dreaming on their own, like picking a goal that might never have chosen before. Megan has been a participant at Mounted Eagles for five years and rides Lily the Horse. What I feel like when I ride horses, it's relaxing. It seems like she's my horse, not theirs. I really enjoy it. The equine therapy provided at Mounted Eagles has had an immense impact on the riders that have participated in the program over the last 12 years. We see changes in our riders sometimes every week. We see riders that as long as they're not afraid of the horse, we see kids that might speak their first word. We see kids that had problems in their gate or walking, and all of a sudden you'll look up and they've got to follow through. Mounted Eagles has grown immensely since starting with one horse and one rider, and they hope to keep impacting people's lives well into the future. Reporting from Brainerd, Rachel Johnson, Lakeland News. For more information about Mounted Eagles and equine assisted therapy, visit this story on our website at lptv.org. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.