Maryland Therapeutic Riding (MTR) is a non-profit organization located between Baltimore and Annapolis, Maryland on a beautiful 25 acre farm. With the help of hundreds of volunteers and generous community contributors, MTR strives to improve the lives of special needs riders of all ages using a high quality program.

MTR's Equine and Facilities manager Joanne McCallum, born and raised in England, is trained through the British Horse Society. With over 17 yrs of experience including; teaching, competition, stud work, racing, backing and training, boarding, and riding school portions of the industry. She has successfully competed at local level British dressage and show jumping competitions with her own horses and horses that have been in training with her.

At the age of 16 years Jo took up residence at an agriculture college in the South East of England. It was there that she studied horses and completed her training and certifications through the British Horse Society. She graduated in 2000 with her BHSAI and National Diploma in Horse studies.

Jo worked at one on the four elite agricultural colleges in the UK, providing training and instruction for students of varying abilities towards their British Horse Society exams. Many of these students obtained their BHS Stage 3 and Preliminary teaching certifications.

Jo moved to the USA in 2004, is married and has a young daughter. She continues to thoroughly enjoy every aspect of the horse world and hopes to resume her venture within the competition circuit and some day complete her BHS Stage 4 exam. She is currently working on becoming a NARHA certified instructor

In 2009 MTR has launched two new programs and seen significant growth in all of its current areas.

The MTR Horses for Heroes program is a special program designed for wounded warriors returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Participants are active duty soldiers who are members of the Warriors in Transition Unit stationed at recovery locations in the Washington area. This program is provided at no cost to the participants or the government.

Horses for Hope is a new therapeutic riding program that offers women of all ages and diverse backgrounds the opportunity to heal emotional and physical wounds, experience the great outdoors, experience an alternative to traditional fitness and exercise, increase their knowledge and understanding of nutrition, participate in a different form of therapy, and offer a unique environment for individual and family interaction. The program targets women with physical and mental health issues/disabilities, women facing domestic difficulties, teenagers, widows, female retirees, single mothers, senior citizens and young professionals.

Our recreational program has seen huge growth this year and falls under the new name of Maryland School of Horsemanship.

Although they have only been using EquineMax for a few months, Joanne indicates they are really enjoying using the software. She says their favorite feature of EquineMax is the ability to create and print reports. She says, "Be sure to keep consistent with data entry - especially if you have multiple users. It makes records easier to understand." The report she uses most is the Horse Treatments preset report.

Joanne learned about EquineMax from an email she received about the 30-day free trial. Prior to using EquineMax their horse records were kept by handwritten notes stored in a file cabinet.

Joanne says, "We have our NARHA accreditation this year, and although we keep accurate, up to date files, this program will provide us with a more professional, organized look. NARHA loves paperwork and so do we, now that we have EquineMax! It saves a great deal of time too!"

"It's because of people and organizations like EquineMax, that we (MTR) can continue doing what we are doing, changing lives, one ride at a time," Joanne concludes.

For more information on Maryland Therapeutic Riding, go to: www.horsesthatheal.org.