CORINTH — At first glance, the tree-shaded facility might appear to be no different than any of the small ranches or horse stables that dot the Denton County landscape.

DRC/Al Key

Natanya Richardson, 7, learns how to make a horse turn with the help of instructor Megan Gault at SpiritHorse Therapeutic Center in Corinth on Thursday.

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Horses graze in a fenced pasture, and riders on horseback slowly wind their way down a nearby trail. In a small corral, an instructor offers support to a young student who appears delighted to be in the saddle.

It’s an idyllic scene on the surface, but a closer look reveals that serious work is under way. This is SpiritHorse, which provides private therapeutic riding lessons. Clients include people with disabilities, at-risk youth, battered women, abused children and young people who have completed drug rehabilitation programs.

“We don’t provide recreation; we provide health care,” said Charles I. Fletcher, founder and chief executive officer of the Corinth therapeutic center. “We have very specific methods.”

Fletcher combined a passion for horses and a love for children when he started SpiritHorse seven years ago after retiring from Rockwell International. Now 71, he estimates that he works about 100 hours a week, teaching lessons and handling a multitude of other chores at the center, which operates 12 hours a day, seven days a week.

SpiritHorse serves about 425 clients, 90 percent of whom are children. Lessons are offered free of charge to all clients. The center receives no government funding, and financial support is derived from donations and grants from foundations and corporations, Fletcher said.

“This is a ministry, and these kids deserve it,” Fletcher said. “God loves them so much.”

Many clients are referred to SpiritHorse by physical therapists and several major hospitals in the region, Fletcher said, and others learn about the center and its work through word of mouth.

“We’ve never advertised,” he said.

Staff members meet with client families to discuss therapy goals and directives from physicians before beginning a program.

“Physicians write a prescription for therapeutic riding,” Fletcher said.

Hourlong sessions include horse management duties such as leading, grooming and saddling, with each student participating based on ability.

“It’s a learning experience,” said Stephanie Wilhelm, a horse care specialist and instructor who has worked at SpiritHorse for a year and a half.

“Children saddle and unsaddle their horses,” Fletcher said. “It builds trust, self-esteem and motor skills. No matter what their disability, they participate.

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Charles Fletcher, owner and founder of SpiritHorse, is pictured Thursday at the therapeutic riding center in Corinth.

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“People do too many things for people with disabilities. We have hope for all these children.”

The individual riding sessions allow each student’s needs to be addressed, Fletcher said, adding that the center operates under two guiding principles: “love the children” and “make all decisions in favor of the child, not the center.”

Parents participate in the sessions, he said, another feature that separates SpiritHorse from some riding centers.

“We require parents to participate,” Fletcher said. “They are the experts on the child.”

Having parents participate also helps transfer the learning experience to the home, he said.

The center has a staff of seven full-time and 10 part-time instructors and relies on assistance from more than 500 parent volunteers and about 50 community volunteers.

A seven-member board of directors sets policy and raises funds, said Fletcher, who serves as executive director and board president. Five members of a medical advisory board work closely with the center’s staff.

SpiritHorse serves clients in Denton, Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Grayson, Kaufman, Rockwall, Tarrant, Wichita and Wise counties and typically receives about five new applications each week. There currently is a waiting list.

SpiritHorse has “graduated” 365 riders in the last seven years, Fletcher said, explaining that a client graduates when all of his or her goals have been met.

“It’s voluntary,” he said, adding that each graduate relinquishes a spot on the weekly schedule to another rider.

SpiritHorse staff members have conducted several clinics to train and certify instructors, including one in Pardubice, Czech Republic. Staff members also have conducted clinics to train instructors in the therapeutic horse-and-carriage driving program used at SpiritHorse.

There are centers licensed by SpiritHorse in Uruguay, the Czech Republic, Scotland and Hungary, as well as U.S. centers in Virginia, Iowa, Missouri, Georgia and across Texas, in Austin, Liberty, Pilot Point and Saint Jo.

SpiritHorse takes two breaks, during the winter and the hottest part of the summer, Fletcher said, which gives the therapy horses much-needed rest. When not working with riders, staff members write grant proposals, he said.

“Last winter, we wrote 600 grant proposals,” he said. “We had to work hard.”

Community support also is critical, Fletcher said, and the center’s Web site, www.spirithorsetherapy.com, features several programs that allow supporters to help. Donations can be made by mail to SpiritHorse Therapeutic, 1960 Post Oak Drive, Corinth, TX 76210.

“We can also use hard-working board members who don’t mind going out and raising funds,” Fletcher said.

For more information, visit the SpiritHorse Web site or call 940-497-2946.

LES COCKRELL can be reached at 940-566-6887. His e-mail address is lcockrell@dentonrc.com.