News and Noteworthy
On Friday, June 16th, 2023, KFTHC will be hosting the Richmond Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting celebrating KFTHC's new membership in the Chamber. The event will take place from 11:00-1:00 at the Center on Jacks Creek.
Come celebrate with us!
Come celebrate with us!
Thanks to the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels!
Colonels help Build Abilities Course at KFTHC
Destinee Ott dott@richmondregister.com
Oct 5, 2021
Saturday morning, a local non-profit had a few extra hands to get them through the day.
Kentucky Colonels Jerry Robinson and Robin Tremblay, and Caroline Collins, Colonel Relation Coordinator, visited the Kentucky Foothills Therapeutic Horsemanship Center (KFTHC) as a part of their fifth Annual Kentucky Colonel Day of Service.
While at the therapeutic riding center, the Colonels assisted in building an abilities course.
Mark Martin, Co-founder of KFTHC alongside his wife Cheryl, explained the course had been set up for the veterans, which the program helps. He said it helps to give them something to stay “active and engaged” and to help them gain the skills to be able to convince the horse they work with to do something “they might not want to do.”
On Saturday, the Colonels helped build a large arch with strings of plastic bottles hanging from it. This gives the horses an exciting place to walk through. They also worked on a contraption made out of pool noodles and PVC pipe. The pipes form the side of the walkthrough area while the pool noodles reach inward. Mark Martin explained this teaches the horses to push through obstacles.
According to Collins, for 2021’s Day of Service, Kentucky Colonels participated in similar volunteer activities across the Commonwealth and visited five different locations in four other cities.
“We like to give the Colonels the opportunity to see some of the non-profits they are supporting because it’s their dollars that go towards the non-profits,” Collins said.
This year, through donations from Colonels in Kentucky and around the world, the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels donated $2.1 million to support 275 charities in Kentucky.
Both Colonel Jerry Robinson and Colonel Robin Tremblay told The Register volunteering is just a way of life for them.
“Everybody should give back in some way,” Robinson said.
Kentucky Colonels Jerry Robinson and Robin Tremblay, and Caroline Collins, Colonel Relation Coordinator, visited the Kentucky Foothills Therapeutic Horsemanship Center (KFTHC) as a part of their fifth Annual Kentucky Colonel Day of Service.
While at the therapeutic riding center, the Colonels assisted in building an abilities course.
Mark Martin, Co-founder of KFTHC alongside his wife Cheryl, explained the course had been set up for the veterans, which the program helps. He said it helps to give them something to stay “active and engaged” and to help them gain the skills to be able to convince the horse they work with to do something “they might not want to do.”
On Saturday, the Colonels helped build a large arch with strings of plastic bottles hanging from it. This gives the horses an exciting place to walk through. They also worked on a contraption made out of pool noodles and PVC pipe. The pipes form the side of the walkthrough area while the pool noodles reach inward. Mark Martin explained this teaches the horses to push through obstacles.
According to Collins, for 2021’s Day of Service, Kentucky Colonels participated in similar volunteer activities across the Commonwealth and visited five different locations in four other cities.
“We like to give the Colonels the opportunity to see some of the non-profits they are supporting because it’s their dollars that go towards the non-profits,” Collins said.
This year, through donations from Colonels in Kentucky and around the world, the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels donated $2.1 million to support 275 charities in Kentucky.
Both Colonel Jerry Robinson and Colonel Robin Tremblay told The Register volunteering is just a way of life for them.
“Everybody should give back in some way,” Robinson said.
The Healing Power of Horses for Veterans
Thanks to US Bank for their generous donation to KFTHC's Veterans' Program!

EKU's REC 210 (Equine Assisted Therapeutic Recreation) practicing mount and dismount procedures
on the lift donated by the
Eastern Kentucky University Veterans Club
on the lift donated by the
Eastern Kentucky University Veterans Club
Kiwanis Club of Richmond, KY
A Donation for New Saddles and Helmets
Eight Riders go to Special Olympics
Mark working on the driveway with help from
Bypass Rental
Bypass Rental
Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award
In 2011, Mark and Cheryl Martin, the Co-Founders of the Kentucky Foothills Therapeutic Horsemanship Center (formerly AFTEC) (a Not-for Profit Entity) were awarded the Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award in recognition of their service to their community sponsored by Eastern Kentucky University's College of Business and Technology, The Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation and The Center for Rural Development.