Naples Therapeutic Riding Center (NTRC), provides therapeutic horseback riding and other equine-facilitated group services to children and adults with physical, social and mental health needs, recently welcomed local non-profit leader, Martin de St. Pierre, who has nearly 30 years of wealth management, business development, and fundraising experience, as Executive Director.
Q: You have been very active in the Naples community serving on a variety of boards related to the arts, education and children. Tell us about your new gig!
A: I arrive around 7:15 each day. It’s very quiet and I start my day with coffee and walk around the property. Our property team is usually here by then turning out horses and getting the property ready ahead of programs. Each horse has its own personality. Just like us, some are early risers and some take some time to get going. I love them all but will admit Sampson and Armor I visit more often. We also have two very cute miniature horses, Raisin and Itty Bitty and it’s impossible not to smile when you see them.
Q: You have been in Naples for 42 years and have had the pleasure of watching the NTRC grow and flourish.
A: It was around 25 ago when Naples Equestrian Challenge, the original name for NTRC, came about. It was a small operation with a few borrowed horses and a handful of volunteers but with a big mission. Twenty-five years later we are almost 10 acres with 14 horses, 11 buildings, and 150 riders each week.
Q: No stranger to equestrian life, you rode a horse for the first time when you were 10 years old.
A: I have been fortunate over my life to ride quite a bit on trails and beaches. I am surrounded here by a great staff, many with a lifetime of horse experience so I get to learn something every day about horse health, behavior and training. Horses are quite amazing. Given their size and power, they are flight animals preferring to run more than engage. We ask them to do many things that are not natural for them but they have an intuitive sense of understanding of what we need them to do (with proper training) and they deliver with a sense of calm and empathy that is quite remarkable.
NaplesTherapeuticRidingCenter.org