Savannah therapeutic riding academy fights to survive as costs rise, funding dries up

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - One day after being released from the hospital, Peggi Noon wasn’t resting. She was back at the barn.

Noon, a cancer survivor and founder of Pegasus Riding Academy in Savannah, has devoted more than a decade to therapeutic horseback riding, helping hundreds of local children with autism, Down syndrome, and other physical and emotional challenges find confidence and a voice.

But rising costs and funding cuts are now threatening the program she has built her life around.

“Feed goes up, hay goes up,” Noon said. “I can’t really proportionately raise my feeds.”

A bale of hay that costs about $9 before COVID-19 now runs $14. When Family Services lost its medical funding, the children it sponsored lost their spots in the program. New resources have since been found, but a gap remains, and Noon says the need for community support has never been greater.

A program built from hardship

Noon was diagnosed with stage four head and neck cancer in 2014. She came to Savannah for treatment and brought her horses with her. Around the same time, she learned that one of her other horses had been attacked by an alligator on Ossabaw Island and lost an eye. Rather than see the horse put down, Noon rounded up her brother and a trailer and brought the horse home.

With three horses and a PATH International certification, through the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, she went to work.

“I started Pegasus out of necessity,” Noon said. “I had three horses and only weighed about 100 pounds, but it was time to go back to work.”

PATH International has been in operation for more than 50 years, and its programs are research-backed and manualized.

Pegasus is the only therapeutic riding center in the Savannah area that operated straight through the COVID-19 pandemic. Of four programs operating in the region before the pandemic, only two are still running today.

The healing power of horses

Pegasus serves children ages 4 and up, working with those on the autism spectrum, children with Down syndrome, skeletal muscular conditions, and emotional trauma, among others. The program also partners with Special Olympics and welcomes children from community organizations like Brightside.

Noon said the connection between children and horses is unlike anything else she has witnessed.

“When we put a child on a horse, his cortisol level goes down and his happy chemical goes up,” she said. “And guess who else’s goes up? The horse. They love what they do.”

Volunteers say the transformations are often profound.

“They all seem to have some inherent ability to communicate with the horses, even if they can’t speak well and communicate well with other humans,” said volunteer Jim Glenn.

“It’s just amazing to see that bond develop.”

Volunteer Linda Duncan recalled the first time one of the program’s mostly nonverbal children spoke.

“To hear them say ‘Woah,’ or ‘Walk on,’ or my name — that’s pretty incredible,” Duncan said. “They’ve got a purpose and something they’re good at.”

The program has served between 150 and 200 children since its founding. Many of those children have gone on to become volunteers themselves.

One standout is Brandon, who came to Pegasus as a child who could barely speak. He now wins gold medals at Special Olympics and coaches younger children in the program.

“You build their confidence and give them self-esteem,” Noon said. “How much better does the outside world appear to them?”

How to help

Despite the challenges, Noon and her volunteers remain committed to keeping Pegasus open.

Pegasus Riding Academy is hosting a ticketed Run for the Roses Kentucky Derby event on May 2 at the academy in Savannah. All proceeds go directly to the program.

A GoFundMe campaign organized on behalf of Noon is also accepting donations. Funds go toward feeding the horses, paying barn rent, and repairing equipment. The campaign can be found at gofundme.com/f/support-pegasus-riding-academys-kids-horses.

“When we put a child on a horse,” Noon said, “they’re going to improve emotionally, they’re going to sleep every night from the exercise, they’re going to be happy when they wake up in the morning.”