Bringing People Together With and Without Disabilities through Therapeutic, Clinical and Recreational Programs since 2009.

Program FAQ

  • We love sharing our mission, but due to the nature of our programs and the availability of our staff, visits and tours must be prearranged by calling 781-862-5020 or email info@binafarm.org.

    Visits and Tours are 30-minutes long at our Lexington location.

    Please note, our dedicated team is usually busy with programs, thus unscheduled drop-in visitors will most likely be asked to return after making an appointment at another time.

  • Depending on what the abilities and goals are of an individual whether therapeutic, clinical, recreational or educational, we have a variety of programs for you to consider.

    If you are unsure which of our program(s) best suits your needs, please contact us for assistance.

    In most cases, we will schedule an evaluation to confirm which program is best suited for what you desire.

    Please note, some programs that utilize equines may require medical clearance from a physician.

    Contact us at info@binafarm.org for more information, or begin by filling out our application here.

  • Every therapeutic and clinical program is partially subsidized due to the generosity of our donors. However, for individuals who can afford to pay an unsubsidized rate, we do offer that option. Each program has a different cost, therefore, please contact info@binafarm.org to find out what the cost is for the program you are inquiring about. Let us know if you are looking for private, semi-private or group programming as that affects the cost.

  • Although we do not work directly with insurance providers for any of our programs, some participants in our Therapy Programs (Occupational and Physical Therapy Utilizing Equines and our Equine-Assisted Mental Health Services (Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy) have had success with reimbursement for their therapeutic or clinical services. We recommend calling your insurance provider to determine if this is an option for you.

    Adaptive (formerly Therapeutic Riding) and Recreational Riding and Horsemanship programs are not typically covered under most insurance providers as the instructor is not a therapist; however, some schools do have their students with IEP’s partake in certain Equine-Assisted Service programs at BINA. We suggest asking your school if they are involved at BINA and, if not, feel free to recommend the program.

  • Session Schedule: Our programming schedule is divided into 4 sessions per year; Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall. Each session is between 8-13 weeks long. (see our calendar for session dates).

    Vacation and Summer Specialty Programming are designated by the week.

    Once accepted into one of our programs, you will be invoiced for the appropriate number of lessons/clinical sessions in your season’s session. We have an indoor riding space and covered round pen, so lessons/clinical sessions can, and do, take place in inclement weather.

    Cancellations: If we determine we need to cancel programming due to weather or some other reason, you will be notified by email/text/phon call and are credited for that lesson. We generally do not offer make-up lessons as finding time to schedule an appropriate instructor, with the appropriate horse, at an appropriate time becomes very challenging.

    If you need to miss a lesson or clinical session (outside of BINA cancelling it), we generally do not offer credits. Your payment would be forfeited due to the costs of holding that slot for a participant. In extreme pre-arranged medical circumstances, we may offer exceptions.

    End of Session, Whats Next? As each session comes to an end, we consult with you as to whether you will continue into the next session. We then determine, with your input, when your riding time slot would be as we know your schedule may change, as well as ours. Please note, we have a very long waitlist, thus a decision to continue to the next session must be made by the date we extend for decisions. If we don’t hear from you, we will offer the slot to someone on the waitlist. All pre-payments must be made before showing up for the first day of the next session.

    Roll-in Admissions & Waitlist: Pending any openings, we offer roll-in admissions. In order to be considered, all of your paperwork must be submitted to our portal.

  • When you are ready to inquire about your Program of Interest, either contact us at info@binafarm.org, call 781-872-5020 or proceed to our New Participant Registration Portal in Better Impact. You will be asked to create a username and password within Better Impact and enter the information that will allow us to best direct your inquiry.

    Once we have reviewed your submission we will contact you.

  • Adaptive Horseback Riding (formerly called Therapeutic Riding) and Recreational Riding are both an equine-assisted activity in which the primary goal is to teach riding skills to individuals of all abilities. While learning to accomplish the goal of riding a horse, our students may experience improved strength, coordination, balance, focus and self-esteem.

    PATH Intl. Certified and MA Licensed instructors provide lesson plans that contribute to the abilities of all our participants. Children and adult riders are encouraged to develop a working, respectful and rewarding relationship with the horse on the ground, as well as in the saddle, fostering a culture of kindness. All participants develop short- and long-term riding goals.

    Depending on what one's goals are, participants may develop increased confidence, independence, joy and gain a therapeutic benefit which positively affects their individual cognitive, physical, emotional and social well-being.

    An initial consultation and evaluation is required.

  • The Dana Hall School (DHS) is a satellite location for BINA Farm Center’s Adaptive Riding (formerly called Therapeutic Riding) lessons only. There are limited spots available at this location. The BINA team does all the scheduling for our program at DHS.

    You will begin by filling out your information on the registration portal.

  • Yes, we offer these programs, please click here to see an overview of these programs.

  • No, we do not offer trail riding or riding lessons to those not enrolled in our programming.

WINTER SESSION: Tuesday, January 2 through Saturday, March 30

  • Offices Closed and No Programming on
    Monday, January 1, New Years Day

  • Offices Closed and No Programming on March 31, Easter

SPRING SESSION: Monday, April 1 through Sunday, June 30

  • Offices Closed & No Programming on Monday, May 27, Memorial Day

SUMMER SESSION: Monday, July 1 through Saturday, August 31 

  • Offices Closed and No Programming on Thursday, July 4,
    Independence Day

FALL SESSION: Tuesday, September 3 - Monday, December 23.

  • Offices Closed and No Programming Sunday, September 1 and
    Monday, September 2

  • Offices Closed and No Programming on Saturday, November 16 for Horsing Around at the Mandarin Gala

  • Offices Closed and No Programming Wednesday, November 27
    through Friday November 29

    • Offices Open Wednesday November 27 and Friday, November 29

  • No Programming Tuesday, December 24 through Sunday, December 31

    • Offices Open Thursday, December 26 through Tuesday,
      December 31 

WINTER SESSION 2025: Thursday, January 2 through Monday, March 31, 2025

  • Offices Closed and No Programming on Wednesday, January 1, 2025.

2024 Calendar for Lexington