Scholarship
The Viniar-Conway Scholarship Fund for Therapeutic Horseback Riding & Horse-Assisted Activities
Pony Power Therapies seeks to make therapeutic horseback riding and horse-assisted activities available to as many qualifying participants as possible. Program fees only cover a portion of our costs of providing instruction in this unique setting, and donations enable us to subsidize the remaining amount.
Pony Power is proud to have launched its first scholarship fund in 2016, named in memory of Leo “Vinny” Viniar, whose family are longtime supporters of our programming. The fund provides financial aid to a limited number of families, schools and agencies who have demonstrated an inability to pay the full program fee for therapeutic riding or our other horse-assisted programs.
““He was a very kind and gentle man, and when people met him, they instantly liked him. Everything about him was kind and generous.”
Vinny came to appreciate Pony Power’s mission when his daughter-in-law, Susan, relayed stories from her time at the farm first as a volunteer and later as Board Chair. In fact, Vinny has a namesake at the farm, a Norwegian Fjord purchased for Pony Power by Susan and her husband David to celebrate Vinny’s 90th birthday.
Upon his passing in 2015, the family requested that donations be made to Pony Power in Vinny's memory, and the response was remarkable. These gifts were “paid forward” to create our first scholarship fund. We have since received gifts in memory of David’s mother Evelyn and Sue’s parents Rita and Ned, inspiring us to rename the fund in 2020 to the Viniar-Conway Scholarship Fund. With continued support, the fund can continue to grow and make Pony Power’s programming available to individuals who would not otherwise have the opportunity to participate.
Applications must be submitted during registration periods only. We can only consider scholarship applications submitted at the same time as the online registration form. Online registration information can be found here.