Our Story

Harmony Hope Stables sits upon 5 gorgeous acres in
Palm City, FL and has been a lifelong dream come true for the charity’s founder, Kristi Huddleston. Originally founded in 2009 as Music 4 Miracles, the non-profit organization has a long history of serving children most in need, from childhood cancer patients to children in foster care and with disabilities. Upon purchasing the farm in 2019, Kristi and her family began building the first PATH [Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship] Center in Martin County.   The passion behind the purpose stems from the founder’s personal experience with childhood trauma. Kristi herself grew up in a violent home with an alcoholic father that abused her in every way imaginable; she gives credit to a great therapist, music, horses, and Jesus for helping in her personal healing process. Although it’s taken a lifetime to recover from the aftermath of her abusive past, Kristi understands the suffering she endured as a victim would prepare her for today. She now stands strong as a survivor and has never been more certain that her entire life’s purpose is to serve children in need. With the help of her husband Bill, who is a retired firefighter, and their twin teenagers, together their family takes pride in helping to make the mission possible. 

Learn About Our Programs

We combine music activities and equine assisted learning in a therapeutic environment to give children a safe place to explore their emotions, cope with anxieties, and simply be themselves. Our programs are especially helpful for kids with autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, a history of abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression.

Primarily, our Harmony & Horses program encompasses music activities with equine-assisted learning and other opportunities for animal interactions as an integral part of each child’s therapeutic process. We are the only PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) certified equine center in Martin and St. Lucie Counties. Through a formal partnership with Hibiscus Children’s Center, we work with local children in foster care on a weekly basis. Additionally, individual families come to us for targeted therapeutic services for their children coping with a variety of developmental disabilities. The Harmony & Horses program helps children build vital social, emotional, and coping skills using music, horses, and other ranch animals as the catalyst for better childhood outcomes.

In addition to Harmony & Horses, Harmony Hope Stable also offers a unique opportunity for local high school students, VIBE Leadership. Through this program, we are able to train the student volunteers in PATH equine therapy methodology and develop their internal leadership skills with the goal of the student participants being able to support our staff in working with the children we serve. VIBE Leadership is built on a foundation of leadership workshops, volunteerism, mentorship, and opportunities for achievement. VIBE Leadership consists of learning horsemanship skills and how to care for animals, spending time building a working bond with our therapy horses and goats, and learning to apply leadership skills within our organization, all while earning volunteer hours necessary for graduation. VIBE also offers potential industry-recognized certifications, part-time employment, and community awards for high school volunteers.

We operate a very unique blended program model that combines VIBE Leadership with Harmony & Horses to ensure that our high school volunteers are learning leadership, horsemanship, and how to work with children in need through equine-assisted learning. For these children, the horses provide an alternative sentient being with whom they can achieve a partnership through trust. VIBE Leadership enables our high school volunteers to harness this trust and act as the connection between the children and the horses, creating a special bond built on safety and compassion.

To learn more about our music and equine programs please visit our programs page.

Our Mission, Visions and Values

Our mission is to bring harmony, hope, and healing into the lives of children in need and provide them a therapeutic and educational experience from which they can learn and grow.

Harmony Hope Stables envisions itself as a place where all children have continuous access to resources, support, and therapy services that enable them to feel confident, safe, loved, and reach their full potential. We envision access to our programs for all children who are in need of these very important therapeutic sessions through Harmony & Horses, and simultaneous expansion of resources to provide an amazing opportunity to local high school students through VIBE Leadership.  Our vision is to help children to heal through music-centric activities and equine assisted learning, and to pass our tradition of harmony, hope and healing to the next generation that will carry on this good work.