By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WINONA LAKE — Two like-minded groups providing specialized care for young people — Joe’s Kids and Magical Meadows — are formalizing a more structured approach that will start in the Spring of 2026.
The new arrangement was celebrated at Joe’s Kids’ 11th annual fundraiser at the Miller Sunset Pavilion in Winona Lake Saturday night.
Joe’s Kids Director, Rebecca Bazzoni, made the announcement Saturday about a new transformational program overseen by Joe’s Kids at Magical Meadows that can yield significant improvements for recipients with various needs and can be billed through Medicaid and insurance, thereby helping expand access for life-changing care.
The program, Hippotherapy, uses the horse’s natural movement to engage a child’s body and brain in ways that are difficult to replicate in a traditional clinical setting.
The rhythmic, three-dimensional motion of the horse challenges balance, strengthens muscles, and improves posture. For children with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, sensory processing disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and developmental delays,
Through the partnership, Joe’s Kids will manage all scheduling, billing, and communication with client families, while The Magical Meadows will provide the therapeutic setting, specially trained therapy horses, and an experienced equine handler to facilitate safe, effective interactions between the children and horses.
Hippotherapy can lead to gains in mobility, communication, motor coordination, and emotional regulation. By incorporating this evidence-based practice, therapists can help children reach milestones that might otherwise take longer to achieve.
A select group of Joe’s Kids physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech language pathologists are currently completing specialized training and certification to provide Hippotherapy.
Both organizations have been in expansion mode in recent years. Joe’s Kids is in its third phase since the organization moved to its new location on Old Road 30 several years ago, and Magical Meadows broke ground last week on construction of two indoor riding arenas that will greatly expand services at its facility north of Warsaw.
Kuhn said he and his board were looking at ways to expand services to the most vulnerable and that Joe’s Kids was the first to come to mind.
Bazzoni and Tammgy Stackhouse, the founder of Magical Meadows, have known each other for many years … “so it just seemed like a no-brainer to see what that would look like,” Kuhn recalled.
Brainstorming and research led to the development of the plan
“It all became clear and we realized this would be a such a win-win-win,” Kuhn said.
Joe’s Kids worked with 700 different children in Kosciusko County and ten surrounding counties in the past year with a diverse array of special conditions and need.
Many of Joe’s Kids patients have used Magical Meadows in the past, but this program will be more specialized and structured.
Bazzonni talked about one patient named Charlie who had significant limitations, including language and balance, among others, but excelled while on top of a horse at Magical Meadows.
“Even though he might not have been able to verbalize it, he knew how to communicate joy, and he knew how to communicate love,” Bazzoni said.
“If you have never been to a horse show at Magical Meadows, I highly recommend you go see one,” Bazzoni tol several hundred guests at Saturday night’s dinner. “It’s pretty amazing to seee our kids on horses and see the pride in their faces and how they’re doing,” she said.
“I’ll tell you, there is something pretty magical happening there at the meadows,” she said.
Saturday’s event was Joe’s Kids’ biggest fundraiser of the year.
A more detailed news release will be issued later this week.
Magical Meadows will be the subject of the public affairs show, In the Know, that will air next weekend on Kensington Digital Media radio stations.
