About the Farm

Embrace Hope has had children participate in the program from the first weekend following the shooting, and every weekend since. Just this past August, as school was approaching, we had a spike in requests for sessions, or to just come to the farm to ease nerves prior to the beginning of school. Memories of the tragedy are still very fresh and continue to haunt our community.


Our Team

Rebecca Howard Hathaway – Rebecca has loved and ridden horses her entire life, having taught riding and trained horses for 30 plus years. Currently she manages the Sandy Hook Equestrian Center in Newtown CT. She’s been lucky to train with many excellent instructors, in various English performance disciplines. But her obsession is integrating “Natural Horsemanship” and positive reinforcement (“clicker training”) into a system of training for her own and clients’ horses. Research shows that Natural Horsemanship and clicker-trained animals learn faster, retain longer and bond stronger with the handler!

Mary A. Poupon, APRN, BC – Mary has her masters in Science in Psychiatric Nursing from Columbia University and is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. She brings a broad set of skills to Embrace Hope with a special focus on children and adolescents. Her experience includes psychiatric consultation and assessment, individual and family group therapy, crisis intervention and bereavement counseling.

Importantly, Mary is an EAGALA Certified professional who combines her academic training, clinical experience and love of horses to deliver the gentle care Embrace Hope Sandy Hook participants seek.