Horses and special needs riders

My Heroes, llc.

My Heroes, llc. is a hippotherapy rehabilitation company that combines horses and special needs children (and adults). For those who don't know, hippotherapy is physical, occupational, and speech therapy that uses the horse as the treatment tool to achieve the rider’s goals. It is inspiring, motivating, uplifting. Many of these riders who can’t walk or get around on their own feel like they’re flying while they’re on horseback, a sensation I’d like to come through in the logo. I suppose words like dynamism, fluidity, energy pertain. Since beginning service I’ve been using a logo I created myself--which you can link to below--but now that I’m growing (I currently run out of a horse park in Atlanta but will soon be expanding to the facilities at Colorado State) my web design and marketing friends say I need a logo that doesn’t look like a first grader did it. Don’t link to it if you don’t want to be influenced; it doesn’t matter whether the new logo bears any resemblance, I just wanted to give you an example of the original thought process.

The audience for this is not just the riders (of all ages, btw-so no child specific logos) but the families of riders, doctors, therapists, anyone interested in learning more about hippotherapy and what we do. Colors should be warm, comfortable, energetic. Most people coming to this are learning about it for the first time.

The logo will need to be easily transferable and recognizable-to those experienced designers this probably goes without saying-but it will be on business cards, pamphlets, brochures, shirts, hats, etc. and will be the cornerstone of the newly developing website. It can be an amalgamation of horse and wheelchair, horse and crutches, etc, but it certainly doesn’t have to be that (and if it does please, please, make it creative). I don't want the kids or riders who will be wearing this to associate it specifically with a 'disability club'. The idea is that this transcends their disability.

Logos I like are the Firefox family of logos, New Belgium Brewery logos

A website I'll be hopefully modeling mine after is http://www.sheacenter.org

Please no clip art, etc. (Again I know this goes without saying for the experienced designers). This has to look professional and clean.

The tag line that accompanies the logo is "overcoming obstacles, one hoof at a time".

Good luck and I look forward to seeing your designs.