A non-profit horse ranch that caters to children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing opened Saturday in Parker.

Rosie’s Ranch celebrated its grand opening with pony rides, a meet-and-greet with horses, crafts for kids, a silent auction and an overview of the program.

The ranch helps children learn and expand listening, verbal and reading skills through engagement with horses, Mary Mosher-Stathes, the ranch’s founder, said in a statement before the grand opening this afternoon.

Mosher-Stathes, who has 32 years of experience educating deaf children, has received numerous state-wide and national awards, including the 2007 Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year Award.

Located in Parker, the ranch is on 10 acres and its staff includes licensed teachers of the deaf, a speech pathologist, a certified listening, speech and language specialist, an on-call audiologist and a professional riding trainer.

For more information on the non-profit facility and its programs to www.rosiesranch.com

Kieran Nicholson