Our Team

Rafi Osmo Founder & CEO of the Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center

Rafi has been a member of Kibbutz Grofit since 1982, and has loved caring for and riding horses since a young age. He studied to become a riding instructor, farm manager and racehorse trainer at the Wingate Institute.

Rafi and Ellen Reisel founded the Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center in 1999. They started their venture with just eight horses and approximately ten riders. Currently, the ranch has 25 horses and provides scholarships and therapeutic treatment to over 230 riders a week from the Eilat - Eilot region. Rafi's love for horses and people inspired him to establish this unique organization, develop and promote it to its present success in supporting those who are in need of therapeutic riding.

Ehud Katzaf

Ehud lives on Kibbutz Yahel together with his wife and their one-month-old baby. He always knew he wanted to work with horses and children and chose to study at the Wingate Institute to become a therapeutic riding instructor. On completing his studies, he started to work on various Kibbutzes in the North, as a therapeutic riding instructor. When he and his family relocated to the Arava, he met Rafi and started to work at the Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center and has been part of our dedicated team for over a year.

Galia Sweed

Galia, is a riding therapist, a parental coach and acts as the ranch therapeutic riding coordinator. She joined us in 2012 and has been an integral part of our team for over 8 years. She joined us after relocating from Tel Aviv, where she worked as a graphic designer. She moved to Kibbutz Eilot where she was a member for 15 years and decided to learn therapy. During her first years, she was the manager of the small zoo on the kibbutz. When she came to Grofit she brought her pony, Wendy, with her. She is currently studying diagnosis and treatment using the functional neurodevelopmental method.

Yaniv Alon

Following his love for horses, Yaniv has been riding horses since a young age and has always dreamed of working with them as well. He completed his studies as a therapeutic riding instructor in Afula. He studied with Lauren and Yvonne who initiated therapeutic riding in Israel.

Due to the immense love for both children and horses, he chose to work as a riding therapist and has been part of our team at the Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Center for over 3 years.

Yaniv claims that there are two significant days in our lives, the day we are born and the day we understand why we were born. Thanks to his work at the Red Mountain Therapeutic Riding Centre, he proudly declares that he has indeed reached the second significant day.

Lisa Cohen

Lisa lives on kibbutz Yahel together with her husband and three sons. She is originally from Sweden and always loved horses. She choose this carrier path at an older age, when she moved to the Arava and met with Rafi Osman through volunteering at RMTRC. She got the opportunity of receiving a scholarship to become an equine therapist and got as job guarantee at RMTRC for two years after she graduated in 2021. Lisa loves working with children with disabbilities and enjoys working outdoors.

Our horses

Aside from the therapists, we also have 25 horses and ponies. Some of them have been here from the beginning. The horses form the biggest part of the therapy. They work on the emotions of the children and are like a mirror to the behavior of people.