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The sun was setting over a barn behind the Show Place Arena and Prince George's Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro on Tuesday evening, and four adults were leading 13-year-old Kalonji Griffin, who has cerebral palsy, and his horse around an open arena.

"Keep rolling — keep rolling — inch all the way over," said Kim Molhoek, an instructor with Progressive Equestrian Therapeutic Services, Inc., an Upper Marlboro nonprofit that serves people with physical and mental disabilities, as she helped Kalonji from his horse. "That's my guy," she added.

Kalonji is one of about two dozen disabled people who have enrolled in free riding lessons with PETS, a 27-year-old group that's based at the Equestrian Center, which held its first session of the year on Tuesday.

Kalonji, who lives in Temple Hills, has been coming for the lessons for the last five years. "It gives people that have disabilities a chance to have fun," he said. "It stretches my legs out. I can walk a lot better."

Like many nonprofits, PETS has seen donations decline as the recession deepened. Donations are down around 50 percent so far compared with the same time last year, and the group is planning fundraisers to bring in extra money. Funds are so tight that members of the group are collecting used printer cartridges from their workplaces and sending them to a company that recycles them, Molhoek said.

On the other hand, people are donating more horses these days because they can no longer afford to keep the animals, she said. During good economic times PETS usually has to settle for horses that are old or injured.

"With the economy so bad, we're getting more donations of horses," Molhoek said.

The group currently has eight horses and has received offers from people who want to sell them two more, she said. PETS has seven volunteer instructors who train riders in small groups three days each week.

PETS is hoping to receive increased donations and also to get more volunteers, Molhoek said. High school students can volunteer with the program for community service credits.

Most of the riders said they have not noticed the program changing as a result of the economy. Chris Blegen, 23, has been part of the program since he was 7, after a doctor diagnosed him with cerebral palsy, a birth defect that causes involuntary spasms and reduces muscle control. Aside from one shoulder being slightly higher than the other, it is difficult to tell that he suffers from the condition.

"You can't really tell anymore. It used to be I would drool a lot more," said Blegen, a Cheverly resident. "I don't think it will come back."

Blegen said his condition has improved dramatically as a result of the riding program, as well as regular physical therapy sessions he attended for most of his life. He will graduate in May from Capitol College in Laurel with a degree in computer science. He also assists the instructors and is working on becoming an instructor himself, he said.

Jonathan Tallmadge, 33, of Upper Marlboro said he has been part of PETS since 1981, shortly after the program started on a small farm in Croom. A blood vessel burst in Tallmadge's brain soon after he was born, causing brain damage and partially paralyzing his left arm.

Tallmadge, who lives at home with his parents, said PETS gave him more independence.

"If I wasn't horseback riding, I probably wouldn't be able to drive," said Tallmadge, who now works as a janitor at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The sessions have improved his awareness of his surroundings and improved his reaction time, he said.

"[The sessions are] keeping me where I can do a lot of things," he said. "When I'm up on a horse, I'm in a different world."

E-mail Greg Holzheimer at gholzheimer@gazette.net.