Horses peered from their stalls as a dozen girls groomed them or shoveled manure. Outside, more young people rode galloping mounts in the late afternoon sun. It might have been any horse farm, except for the church built into the center of Victory Bible Chapel and Stables in Apollo.

Sandy Hobbs, the stable owner and pastor's wife, uses horsemanship to teach biblical lessons about faith and relationships.

"Horses are like people, in that they choose what they want to do rather than what their master wants them to do," she said. By gently but firmly training a horse, she said, humans can learn how God works in their own lives.

Victory's riding trail follows the story of Pilgrim's Progress, a 17th-century Puritan allegory of Christian life. Riders climb the Hill of Difficulty, avoid the Slough of Despond and reach Beulah Land.

It's part of a wider movement linking evangelical Protestant outreach and spirituality to insights from horse training. Many camps and at least one two-year college are devoted to it.

PG VIDEO: HORSES AND RELIGION

Equestrian ministry has a history in Western Pennsylvania, where Miracle Mountain Ranch in Spring Creek, Warren County, has inspired other programs since 1962. Its longtime director, Lew Sterrett, recently moved to Oklahoma to launch his own ministry with a catchy moniker: "Sermon on the Mount." He illustrates Jesus' teachings as he demonstrates horsemanship at camps, fairs and retreats.

He begins a lesson on faith with an unbroken foal, speaking of the potential he sees, but that the horse can't understand, because the horse has no relationship with or trust in him. He will demonstrate how he begins to guide the horse. Next he explains "simple faith" with a horse that has carried a rider but lacks a trust in its master. Finally, he will gallop around the arena on a blindfolded stallion, to show what strong faith is.

"It's not blind faith, it's transferred eyesight," said his wife, Melodie Sterrett, whose parents founded Miracle Mountain Ranch. Mr. Sterrett was in Mongolia with a veterinary mission.

He grew up on a farm in central Pennsylvania, earned a degree in animal industry at Penn State and was exploring a master's degree in the emerging field of horse psychology when he felt a call to ministry. His wife has a doctorate in Christian counseling.

Equestrian ministry and counseling are a natural combination because horses can teach much about human relationships, Ms. Sterrett said.

"People will tell him, 'After seeing you with that horse, I know now exactly what I need to do with my teenager,' " she said.

Vicki Watson, a 53-year-old Web designer and horsewoman from Marysville, Ohio, created www.christiancowgirl.net for girls and young women who find Christian spirituality in their love for horses.

She didn't connect the two until she heard Mr. Sterrett in 1998.

"I began to see in my own life, that everything we did with horses you could tie into how we relate to God and what he tries to do with us and through us."

She is writing a series of books for young girls, Sonrise Stable, based on her own life and that of one of her granddaughters.

Although the faith message is central, she's concerned to portray horsemanship accurately.

"I've read a lot of horse books for kids and the information in them often isn't realistic," she said. "We stress safety, and that horses are a lot of work. They are a lot of expense and responsibility."

She believes that horse ministry is growing, citing an explosion of speakers and writers. One reason is Canyonview Equestrian College in Silverton, Ore., where dean of students Sherilyn Sander said she always has more job postings than graduates. The school, founded in 1994, is tiny by choice. It accepts just eight students per year.

"We have graduates all over the country," she said.

Students learn to meld biblical teaching with horsemanship, but also study everything from breeding to how to manage a horse facility.

Those were skills that Ms. Hobbs of Victory Bible Chapel and Stables learned informally as the daughter of the owners of a Penn Hills pony track. She moved often in her youth, then married another horse trainer. They worked their way through the South.

But when a divorce left her a single mother of four, she returned to Western Pennsylvania, finding steady work in sales.

Her Catholic upbringing had taught her about God, but she said it wasn't a personal relationship until 1985, two years after her divorce. It took another 10 years to get her life in line with her faith which, she says, gives her patience with others now.

She married David Hobbs, a widower with two children who had always preached while supporting himself with a secular job. She prayed hard about what God was calling her to do.

Then the wealthy father of one of her riding students asked if she would help him buy a horse farm and run it for him. She told him she would do so only if it was run as a Christian ministry. In 2002 he bought the property in Apollo and later sold it to the Hobbses.

They had no intention of starting a church, but their message about God and horses drew a crowd to the cramped observation room for the indoor arena. After they received an estimate of $25,000 to transform a walkway into a church, the grandfather of a student built it for free.

Ms. Hobbs is a fit 54, with curly red hair. She moves quickly through the buildings, where the 90 stalls are always filled. She also has Ponyville, with miniature ponies for small children and adults who fear large horses.

She welcomes those who know nothing about horses.

"Ninety-five percent of the people that come here never rode before. Now they're owners," she said.

"Sandy's gift is to match the child to the horse. I've never seen anything like it," said Debbie Walker of Monroeville, who brought her granddaughter for lessons.

"A stubborn child will be given a stubborn horse" in order to understand how his or her behavior affects others and how God deals with it, she said.

There are about 300 students at Victory and another 500 in therapeutic lessons and camps that Emmaus Horsemanship runs there for those with disabilities.

"They adopted our program, gave us a barn to manage and horses to share," said Pam Santucci, founder of Emmaus. A horsewoman and behavioral specialist for autistic children, she began reading about the benefits of horses for people with a variety of mental, emotional, physical and intellectual disabilities.

"Horses and persons with autism mirror each other. Both think in pictures," she said.

Emmaus began in 2006. She's up front about its Christian orientation, and says she cites the Bible while teaching. But most of the ministry occurs with family members, who need support to care for children whose behavior and needs can be vexing. They aren't all Christians, she said.

"We've had Jewish and Muslim parents. We don't care who comes. God loves them all."

Its not just those with disabilities who find horses therapeutic. Progress through the levels of horsemanship at Victory is gauged by service and character as well as riding skill.

"Kids learn responsibility and empathy," said Henri Clark of Plum, who has two horses but often comes just to help out. Victory has no employees, only volunteers.

Lisa Kelly, a bank executive battling multiple sclerosis, came so her daughter could ride.

"I moved next door so we could be closer," she said. "It's the sense of family, community and peace. I see young people come and be transformed by the horses. I've seen kids who arrived unable to look anyone in the eye, and the horse brings them out of their shell."

Ms. Hobbs admits to times when difficulties have made her think of quitting. Then someone will thank her for making a difference in their lives and she remembers why she is there.

"I can't take that credit. It's all God. He uses me," she said.

"It's very moving to see it's changing people's lives, but it also changes horse's lives too."

Many are placed there on consignment, often because they are difficult.

"A horse comes in and wants nothing to do with nobody. You can see anger in their eyes. You can see they weren't treated right," she said. But with training, she said, they become trusting and obedient.

"The horse's greatest reward is to be turned loose. And it's like that in our Christian life, where it can seem to be all about rules and demands. But God makes it really easy for us when we trust him and do what he asks," she said.