38/ FEBRUARY 2013 THE RIDER
www.ontra.ca ONTARIO THERAPEUTIC RIDING ASSOCIATION
President:
Vice President: Treasurer: Secretary:
Kirsten Smith Megan Watson Virginia Pohler Pat DiMambro
Directors:
Janine Langley, Kate Day, Maryanne Kjemtrup
ManeLine Editor: Kate Day therapeutic riding... horses helping people ManeLine
OnTRA and OEF are so very excited to offer this exciting new pro- gram called Ribbons for Rides. EVERYONE can participate in this program! Just ride one of the FEI dressage tests (independently or on lead), and you will receive an eighth place ribbon. Ride another test, or the same test again, and receive a seventh place ribbon. On and on until you reach Champion!! OEF is even offering to have the Champion rib- bons signed by an elite equestrian athlete of the rider's choice and framed in a shadow box. If the rider lives in the vicinity of the elite eques- trian, they will see if they can come and present the Champion ribbon to the rider. For further information, please visit
www.ontra.ca.
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Helpful horses at CARD By Cortney Cook
It’s a place where individuals with mental and physical disabilities can go to enjoy the company of horses and improve their health.
Nestled in G. Ross Lord Park, The Community Association for Riding for the Disabled is a therapeu- tic riding centre where individuals of a variety of dis- abilities can feel liberated from their disability and improve their mental and physical strength. CARD is actually the first therapeutic riding centre in Canada- running strong since 1969.
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2012 OnTRA MEMBER CENTRES
ASHBURN: The Stables at WindReach Farm - 905-655-5827 BARRIE/ORILLIA: Stonegate Farm - 705-791-4441 BELLEVILLE: Quinte Therapeutic Riding Assn.- 613-395-4472 BRACEBRIDGE: With Care Oke-Cook Family Farm- 705-645-5866 BRAMPTON/CALEDON: Caledon Equestrian School - 905 584-2022 CALEDON EAST: Peace Ranch - 905-584-9156 CARLETON PLACE: Lanark County Therapeutic Riding Program - 613 257-7121 ext. 236 CORNWALL: Brave-Hearts Riding Club - 613-528-1616 GREELY: TROtt - 613-821-1844 GUELPH: Sunrise Therapeutic Riding & Learning Centre - 519-837-0558 HAMILTON: T.E.A.D. - 905-679-8323 KARS: Tranquil Acres. - (613) 489-5294 KITCHENER: CODRP / Pride Stables - 519-653-4686 LONDON: SARI Therapeutic Riding - 519-666-1123 MILTON: Windrush Stable Therapeutic Riding Centre - 905-854-6008 ORANGEVILLE: EQUUS 3D - 519-940-0048 OWEN SOUND: G.R.A.C.E. - 519-372-2721 PETERBOROUGH: PARD Therapeutic Riding - 705 742-6441 PETROLIA: Tomlynn Acres Reg. Quarter Horses - 519-882-0958 PORT BURWELL: Jabez Therapy Ranch - 519-874-1168 PORT ELGIN: P.R.A.N.C.E. - 519-832-2522 SCHOMBERG: King’s Ransom Equestrian - 416-995-3842 SHELBURNE: Traditions Farm Therapeutic Riding Centre - 519-925-1866 ST. CATHARINES: Horse Alternative Therapeutic Services - 905-704-9820 SAULT STE. MARIE: Therapeutic Ride Algoma - 705 945-8546 THUNDER BAY: Thunder Bay Therapeutic Riding Assoc.- 807-472-5650 TORONTO: C.A.R.D. - 416-667-8600 TORONTO: Saddle Up For Success - 416-932-1919 TOTTENHAM: Awesome Acres Therapeutic Riding Centre - (905) 936-1197 VAL RITA: Northern Lights Therapeutic Riding Assoc. - 705-335-2441 WHITBY: Durham Therapeutic Riding Assoc. - 905-668-6680 WINDSOR: Windsor-Essex Therapeutic Riding Assoc. - 519-969-1261
Please volunteer at a centre near you!
DISCLAIMER: Please be advised that OnTRA is not responsible for the accreditation, actions or activities at any OnTRA Member Centre. OnTRA has no legal or structural authority over any Member Centre as each Centre is autonomous. Be aware that horseback riding can be a dangerous sport therefore you should verify the safety procedures & the certification of the instructors at the therapeutic riding facility of your choice.
Life in the barn wakes early; stable volunteers and Scot Stewart, the stable manager are already busy cleaning stalls, feeding the whickering horses, and getting things ready for the groom volunteers to pre- pare for the first lesson.
“Before I started working here I had no experi- ence with disabilities,” Stewart said. “But to see the kids come in and their faces light up its great. And when they’ve been here for a while you really start to see an improvement.”
Stewart says that CARD runs almost entirely on volunteers. Depending on the disability of some of the riders, there can be up to 15 volunteers a class. “Between the riders and the volunteers, around a 1000 people come through here each week,” Stew- art said.
But the first one at the barn every morning is Penny Smith, the executive director of CARD. “The horses, riders, and the volunteers are all amazing,” Smith said. “ The therapeutic value in rid- ing a horse is unbelievable. We get children and adults with all sorts of disabilities but when the get on a horse [they] look just like you and I. Riding is more than what it looks like, it improves everything.” Like Stewart, Smith also says that the volun- teers are the backbone of CARD.
“The people you are meeting today are an unbe- lievable group of people,” Smith said.
No sooner than the volunteers were mentioned that Dana Clarins came in to put his nametag on. Clarins has been a volunteer at CARD for over 20 years. As he strolls into the tack room he beings to pull out ‘Zekes’’ saddle and bridle. Then he pulls out a measuring tape and extends the leather of the stirrup strap.
He explains that each individual has a chart out- lining their height, weight, and disability so they can make sure the tack is fitted properly to both the rider and the horse.
“The closer we get to being perfect, it makes things less stressful on the rider because some have trouble moving their legs and problems understanding exactly what you’re doing,” Clarins said. “We also have rainbow coloured reins to help them understand where to put their hands rather than continuously telling them to adjust the position of their hands on the reins.”
Helen and Martha are two of the other volun- teers for the lessons of the day; each of them have been at CARD for over 25 years.
Martha may be the certified riding instructor, but according to her it’s the horses that are the teach- ers.
“ The movement of the horse is what does the therapy really,” Martha said. “ It gives them a sense
Volunteer Isobel Hood brings “Zeke” out to be tacked up.
of liberation because their muscles are being manipu- lated by the horse’s movements.”
“With the horse’s movements it kind of kick in the brain as a signal and the muscles respond like ‘Oh! That’s what I’m supposed to do,’” Helen said. As the groomers get the horses tacked up, Martha explains that every lesson she does is differ- ent. But the therapy in itself improves the rider’s back, posture, balance, and cognitive ability to pro- cess instruction and applying it to their riding. “I might decide to teach them how to turn their horses, so I try to teach them how to coordinate their hands and legs through devising a little course to help them practice,” Martha said. “Every rider is different, so they respond differently by the degree of their abil- ity.”
But the learning doesn’t stop on the horse. Before every lesson the volunteers work with the rid- ers on socializing and connecting with the horse. “It’s important to get the riders touching the horses, it really helps their sensory abilities and become more comfortable around the horses,” Clarins said.
Teenager Shastine Remahl is patiently waiting for Clarins to get her horse ready. Carrot in her gloved hand she says she “thinks she’s riding CJ today.”
“I’ve been coming here for five years now,” Shastine said. Every time I come the horse and the lesson is different. I do lots of balance exercises, like I extend my arms in the air. It’s fun.”
Her mother Margo Remahl watches from the audience booth as Shastine mounts CJ. Margo explains that her daughter has a behavioural and cog- nitive disorder, but that coming to CARD to ride “has been very good for her listening skills.” Anita Winkle is another mother who has been taking her twenty-eight year-old daughter Danielle to ride at CARD.
“It’s so popular here that we were on the waitlist for five years,” Winkle said. “But it’s been great for Danielle she has become much more independent.” In the sand ring Martha instructs the riders to do circles around the pylons with flags, then to ask their horse to come to a halt. As Shastine pulls back on the reins and CJ comes to a stop, her face lights up with a grin.
The
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