Dec. 2015 Issue_ August 2013a 2015-11-23 4:45 PM Page 22 22/ DECEMBER 2015 THE RIDER
2015 Ontario Trail Riders Association Board of Directors
President/Ride Schedule
Helmut Hitscherich, 905-473-9329,
helmuthit@gmail.com
Vice President Tug MacDonald, 905-885-9191,
shemac0@hotmail.com
Secretary Linda Fell
905-842-9031,
linda.fell@outlook.com
Administration Sheila MacDonald 905-885-9191
shemac@hotmail.com
Memberships & Web Page Wendy Downer 705-322-0287
appy1714@gmail.com
Treasurer Jan Belanger
Elmvale, ON L0L 1P0 Home: 705-322-2027
janbel@csolve.net
Newsletter & Trail Development Ron Keeler, 705-341-1073,
alltrails@live.ca
Director
Lana English 519-658-3489
lanaenglish@sympatico.ca
OTRA: Box 3038, Elmvale, ON L0L 1P0 •
www.otra.ca The Ontario Trail Riders Association Inc, established
in 1970, is an equestrian organization which promotes recreational trail riding and the creation, development, preservation and safe use of trails.
OTRA News December 2015
be meeting on November 19th for our second meeting. The first Newsletter I wrote got a few responses. I tried my best to answer everyone with the ability and knowledge that I had after our first meeting. I hope everyone still sends emails and ask questions and gives us ideas. I have been talking to Helmut and he says he is get- ting the 2016 Ride Schedule organized and is hoping for more people to host rides.
Well the new board will
would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
and OTRA member has submit- ted for your reading pleasure.
MORE ADVENTURES WITH OTRA
opportunity to visit Horse County Camp Ground in the Ottawa Valley area. The camp-
In June OTRA had the Here is a tale that a friend The Board of Directors
ground was nice. The place offers everything an adrenaline junky could ever want from helicopter rides; white water rafting; bungee jumping above the Ottawa River and canoeing and kayaking. The corrals for the horses were nice and secure. When we were there some of the trails were still being devel- oped but there were a number of choices for trails. One day Carol, Shirley and
I rode out together. We got lost but we found a beautiful lake that had a small sand beach where the horses could drink. For years my horse Cricket would paw the water, splash both of us and then walk out. I didn’t think this day was any different, but it was... Very quickly Cricket took
three giant steps into deeper water and dropped to her knees. Now those of you that know me know I always ride with a safety vest and a helmet. I never knew my vest and helmet could dou-
ble as PFD’s! As Cricket went down into the water it was clear she was intending to roll. In my quick thinking I came up with a precision plan to bail... I would dismount off the right side so her hooves wouldn’t hit me. I would draw on my lifesaving swimming skills that I hadn’t used in more than 40 years! I would push off the side of the horse and use my best strong front-crawl stroke technique to glide gracefully and quickly to safety... Well plans don’t always work the way we want... My foot caught the cantle
bag on the way off, which caused me to lose balance. The ground under the water wasn’t where I thought it should be and I did a perfect belly flop into the water. I knew I hadn’t got far enough away from Cricket who was about to roll. Plan B was to brace my shoulders (several times) for the pending horse that I was sure going to roll on me, squish me and drown me...
watching in horror from their saddles. Later they told their version of what they saw. They said, the horse dropped on her knees into the water and I clum- sily fell off the right side of my horse. I disappeared under the water and they were concerned. Then they saw my safety vest float to the surface, followed by the roundness of my helmet that kept “bobbing” like one of those red and white fishing pole bob- bers. Every time I tensed I would go under the water, but then my helmet would break the surface, just to disappear again. My front-crawl was more like a doggie paddle gone bad. After a few strokes my foot hit some- thing and I stood up in about two and a half feet of water. I probably could have run faster to safety. Cricket finished her roll, stood up and waited for me to make it back to shore. As the water poured out of my helmet, I looked at Carol and Shirley in
Carol and Shirley were
with the Ontario Trails Council, Ontario Equestrian Federation and Equine Canada. We welcome your membership to help sup- port the voice of OTRA on your behalf. For more information please visit our website at
www.otra.ca
disbelief. We all started howl- ing in laughter, but for different reasons. For them it was the funny incident that had played out like a slow motion bloopers video, and for me it was the realization I had survived yet another OTRA riding mishap. The rest of the day we rode
and remained lost until we found some nice people on ATV’s who pointed us back to camp. It was extremely hot and Carol and Shirley said they were jealous that I was still soggy and cooler than they were. I didn’t tell them until later that I had sand in places where no one should have sand and that by the time we made it back to camp, it felt like I had arthritis in my... butt. But hey, I was still alive, and after drying my tack out the next day, I was ready for my next OTRA adventure! Happy trails, ride safe and
have fun. Karen
OTRA and its members represent the equestrian trail user
Effects of Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy on Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Youth
Chagrin Falls, Ohio, October 26, 2015- Researchers at Cummings School of Vet- erinary Medicine at Tufts University and at Washburn University recently completed a study funded by the Horses and Humans Research Foundation to investigate the effectiveness of equine facilitated psy- chotherapy (EFP) in the treatment of post- traumatic stress symptoms in children and teens. The team led by principal investiga- tor and Cummings School Research Assis- tant Professor Megan Mueller, Ph.D., and co-investigator Leslie McCullough, Ph.D. of Washburn University, also explored the effects of the human-animal bond on the effectiveness of the EFP program. Participants ages eight to 18 were
selected from a therapeutic treatment facili- ty and placed either in a group of students receiving EFP or in a group of students
who continued to receive the usual treat- ment from the therapeutic facility. Youth in the EFP program attended EFP sessions once a week for 10 sessions and all youth were asked to complete a brief survey at the beginning of the program, at week 5, and at week 10. The unpublished data suggests that both
modality. Horses and Humans Research Founda-
the treatment and control groups experi- enced a significant reduction in post-trau- matic stress symptoms, and the human ani- mal bond was correlated with reduction in symptoms for the treatment group. These findings suggest additional evidence regarding the role of the human-animal bond in clinically based treatment, and could be useful in advancing awareness of EFP as a viable psychotherapeutic inter- vention and promoting high-quality research assessing EFP as a treatment
tion (HHRF) is dedicated to funding research to support the equine-assisted activities and therapies field. Since its founding, HHRF has awarded $400,000 in professional research efforts led by eight research teams in the United States, Canada and Germany. HHRF is a non-endowed foundation
dependent solely on donations. To make a donation and/or learn more about this and other HHRF projects visit
http://www.HorsesandHumans.org. Mission: Through investment in rigorous research, Horses and Humans Research Foundation will serve as a catalyst to advance knowledge of horses and their potential to impact the health and wellness of people.
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