STRIDES Therapeutic Riding: Therapeutic riding for the disabled.

. STRIDES Therapeutic Riding: Therapeutic riding for the disabled. Bridgett 's Diary Page 5

4/13/01 Fridays are always a little nuts and today was no exception. There are always a large number of riders, but fortunately, there are also more volunteers than most days. It was pretty warm today and the dust was everywhere, so the instructors turned on the sprinklers in one of the arenas. Not only did the water calm the dust, but Sophie, Flag it also cooled the side-walkers and riders as the lesson continued. There was a hilarious, yet someone scary incident today. During one of the lessons (with the sprinklers), the horse was getting fairly wet . The rider, who is about seven years old, was riding along when suddenly Chiquita started shaking the water off his body. Along with the water, the rider (Joel) was also being shaken off! Luckily, I was there to catch him. I put Joel back on the horse and he couldn’t stop laughing. Thank goodness he thought it was funny! Joel has a great sense of humor and couldn’t wait to ride Chiquita again. This was a good lesson to demonstrate how important side-walkers are!

4/14/01 Saturday lessons are a lot of fun. I got to meet many new riders since I have only worked one other Saturday. I finally got to meet the twins who I have heard so much about. Their names are Hannah and Clea are they are so adorable. They are very cheerful little girls and very experienced on horses. They ride with English saddles and know how to trot and post. They ride together (on separate horses) and I observed their healthy sibling rivalry. Both wanted to do better than the other, as is normal for siblings and especially twins. They also rode with Joe and Laura. Joe had problems taking directions and his attention was wandering frequently. Laura, on the other hand, did a fantastic job. She started and stopped her horse with ease. She even insisted on leading her horse back to the cross-ties. I had to help her, of course, because she has trouble walking due to her CP. Her mom was a little worried that she was going to fall, but Laura did an excellent job. I think it boosted her self-esteem tremendously. She was very proud of herself and I told her that I was proud of her, too.

4/16/01 Today was very nonchalant, as Mondays usually are. We had four lessons, but most of them were low maintenance. Dina rode today, but she went without side-walkers. Nichole and Nora told her that she would be going without side-walkers some days and with side-walkers other days. She agreed to this and I think she felt better knowing that the schedule would switch back and forth. Dina would also be allowed to request side-walkers on days when she felt tired and, therefore, scared that she might lose control over the horse. Dina did a great job today by herself. She is still having a little trouble keeping her back straight, but she was able to get Palmer into a trot today, which is no small feat. Great job, Dina! We knew you could do it!

4/17/01 Gary can be very difficult. He gave us a lot of grief today. He refused to get into the frog position today and it took a large amount of ingenious coaxing on Nora’s part to get him to even bend his legs. He admitted that his legs weren’t hurting; he just didn’t want to comply. Gary said he was scared, but Nora reminded him that he had done it many times before and nothing bad happened. He still refused to get into the frog position, but he finally agreed to sit up on his knees for a short interval. I think he was a little cautious today because he hasn’t ridden in a while. Hopefully, he will gradually get used to doing the exercises again. His legs were really benefiting from it and I would hate to see him give up so soon.

4/20/01 We had lessons with quite a few people today, but I only side-walked with Dina, Ezra, and Josh. Ezra continues to make me laugh; he always has a new saying. He really did a great job today with keeping his head steady, but he still has a problem swallowing without being prompted. He loves trotting and we let him go for as long as he can without bobbing his head too much. Jesse made huge improvements today. He is usually afraid of trotting, but once we convinced him to trot for a couple of steps, he was asking if he could! That was truly amazing. He even started to post a little bit. By the end of the lesson, he was really getting into the riding. When he was leading his horse back to the stalls, Jesse asked me about jumping! This was coming from the kid who didn’t even want to get on a horse a few weeks ago. I was really pleased with him today.

4/20/01 This was an interesting experience, probably once in a lifetime. Since there is a pregnant horse, Rosie, who is almost due, the instructors and some interns have been taking turns spending the night at the ranch. Last week, Nora asked me if I wanted to spend the night once and I agreed. It sounded like fun and I was looking forward to the possibility of witnessing the birth of a horse. One of the other interns stayed with me because we were scared to be alone. So the whole night, we stayed in the tent and checked on Rosie every hour or whenever we didn’t see her. We thought she might be preparing to have it when she started walking around her stall for awhile, but nothing happened. We were freezing because the rain was pouring down and the blankets and sleeping bags were not doing their job. I ended up sleeping for a total of about three hours that night, but it was worth it. How many people can say that they were on watch for a horse birthing?

4/24/01 This was the first day for Annie. Annie has cerebral palsy and she is also blind. Nichole evaluated her while the volunteers led and side-walked. It was a little difficult to evaluate her because she was very upset at having to wear a helmet. Her mother also was not helping the situation because she kept talking to her daughter while Nichole was trying to tell the side-walkers what to do with Annie. At one point, Nichole had to ask the mother, and the nurse who came with them, to stand back. It was understandable that they were concerned and were only trying to give words of encouragement to Annie. However, their involvement was interfering with the evaluation and neither Nichole, nor the side-walkers, could do their job. Once the mother and nurse backed away, we were able to complete the evaluation. It will be challenging to convince the mother that it is in her child’s best interest that she let the instructors teach Annie with minimal input.

4/27/01 standing in stirrups to lengthen heel cords Ezra, Nikki, and Aaron had riding lessons today. I led the horse during Ezra’s lesson and side-walked on the other two lessons. Nikki actually did very well with taking directions, which is very surprising for her. She has Attention Deficit Disorder and usually we have to physically direct her head towards us when we are talking to her. But, today we had very few problems with her. She turned when she was asked and even managed to maneuver through the maze without overstepping the set boundaries. Ezra and Aaron also had successful lessons. Ezra was charming as usual and Aaron showed a lot of potential. I had a great day overall…except for the heat. My pale skin can’t take it! Where’s the sunscreen??

Conclusion

The internship experience I had at Strides was more fun and interesting than I could have imagined. The instructors, Nora and Nichole, are not only highly trained and experienced, but they are also really great, down-to-earth people. I looked forward to going to the ranch because I knew that they would have smiles on their faces and would not laugh at my sometimes-stupid questions. I have learned so much from them about both horses and people alike. Their dedication to this important work is truly inspiring, especially since the only compensation they receive is the satisfaction that they are touching the lives of people in need in a positive and fulfilling way. The other interns and volunteers were also a joy to be around; they could always be counted on to laugh with (and occasionally at) me. J Having them around made the day fly by because we were constantly entertaining each other. And last, but certainly not least, the riders were always a pleasure. I felt bonded to many of them after seeing and helping them week after week. Their spirit and perseverance in the face of adversity is amazing in every sense of the word. Enchanting, captivating, and inspiring are words that only begin to describe the riders in this program.
I definitely plan to continue my relationship with Strides by volunteering. Although I have to work and won’t be able to visit the ranch as often as I did during my internship, I still plan to volunteer once a week. The work that goes on there is important and vital to the riders who participate. I don’t want to miss the progress that is always occurring at Strides…the meeting of goals and the fulfillment of dreams.

The End