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To someone driving by the Tanglewood Farms on Cleveland School Road, the sight of a child on a horse probably wouldn’t seem all that unusual.
Owners Alice and Barry Tomlinson keep horses on the historic tract that dates back to 1853, and two others board their animals there. But the children who can be seen astride the animals in a special, fenced-off corral beside the farm’s ancient barn enjoy a special relationship with their mounts, and the adults holding the reins.
One of those boarders, Iowa native Stacey Ryder, is a former nurse who has found a way to combine her love of horses and care for her fellow man into a unique program she hopes will be therapeutic for both its recipients and its administrators.
Beginning Sept. 24, Ryder, along with
her husband, Paul, and three children, opened Reins from Above, a program that gives children and young adults with special needs a new avenue to improve their physical, mental and emotional well-being through interaction with horses.
“I’d been a nurse, then a stay-at-home mom when my kids were born,” Ryder said. “After we moved to North Carolina, I did medical dictation for a while. Then, about five years ago, I was hired here (at Tanglewood Farms) as a barn manager. I’ve had horses ever since I was a teenager, and this was a way to get back to doing that here.”
In December 2003, Ryder attended the Southern Horse Expo at the State Fairgrounds in Raleigh – where she heard, for the first time, about a unique program using her equine friends.
“There were flyers there about a place in Apex that offered therapy for special needs people through horse training,” Ryder recalled. “I’d never heard of that before, but the more I read and heard about it, the more I wanted to check into it.”
Ryder’s inquiries eventually led her to the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA), an organization based in Denver, Colo., which promotes equine-facilitated therapy and activity programs in the U.S. and Canada. There are currently 670 NARHA program centers throughout the two countries, including 28 in North Carolina. Once certified, Reins from Above will be the first in Johnston County.
Ryder approached the Tomlinsons with her idea of starting a therapeutic riding center at the Tanglewood Farms. “Barry said he’d been wanting to do something like that for a while, and was very supportive,” Ryder said. “I took all the classes for training from NARHA, and then I was certified at Horse & Buddy (the program in Apex).”
The program, which consists of 30-minute sessions over 10 weeks, gives participants the opportunity to learn the basics of Western riding.
The bigger benefit is the physical therapy obtained by the motion of the horse. “It’s as close to a human walk as you can get with an animal,” Ryder said. “When a child gets on a horse, he or she is basically walking without using the legs – they have to use the same muscles in their upper body and trunk to maintain the correct posture riding they would if they were walking themselves.”
Riding the horse gives those suffering from autism, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Down syndrome and other physical and mental disabilities stimulation and exercise they might not be able to achieve otherwise. Ryder said she has even worked with blind people who have improved their muscle tone and posture through the program.
“I’ve seen people who could barely hold their heads up straight in the beginning improve not only physically, but in their own self-confidence,” she said.
Ryder’s program is currently limited to walking horses around a corral, using poles and rings which the rider must drop around the poles to help increase their agility, balance and posture.
A leader, who holds the horse’s reins, and a sidewalker (or two, if needed) assist Ryder with each child. Those duties are handled by volunteers, including Ryder’s family, close friend Kathy Sims and her daughter and several recent additions Ryder picked up through sign-ups at her booth at Clayton’s Harvest Festival.
Though she has only picked up five pupils so far (through Sept. 24), Ryder is confident the interest will blossom – once word of her program gets out.
“The people we have all have said there’s nothing like this for special needs kids anywhere in the county,” she said. “I got a call from a teacher at East Clayton Elementary two weeks ago who said there are 35 kids there alone she’d like to get into the program. Eventually, I hope we can set up a partnership with area schools to offer this as a course.”
All money earned through the $40-per-lesson fee goes back into the non-profit program for horse care and facility maintenance and improvement, Ryder said. Costs for the program can be covered by medical insurance if a doctor prescribes it as part of ongoing therapy, she said.
Ryder is hoping to have Reins from Above certified by NARHA as a premier accredited center as soon as possible. She is also seeking any individual or corporate sponsors to help with the program’s financing and expansion.
For further information, call Reins from Above at 938-1556.
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