"I love this job," says Beth Harre-Orr of Florida.
"The continuous progress that riders make, parents thinking their child
will never get on the horse, and they do and enjoy every bit of it. The interaction
that develops between families, volunteers and staff, the friendships, the
self-esteem that soars in riders."
Harre-Orr is the therapeutic riding program director at an equestrian center.
She started out as a recreational therapist with physically challenged children
and adults. When the parks and recreation department where she works expanded
to offer horseback riding, she helped open the facility.
After working with riders and horse professionals and attending training
events for 13 years, she now offers training sessions.
She has a hard time choosing a favorite experience from her work because
there are so many. But one involved a five-year-old autistic girl. "Her grandparents
brought her each week to ride. She had never initiated a conversation and
rarely even spoke," says Harre-Orr.
"One day after dismounting from her horse named Big Will, she walked up
to his front and patted him on the chest, kissed him and said, 'I'll see you
next week Will.' Her grandparents began to cry, as did the rest of us. This
incident broke the ice for her to start communicating."
This field relies heavily on volunteers. Brinna Ellis started when she
donated her pony and vowed to visit him regularly. "So I started to volunteer."
Then she started teaching. After only a few months, the job of head instructor
opened up and she was offered it. After that, she committed herself to learning
everything she could about the profession.
"We are the only center in Canada to have three riders on the national
long list team and to have two riders represent Canada at an international
competition," she says. "But I am just as proud of the small child who never
spoke and one day said 'walk on' to my pony."
Elizabeth Benjamen of Alabama finds her work very fulfilling,
but frustrating. She runs a therapeutic riding center and "would like to see
it as a totally functioning facility. I need more riders and volunteers. I
don't view it as a career. It's more of a calling."
Her experience mirrors that of many who run therapeutic riding centers.
Funding and volunteers are tough to come by and there are many administrative
responsibilities. Benjamen recommends that people start a second business
at home to supplement their income or find a career that will provide benefits.
"Horseback riding and being around horses is an age and health risk. I
have seen volunteers and instructors when financial woes enter the picture.
One has to have the basics at hand, and having job skills is imperative."
Ellis says that having a sense of humor and a positive attitude helps.
Then you can enjoy the satisfaction of witnessing "children develop good self-esteem,
independence, and master many new physical skills."