Kiwanis Equestrian Competition for Special Athletes

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Eleven Strides/Sinlimites riders took home colorful ribbons and tophies at the the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center on September 28, 2008, put on by the Kiwanis club as a benefit for therapeutic riding centers. Strides has participated in this show every year since our inception. Twelve of our riders signed up for the show. Unfortunately, Tess was ill and unable to participate. Participating were: Harrison Berlin, Katy Tennesen, Henry Chadavarian, Dina Dror, Melinda George, Kaarya Hammond, Emelia Mancia, Blake Mills, Devin Munoz, and Kyle Porkowsky.

We are proud of all of our riders, who took ribbons in Equitation (demonstration of basic riding skills at the walk, trot, halt, turns, and backing up), Trail (riding through an obstacle course to demonstrate control of the horse under trail riding conditions), and Futures (pre-dressage test,where riders follow a specific set of movements around the arena.)

We don't yet have the complete set of results, but we do have a slide show of the riders (see above). Congratulations to all of you! Our volunteers this year were the best we have ever had, and made the show go smoothly for us, and our horses, Beau, Chiquita, Padu, Mavica and Monoply, were great! Everyone had a wonderful time, and we are looking forward to doing it again next year.

8 Strides Riders Participate and Win at the annual CALNET Horse Show

This year 8 Strides riders were selected to participate in the annual CALNET Horse Show at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center on April 20, 2008. Ellen, an adult with quadruplegia, participated in Para Equestrian Dressage riding Padu and took 1st place! She also rode in the Obstacle Course and took 2nd place. Kaarya, who is 5 years old, rode in Pole Bending (a race) on Mimi and took 1st place as well, and in Obstacle Course she took 6th place. Chloe, who is 15 and one of our volunteers, rode in two Dressage Classes and took 1st place in both of them! It was Harrison's (10 years old) first time at the horse show. He took 2nd place in Dressage on Beau, and 2nd place in Obstacle Course. His sister, Elizabeth, who is 8, also showed for the first time. She took 4th place in Dressage on Mimi and 6th place in Obstacle Course. Barbara, an adult born without legs, showed for the first time after only taking 5 riding lessons and only 3 short lessons in Dressage. She took 3rd place in Dressage on Beau, 3rd place in Pole Bending on Mimi, and 3rd place in Obstacle Course on Beau. Laura, 15, rode Padu to a 3rd place in Obstacle Course and 6th in Pole Bending.

This was a very large horse show, bringing riders from all over California. Our riders, horses, and volunteers were amazing, and we are proud of them all.