Strides Rider in the Rose Parade

We hope you all had a very happy holiday and a great New Year. We were delighted on New Years Day to see our own rider, Cole Massey, riding atop the Ronald McDonald House Charities float in this year's Rose Parade. If you look at the photo above, you will see Cole in the place of honor, riding with Ronald McDonald himself! And that black spot below their feet is Cole's service dog, who also went along for the ride. Congratulations, Cole, on receiving this wonderful honor.

A New Generation of Giving

We have gotten some amazing donations over the years, but the generosity of this 10 year old just blew us away. The following is an article published in the Malibu Times about this wonderful donation:

"Malibu's Ede Bell Crowder may be a smallish 10 year old, but she's a giant when it comes to charity. For her tenth birthday, Ede, who is an ardent equestrienne, asked her friends for a special favor. Instad of birthday presents, Ede, whose generosity stretches far beyond her tender years, asked for donations to Strides Therapeutic Riding Centers, Inc. With this selfless gesture, this young titan raised over five hundred dollars.

"Strides became Ede's favorite when she saw how riding horses helped the youngsters enrolled in this amazing program. Strides, located in Northridge, is a non-profit service that puts youngsters on horses as therapy for physical, mental, emotional, social as well as economical disadvantages. The children who ride at Strides are from all walks of live and from every ethnic background. This positive environment has magical results and for Ede to recognize this, at such an early age, is a wonderful harbinger of our upcoming generations.

If Ede is any example, we don't have to worry about America. It's in good hands!"
-Harry F. Flynn, Malibu Times

13th Annual Tri Valley Horse Show

Strides attended, for the 6th time, the 13th Annual Tri Valley Special Olympics Horse Show on September 17, 2006. It was a glorious day, and our riders performed just as gloriously. We had a wonderful time at the horse show. Our riders were outstanding! Here are the results:

English Equitation:
Cole Massie 1st place
Trey Spiva 2nd place
Katy Tennesen 1st place
Laura Bibb 1st place
Ellen Stohl 2nd place
Sam Vincent 1st place
Ari Seid 2nd place

How's that for a winning team?

Trail (We call it Obstacle Course):
Cole Massie 2nd place
Ari Seid 2nd place
Trey Spiva 2nd place
Katy Tennesen 1st place
Laura Bibb 4th place (Laura was accidently placed in a higher class,so this was actually a pretty good score)
Ellen Stohl 3rd place
Sam Vincent 3rd place

We want to point out some awesome things our riders did. Trey, who had a "meltdown" last year, was mature and self-possessed this year. Sam had to ride a horse he had only ridden once before, and handled it beautifully, even though a cheerleading team was practicing throwing people in the air right next to the arena, spooking his horse. Cole sat a "bucking bronco" when Chiquita decided she was freaked out at something or other. Instead of getting scared, he was laughing all the way. Laura sat a really bad spook like she was glued to the saddle, earning applause from the audience. Way to go,Laura! The judge pointed out to me how much both Ellen and Katy had improved since last year (Katy took 2 1st place ribbons this year!). He was very impressed.

Our thanks to our wonderful team of volunteers. Our team leaders did an exceptional job, and the sidewalkers were on the ball for all the spooks we had to deal with. They made sure no one even came close to falling. Carol Shibel deserves extra credit for getting our horses tacked up and ready on time for every class. We were the most organized we have ever been, and I have to give the parents part of the credit for that, as they followed directions to a T. And let's not forget our very special horses, Sable, Patch, Chiquita and Teller.

To view the album of photos from the show, click on the link below, or copy and paste it into your browser:

http://picasaweb.google.com/noraatstrides

Strides Riders Winning at CalNet Show

Two Strides riders competed at the CalNet Horse Show this year, Ellen Stohl and Sam Vincent. CalNet hosts an annual show at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center for NARHA centers in California and Nevada. This is the first year that Strides has participated, but it won't be our last. It was a well-run show, and our riders thoroughly enjoyed their participation.

We want to congratulate Sam Vincent for earning a 2nd place in Obstacle Course, Advanced Trot level, and a 1st place in Pole Bending, Advanced Trot. In addition, Sam competed against able-bodied riders in the USDF Dressage Intro Test A, taking a 2nd place! We are proud of Sam, who was awarded an enormous ribbon as High Point Champion for his level!!

We also want to congratulate Ellen Stohl for earning a 3rd place in Obstacle Course, Walk, and a 2nd place in Pole Bending, Walk. Ellen also competed against able-bodied riders in the IPEC Dressage Test Grade 1, earning 6th place. This was Ellen's first attempt at dressage in a show, and Sam's as well.

Finally, a huge thank-you to trainers Nichole Simpson and Nora Fischbach, and volunteers Tony King and Hannah Klein, for spending their Mother's day working hard for our riders at this show.

A Very Special Ranch Clean-up Day!

It was an amazing day at the ranch as hordes of college students from the National Society of Collegiate Scholars (NSCS) exited their buses and set to work helping to make our ranch beautiful. These are no ordinary college students, but the best of the best, coming to us from colleges in several states.

Upon their arrival, we treated them to a demonstration of how our therapy works, with Cole (a rider with spastic Cerebral Palsy) showing off his riding skills, and his mother explaining how much improvement he has made in a very short time. Cole and his dog stayed on to entertain the NSCS students while they worked.

After the demonstration (which was given HUGE applause), the students divided into work teams. One team cleaned out our therapy room and got it ready for use. Another team pulled weeds in the arenas. Still another team cut the low branches on the trees around the ranch, so we can ride under them. There was a team to clean out and organize the tack room, and one that did an amazing job in turning our cluttered tool room into an unbelievably organized space. They even put up a flag holder on the outside of the office. They brought their own water and treats, and then thanked US for the opportunity to help!

The day passed all too quickly, and we were sorry to see these wonderful students leave. They have promised to come back again, and we hope that next time they are able to see more of what we do. They have inspired us, and we hope we inspired them as well. They certainly left us with a much more beautiful ranch. Thank you, to all the wonderful NSCS students from all our wonderful Strides students, volunteers and staff.

Strides Calendar for 2006

Time to mark your calendars for upcoming events for this year:

January 3, 2006 1st quarter 2006 begins

March 1, 2006 Applications go out for 2nd Quarter, and are due by March 31.

March 25, 2006 Last day of first quarter.

March 26 to April 3 Quarter Break - no classes this week

April 4 2nd Quarter 2006 begins

June 18 Father's Day Horse Show

June 24 Last day of second quarter

June 25 to July 4 Quarter Break - no classes this week

Passing of Calvin, the "Good Horse"

We sadly had to experience the passing of the beautiful appoloosa gelding, Calvin, on Monday of this week. Calvin has been at our ranch for about a year and a half, retiring at a very young age due to "Moon Blindness", a common form of blindness in appoloosas. Calvin's owner, Lis Sadler, started a horse treats business called "Calvin's Cookies" before he came to us, and she donated enough cookies to keep our horses happy all the time. On the label of the cookies, she told the story of the "good horse" who changed her life. Lis has asked that I post the following letter from her:


Dearest Friends:

Thank you so much for your kind words and the outpouring of love.

So many people loved Calvin also known as as the "Therapy Horse, Cookie Horse, Designer Horse, and the Spa Horse.

Jesse and I have decided to set up a memorial for Calvin at the Strides Ranch where he was retired July 2004. He loved so much "just being a horse" with the other horses (free and running) for this past year and a half.

Strides Ranch offers riding lessons to the handicapped (children and adults), and provides a "Heaven on Earth" home for rescue horses as well as a well-deserved retirement for older equines.

We feel this is a way to keep Calvin's spirit alive and helping others as he would have wanted.Please donate generously to the community at Strides Ranch that does so much good and that Calvin loved so much:

Calvin "Remains A Cowboy" Memorial
Strides Therapeutic Riding Centers (a 501(c)(3)non-profit)
P. O. Box 572455
Tarzana CA 91357-2455
Tel 818-341-4737

With Love,

Lis, Jesse, TinkerBelle, & Spanky

Horse Show Results and Photos

Here are the outstanding results from our riders at the Kiwanis Club Invitational Horse Show:

Ari S: English Equitation level C1: 3rd place
Trail Course level C1: 4th place
Polebending level C1: 1st place!!!
(This was Ari's first horse show)

Melinda G: English Equitation level C2: 3rd place
Trail Course level C2: 2nd place
(This was also Melinda's first time at the show)

Trey S: English Equitation level C2: 6th place
Trail Course level C2: 4th place
(Trey's first time at the show as well)

Katy T: English Equitation level C2: 5th place
Trail Course level C2: 2nd place
Polebending level C2: 2nd place

Luca A: English Equitation Level B1: 6th place
Trail Course Level B1: 2nd place
Polebending Level B1: 1st place!!!
(Luca is a new rider with our program, and this is his first show)

Sam V: English Equitation level B1: 2nd place
Trail Course level B1: 2nd place
Polebending level B1: 1st place!!!

Grace H: English Equitation level B2: 5th place
Trail Course level B2: 4th place

Ellen S: English Equitation level B2: 2nd place
Trail Course level B2: 1st place!!!
Polebending level B2: 2nd place
(This was Ellen's first time at this show)

Clea L: English Equitation level A: 3rd place
Trail Course level A: 3rd place

Hannah L: English Equitation level A: 4th place
Trail Course level A: 1st place!!!

Our horses this year were Chiquita, Teller, Bubba and Padu. This was not only the first time for 5 of our 10 riders, but it was the first time for 3 of our 4 horses. We are very proud of how well they all did. And, of course, thanks to our amazing volunteers, who made this all possible.

Our photos from the Kiwanis Horseshow are online at
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=19csa8uh.96w1z69h&x=0&y=v2w0ux

George Thomas, Instructor of the Year!

The Kiwanis Club Invitational Horse Show is over, and our riders did an outstanding job. The Horse Show results will be posted shortly. Meanwhile, we wanted to announce that our own George Thomas was voted Instructor of the Year at the Horse Show and was given a lovely award. Our riders helped us to write the nomination by telling us what they liked best about George and why he was so special. They praised him for his patience, creativity, ability to make lessons fun, helping riders to get over their fears, love of horses, riding and his riders, and making lessons so great that his riders look forward to coming and talk about their lessons all week. We also praised him for his willingness to do everything to help Strides, from driving the tractor, fixing fences, and scooping poop to serving on the Board of Directors and helping with fundraising. The President of the Kiwanis Club came over to us afterwards and told us that we were very lucky to have such a special volunteer. Like we didn't already know that!!!! Congratulations, George, on this well-deserved honor.

Kiwanis Club Invitational Horse Show

We are proud to announce our entries for the Kiwanis Club Invitational Horse Show on October 2, 2005 (formerly the Pegasus Creek Inviational Horse Show). Each year we choose the riders who have made the most improvement in the year to represent Strides at the show. They are as follows:

• Melinda G, level C2
• Trey S, level C2
• Katy T, level C2 (moved up from S2 last year!)
• Ari S, level C1
• Laura B, level B2
• Grace H, level B2
• Ellen S, level B2 (moved up from C2 last year!)
• Luca A, level B1
• Sam V, level B1
• Nicole W, level B1
• Clea L, level A
• Hannah L, level A

We will be announcing their scores after the show, so tune in then.

Note: We still need volunteers to help with the show on Sunday October 2. Please call us at 818 341-4737 if you would like to help.