Strides Executive Director Honored as a Judge at the Venezuelan International Paralympic Horse Show

Strides' Executive Director, Nora Fischbach, was invited Venezuela to judge at the International Paralympics and Special Olympics Horse Show in January, 2008. The show was divided into two parts, Special Olympics in the mornings and Para Equestrian in the afternoons. Special Olympics is specifically for riders with mental delays, while Para Equestrian riders must have a physical disability. The three day show took place in the city of Valencia in Venezuela. Nora was housed at the Olympic Village along with the disabled athletes participating in the show and their trainers.

Three countries participated in the show, bringing athletes from Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela. Although the United States was not represented in the show, the American flag was displayed along with the others to honor the judge from the USA. Riders were not allowed to bring their own horses, but were required to ride the horses provided by the hosting therapeutic riding center and surrounding equestrian facilities. This provided a level playing field for all riders, as they had equal access to the same quality of horses. The riders and their trainers chose the appropriate horses in advance of the show, and riders had 2 days to practice on those horses before the actual horse show began.

"It was amazing to see the courage these riders displayed", said Nora. "It's scary to ride any horse you don't know, but to see these riders with disabilities ride a horse they don't know in a horse show, in a strange arena and in a strange country is really awe-inspiring!"

Strides Has a New Home!

Strides will be moving to a new location by the end of this year, and thanks to a wonderful article in the Daily News and a spot on KFWB radio, we were able to find a great new home in Granada Hills, only a few minutes from where we are now. It's hard to leave the only home we have ever known, but there are definite advantages to our new location:

**We will have a huge sand arena without any trees in the way (but there is shade). See the photo above.

**We will have REAL trails! Trail rides for everyone!

**There is a REAL bathroom...flush toilet and sink.

**No more mud. The entrance is flat, you can drive right up to the arena and mounting block (only those people in wheelchairs or with dificulty walking, please), and the footing in the stalls is excellent. Every horse will have a huge stall with lots of room.
** The location is only a few blocks from the 118 freeway at the Reseda exit, so getting there is really easy.

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We will begin moving on Saturday afternoon, December 22, after our classes are finished at noon. We need all the help we can get. We estimate it will take us a week or two to move everything, so whatever help you can give, on whatever days, we need it. There are no classes the week of December 24 to January 1, so we will have the time to make the move. If you can give any time that week, please let us know by e-mailing Nora at nora@strides.org, or call (818)571-0048.

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Our new location is 11582 Longacre Ave., Granada Hills. Our landlords are Diana and Frank Vigil. They are wonderful people who have a disabled adult daughter who lives in a group home now. We want to thank them for this great opportunity. Our thanks also to some special people who made this possible, including: Alan Pollack, who pestered the Daily News to write this article, Sindee Simolovitch and Jeri Creston who worked very hard to help us negotiate on the Chatsworth property (even though we didn't get it), Julie Neumann, Cheryl Carr, Michelle Garza and Lydia Lercari who all drove around trying to find us a new home, and all the volunteers and parents who helped us during this transition time. We appreciate all of you more than we can say.

Healing Touch for Animals Workshop

On April 1, 2007, Strides hosted at Healing Touch for Animals workshop at our ranch, focusing on using Healing Touch for horses. Eleven students attended the Level 1 workshop, where they practiced techniques they has learned the previous 2 days. As best I can understand it (not having taken the course), the technique is a transfer of energy to the horse from the practicioner along areas long identified by Chinese and other Asian cultures points which can become blocked and interfere with healing. The idea is to unblock these areas so that healing can occur.

We chose Sable, Chiquita, Bubba, Cuervo, Mimi, Teller, and Zane to receive treatment during the workshop. All these horses have some lameness or stiffness except for Mimi, who was chosen because we hoped it would relax her. The students used a variety of techniques, which you can see in the photos above. As an uninitiated observer, what I saw was that the students unfailingly identified where the problems areas were, and that our horses were extemely relaxed by the end of the session, almost to the point of falling asleep. For example, Sable does not like to stand still and is very "mouthy". She was totally quiet and relaxed and stood for over an hour quietly once the treatment began. She rested her head on the shoulder of her horse leader and all but fell asleep.

It was difficult to tell if the session did much more than relax the horses, as it was only one treatment and most of the students were novices. Sable, however, showed considerably more strength and stability in his hind end the following days. I believe this was as a result of a combination of the Healing Touch treatment and the treatments he as been receiving from a former volunteer, Sha'Ron Kleinbeck, who has been doing light therapy on him, which also focuses on moving energy.

One of the students in the class has offered to come back and do additional Healing Touch therapy for our horses, and we look forward to seeing the results.

A visit from our English rider, Pat Blackledge

Once a year we are fortunate to have a visit from a disabled rider from England. She comes for one lesson only, and it always makes our day. This year, we challenged her more than usual, and she wrote the following e-mail to us after her lesson:

Hi Nora,

I just wanted to thank you and all the volunteers for what I think was probably my best ever lesson yesterday. I felt I had so much confidence in the whole team that I could tackle anything you asked.

It would really be unfair to compare that with a typical lesson back home because there I'm in a class of about five riders and we don't have enough volunteers to give each rider such individual help and attention. Even if I could afford a private lesson every week, our structure is such (We hire the use of the arena and horses at certain times) that the volunteers wouldn't be available. Plus, I'd guess Chiquita is special even by Strides standards. Crispin, who I usually ride, is used by our good dressage riders in competitons but even he can sometimes be hard to get into a good, active walk. Chiquita seems to do it naturally. And when I tell them I only had to say 'Trot' and she did it immediately - I'll be the envy of the group. Maybe I should just move to California and ride regularly with you!

I've had no physical repercussions from trotting. The reins, while being great for my left hand, probably weren't good for my right and I've had a very sore wrist since last evening. I could tell it was doing some damage during the ride but was enjoying myself so much I ddn't want to change anything. I still wouldn't. It was well worth it.

Thanks too for letting me ride despite our getting hopelessly lost and arriving late. I'd actually given up all hope of a lesson and only really turned up to explain and apologise.

You've made me realise that I'm capable of quite a lot more than I'm currently achieving. I'll see what I can do about that and hope to report back to you next year! Best wishes to all the team,

Pat

Strides Riders at Pierce College Horse Show

Four Strides riders, Hannah Lerner, Clea Lerner, Jessica Bibb and Jordan Spiva, competed in an able-bodied horse show this past weekend at Pierce College. Unlike disabled shows, where riders are competing on schooling horses like ours, at an able-bodied show our riders are competing against riders who are often riding $20,000 horses and wearing expensive riding gear. Also, unlike disabled shows, the classes are larger and not everyone wins a ribbon. Despite this "handicap", our riders did exceptionally well. Check out their ribbons in the slide show above.

A visit from a Gypsy Vanner horse

For the week of March 19, we will be hosting Braveheart, a 3 year old Gypsy Vanner horse, at our ranch. Braveheart is a beautiful gelding, about 15.3 hands high, with brown and white paint markings. He's here to see how he reacts to our riders and how our riders react to him. We are also selling raffle tickets for $10 each to win a 3 year old Gypsy Vanner gelding (in the photo above), to support the American Gypsy Horse Association's Angel Babies program. They will be donating Gypsy horses to therapeutic riding programs. If you have always dreamed of owning your own horse, this is your chance to try to make that dream come true. Ask Nora, Nichole or Michelle at the ranch for raffle tickets, or go to www.aghba.com to purchase tickets online.

2007 Calendar

March/2007

1 - Applications for Spring Quarter go out
Week of 11-17 - Riding Evaluations
Week of 18-24 - Evaluations continued if necessary
Week of 25-31 - Strides Closed for Quarter Break
24 -Last Day to pay for new quarter without penalty

Riders: Please try to attend the two weeks of evaluations. These allow us to plan your goals for next quarter

April /2007
3 - First day of Spring Quarter (Late fee of $25 applies as of this date if you have not paid for this quarter)
20, 21, 22- CalNet Horse Show


May/2007
6 - Mother's Day (Almost) Horse Show at our ranch.
26 - Closed for Memorial Day Weekend

June/2007

Week of 24-30 - Closed for Quarter Break

July/2007

3 - Summer Quarter Begins
4 - Closed for Independence Day
Strides Summer Camp - dates to be determined

August/2007

31 to Sept 1- Closed for Labor Day Weekend

September/2007

Week of 24-30 - Closed for Quarter Break
30- Kiwanis Club Horse Show

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