Mane event: Donors ‘Pony Up’ for Special Equestrians

Guests at last Saturday evening’s Denim and Diamonds fundraiser at the Vero Beach Country Club were happy to “Pony Up” in support of Special Equestrians of the Treasure Coast, founded in 1992 to provide equine-assisted therapy and activities to improve the lives of individuals with special needs.

After perusing silent-auction items during a cocktail hour, guests were entertained by the award-winning line dancers Wild Roses, before enjoying a delicious and bountiful buffet, accompanied by music from talented singer-songwriter David Goodman.

Special Equestrians has just embarked on a $1 million capital campaign to secure 20 acres of land and build a handicap-accessible covered equestrian facility. SETC moved temporarily into a new barn after their previous location was sold, and now seek to build a permanent facility to expand their horse herd and serve more people.

“We currently have the capacity for 50 lessons a week. We’d love to be able to give one- or two-hundred lessons a week,” said Vicki Penly, SETC program director, adding that they are always looking for instructors and can help them become certified. “We have a waiting list right now of over 20 people who want to ride and we don’t have the spots for them to ride.”

The Sunday before this event, SETC was honored as the beneficiary of the Sunny Hale Tribute Women’s Championship Tournament Qualifier at Vero Beach Polo, featuring all-women polo teams. Hale, mentor to local player Tiffany Busch, passed away due to cancer in 2017 at age 48.

“Lindsay has been riding for about 10 years,” said Barbara Hires of her daughter, who is in the program. “She loves to ride and hang out with her friends while they are riding. It’s built up her strength and her confidence. Mostly, people tell her what to do; when she rides she gets to tell the horse what to do. When she doesn’t have lessons, Lindsay visits the horses and helps to clean out the stalls. She learns about grooming and horse care. She’s just like any other horse-mad little girl.”

SETC has already branched out to extend therapeutic programs to cancer patients through Ride Beyond Diagnosis, to Special Olympics riders and, thanks to a grant from Grand Harbor Outreach, to second-grade students at Dodgertown Elementary School. An expanded facility would enable SETC, a member of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International, to also offer equine therapy to veterans, individuals with mental health issues, and other support groups.

Guest speaker Stacey Klim shared that son Jackson, born with a rare brain malformation, began riding in Washington at age 3; they joined SETC after moving here three years ago.

“When Jackson started riding horses, he could only lie on his back; he couldn’t roll over, he couldn’t sit up,” said Klim, relating that when their therapist suggested therapeutic riding, they thought she had lost her mind.

Looking into it, she learned that horses are acutely tuned into human emotions and that their rhythmic movement helps strengthen balance, core strength and communication skills. On her birthday, a couple of months after he started riding, Jackson sat up for the very first time.

“That really changed his life and it changed our lives, because we could see his curiosity,” said Klim. Now almost 11, Jackson is still nonverbal and in a wheelchair but, thanks to the strengthening of his core muscles, he moves about very quickly on his knees.

“There’s a waiting list. Those kids, those students, need to be riding. Look at what it did for my son,” said Klim, urging support for the capital campaign. “Let’s get them their own home so that they can expand their program and more and more children will get the opportunity that my son had to ride a horse and make progress.”

On April 13, Charley Replogle will sponsor an Argentina Asada (BBQ) at Special Equestrians’ 74th Ave. Barn. For more information, visit specialequestrianstreasurecoast.org.

Photos by: Denise Ritchie
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