Working with horses is the best medicine around. It has been proven that horses really do help to soothe those who are anxious or stressed. Their heart can help to calm our heart rate and therefore calm us down and help us to relax. Those with disabilities and emotional problems find solace in the shadow of a horse and comfort in the saddle. There is nothing more satisfying than watching disabled children and adults open up when in the presence of a horse. This is what is clearly seen at Beekman Therapeutic Riding Center on a daily basis……

The Beekman Center has been around for over ten years. The manager of the program, Janet Gross, has been since the beginning and will be there until the end. She was a certified PATH instructor and knew how to do driving and Natural Horsemanship. With each horse that Beekman received Janet was the one to train it and prepare it for therapeutic riding. Beekman used to have over thirty horses that stayed on their forty acres, now they’ve got only eight horses and two ponies. The program has seen its Ups and it has seen its Downs too, but the program and its volunteers always seem to pull through.

Students at Beekman range in age from little babies to elderly adults. Some students are disabled and some students just want to know how to ride. The Beekman Riding Program corresponds and works with the Beekman schools, so a majority of our students are disabled people from the school, with a few outside riders. One of my favorite students is Michael, a 19 year old man who cannot vocalize. His ears are deformed, rendering him deaf as well, and he requires glasses to see. Michael rides our bay gelding, named Rufie, every Friday afternoon. While he may be deaf and mute, he is a very opinionated and sarcastic rider. He is very routine oriented and likes for everything to be a certain way.

Michael enjoys saddling his lesson horse after grooming him and also leading the horse after saddling. When impatient, Michael tends to brush rapidly and forcefully and when he leads he walks faster than the horse, constantly tugging on the rope to get Rufie to walk faster. When he has successfully groomed, saddled and lead Rufie around the arena, Michael is ready to ride. I lead the horse while the riding instructor, Brie, leads Michael onto our loading ramp. Michael is an easy student and loads onto the horse nicely. He can ride very well, needing little to no help at all. Because Michael cannot vocalize, he has to use sign language to communicate to us when he wants something. When Michael wants to get off he drops the reins ands waves his hands. If we do not get him down or encourage him to keep riding then Michael will just jump off the horse himself. When he feels we’re walking too slow or stopping too frequently he will tap our shoulders and wave his reins at us. Michael is full of sass and sarcasm and is an excellent example that disabled people are still people like you and me. Disabilities don’t take away from the value of a person, no matter what society says.

Kylie Hawkins is another one of our disabled students. She is seventeen and, like Michael, cannot vocalize. She has a problem with keeping her hands apart and has a crooked gait. Her nickname is Smiley Kylie since she always has a smile on her face. Kylie rides our mare and gelding, Lola and Rufie, and is also full of spunk and laughter. My favorite lesson with Kylie was when I led her by myself. She sat perfectly balanced in the saddle, hands apart and on the reins most of the ride. We were walking behind Brie and another student when suddenly Kylie starts laughing. Something ahead of us had amused her, and now she sat in the saddle, a huge smile on her face, laughing hysterically. When we got to the arena Kylie frowned and pursed her lips. I asked her where her smile had gone and suddenly it appeared, shining like the sun.

Our herd includes Lola, a bay quarter horse mare; Rufie, a bay POA Quarter Horse cross; Money, a black and white Paint; Colby, a twenty-four year old Norwegian Fjord; Oulav, a nineteen year old Norwegian Fjord, Colby's brother; Cruiser, a fourteen year old palomino Halflinger cross; Sandman, a 16+hh quarter horse gelding; Sully, a chestnut quarter horse gelding,out of Sullivan's Quarter Horses in Ohio; Flash, a half linger gelding and Rascal a Welsh cross gelding. Most if not all of these horses have resided at Beekman for a looong time. Beekman runs off if donations and generosity of the community. Our horses aren't perfect, but they're ours and they do a great job bringing smiles to everyone's face.

The Beekman program struggles with income as they are a non-profit organization. Not many people commit to volunteering there which makes the work load harder and heavier. Like most barns, there needs to be a feeder, cleaner and groomer for the horses. I clean and feed every week and groom the horses whenever I have the time. Nancy is the head feeder and cleaner and delegates all the responsibilities in those areas to those who are willing. Janet manages the entire riding program and Donna is our secretary. Along with me, other volunteers include Christine, Alexandria and Chloe. Brie is the riding instructor who teaches every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. All of us try to come together as a team and take care of Beekman.

Beekman practices Natural Horsemanship with all their horses and riders. The horses have a basic understanding of this training and respond very well to it. We use the horses for trail rides and indoor lessons and demonstrations. Every year in the fall, winter, spring and summer Beekman throws an open house. The horses are used fol rides during then and also brought up for everyone to meet.

There is never a dull day at Beekman. If the deer don’t pop up on trails then they’ll run with you in the pasture. It’s never unusual for random people to stop by for visitation or forgotten lessons. I greatly look forward to going to Beekman and meeting new students or seeing old faces.

It brings just as much joy to our hearts as it does to theirs to see them in the saddle……its just as much therapy for them as it is for us..........

Have a happy ride~