FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES NOVEMBER 2013 87
SaddleUp! student Terry Chase leads Slick to the indoor for her
therapeutic riding lesson.
Photo by Nicole Lenzen
The SaddleUp! Foundation
programs provide therapy
for mentally, emotionally and
physically challenged children
and adults.
The boys ride at the same time, which helps Jennifer’s already
hectic daily schedule. She is the mother of two active boys, one
with special needs, and works a full-time job. She drives 45
minutes one way, once a week to the new ranch. “SaddleUp! has
been amazing in getting Tanner’s able-bodied lesson scheduled
at the same time as Carson’s,” said Jennifer. “This is a big deal.”
The Clines had been on a waiting list for six months. As of
September, there were 100 families on the SaddleUp! waiting list.
The new, bigger facility has 26 horses, but the demand is greater
than the availability of staff and available time slots. Expansion
takes time, especially for the equine facilitated therapies, which
require experienced sidewalkers and volunteers in various
capacities.
“The number-one reason why we stayed with the riding therapy
for Carson is that over time it has helped him to develop excellent
core strength and his hip alignment has maintained its base line,”
explained Jennifer. “To the naked eye, you just see your child
riding the horses. Some parents want to see a miraculous change
and that isn’t the way it works. I don’t think most parents realize
what the riding is doing. Carson has excellent posture, because
he is stronger through his core and all areas of his trunk. The
rehab doctors were really impressed – we take Carson for x-rays
twice a year – they wanted to know what we were doing. We told
them SaddleUp!”
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