If you ever find yourself doubting the value of your
family’s involvement with horses, you might want to go spend a little time
with a therapeutic riding center near you.
In fact, I’m going to recommend that you do something that I need to
do: volunteer a little time helping out
as a side walker or some other role at the center.
I recently had the honor of meeting Molly Sweeney, the 2011
recipient of the USEF/EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award. Wow, what a lady! All of us rightly believe our grandmother is
the best grandmother in the world. Let
me just tell you, Molly’s grandkids really have something to crow about.
Molly has devoted a good portion of her life to helping
build and sustain SIRE, Houston’sTherapeutic Equestrian Centers. Beyond
that, she has been active with PATH International, the national accrediting
organization for therapeutic riding centers.
And she is a founder and board member of the Horses & Humans Research Foundation. The goal of that
organization is to advance research into the broad beneficial effects of
equine-assisted activities and therapies.
We’re talking wounded warriors. Folks young and not-so-young with learning
disabilities. People diagnosed with autism,
Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, stroke, spinal cord injury, and much more.
Molly, who credits her horse granddad with influencing her passion, has done all sorts of riding – for competition
and for pleasure – all over the world.
She is about as deserving an award recipient as I can imagine.
If your family is being enriched by its involvement with
horses, figuring out a way to support your nearby therapeutic riding center
might be a good way to express a little appreciation for that blessing. Just a thought.
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