Kathryn Wembacher’s passion for horses began when she was a young rider taking weekly lessons at a local hunter jumper barn, it was this passion and love for the equine industry that drove her to receive her Bachelor of Science Degree in Equine Industry and Management from the University of New Hampshire. In addition to riding hunters and jumpers, Kathryn has also competed in eventing, and was a member the Intercollegiate Dressage Team in college and placed fourth at nationals this past year. Before arriving at Twin Lakes Farm a few weeks ago Kathryn was a professional groom for Olympic silver medalist Kent Farrington where she prepared horses for daily competition and got to interact with the top competitors and horses in the show jumper…
I may come off bias on this topic because for all of my life I been surrounded by Horse racing because I have family and friends who are involved in the sports. So the article “I love animals how can I love horse racing, it requires denial” by Teresa Genaro explains the many things that this sport is doing to change it images and what they are doing to addressed trainer that give their horses enhancement drug and the treatment of injury horses. From my personal experience I see that some jockey have stop using whip on horses in California. For these problem to be solved Horse racing need more of a younger crowd to get into the sport so they can force…
Not Horse Play Although the world of horses is a very elaborate one, most people do not know the real cost and responsibility of owning a horse. Most horse breeds are bred for specific reason whether it be for beauty or brains. There really is no animal quite like the horse given how many different variations exist. In my hometown, I live in a community that has a large drive for tourism due to the horse race track located about ten minutes from my house.…
In this course my fellow classmates and I had to complete 6 hours of volunteering at a local area, whether it was at a nursing home, food bank, or helping at a local organization. I took the opportunity to volunteer at the Frederick 4H Therapeutic Riding Program. This program offers individuals with disabilities to ride a horse in order to build their social skills, build their motor skills, and give them confidence. This organization states, “Our Mission is to encourage and provide Frederick County, Maryland citizens with medically certified mental, physical and/or emotional disabilities with equestrian activities to learn basic horsemanship skills, improve physically with better muscle tone, balance and posture; and improve their emotional…
Harry Swimmer and the Mitey Riders Indoor and outdoor arenas, sprawling pastures, horse stalls, and friendly horses make up a stable in Waxhaw North Carolina. Owned by Harry Swimmer and his wife, Misty Meadows Mitey Riders offers equine-assisted therapy to children with special needs. The children ride horses, play games, and make friends, all while developing social, emotional, physical, and cognitive skills. He has been running this program for over 20 years with the aim of helping children. Harry Swimmer’s display of compassion, empowerment, persistence, self-sacrifice, and gift giving earns him the title of God-teacher.…
Barrel Racing in the Raw What would you do if you were told that the only activity that you truly love is cruel? In society today, barrel racers are being bashed for cruelty of their horses. I have been barrel racing for eight years now and I can confirm that the sport of barrel racing, if performed correctly, is not cruel to the animal in any way. However, it is quite the opposite. Riders take special care for their horses, it is difficult to cause a horse pain, and there are rarely any body functioning issues that caused by barrel racing that cannot be corrected.…
I worked at Ahead with Horses at Sullivan Canyon for my community service. Ahead With Horses is an organization that helps many different disabled people, mostly kids, to help them overcome some aspects of their disability. Ahead With Horses throws many different activities like fairs and parties that many of the clients attend. They have a “horse show” where the kids walk around on the horses and sit in different places on the saddle. Ahead with Horses goal is to help disabled, disadvantaged and special-needs children by providing developmental therapy, education and recreation through horseback riding.…
How to prepare for dirt bike riding When you go riding on a dirt bike anything can happen. So I’m going to tell you what to do, to prepare you and be safe too. And the reason why I’m telling you this because anything can happen with you on any motorized dirt bike so I’m here to you to get ready for that. Never ride a dirt bike without any gear on you because if you do you can get hurt really bad. Lets talk about gear when you ride you need gear to protect your self when something goes bad.…
Special needs children often must search for ways to cope with their disabilities. Doctors and many of their legal guardians understand this, yet they also believe that horseback riding can be a very effective and beneficial way for children with special needs to improve upon their physical, cognitive, sensory, and emotional skills. Therapeutic horseback riding usually consists of a very well trained instructor whom has both experience with both equines and children with disabilities, one or two handlers keeping the rider in place, and one person holding onto the horse. As riders progress, they may start to have less people with the horse, and more people watching from the side just in case.…
My own riding career thus far had been a roller coaster ride, tendency to second guess myself battled continually with my natural instincts. Over thinking things led me to over riding, and my mixed signals led my horse to produce ignorance. My consistence hesitation caused my horse and I to become mentally stuck. Each lesson was an interminable cycle of frustration, never reaching nirvana. Riding requires both horse and rider to become one.…
It is said to be tough to find an appropriate treatment for children with disabilities as they have, a myriad of treatment options. In this article, it is contended that therapeutic horseback riding teaches horsemanship skills such as holding a horse's reins appropriately, controlling the horse with voice commands, and other basic riding skills. The main goals of this kind of therapy include improving balance, posture, gross and fine motor skills, and communication. Yet, studies indicated horse therapy with children to be not effective. Therapeutic horseback riding does not meet the evidence based practice guidelines for improving…
I’d been interested in horsemanship for a long time, but I never had access to stables. So I was delighted to learn that Susan was an accomplished rider and that she could teach me how to ride. The first time I got on a horse, I felt dizzy. Sitting stiffly, I held too tightly to the horse because I was afraid of falling. Susan corrected my posture patiently and was encouraging throughout our lessons.…
Would you like to learn about barrel racing? So, barrel racing has no judges, which means it depends on time. Barrel racing is a graceful, and simplistic event when one woman goes around three barrels as quickly as possible in a clover leaf pattern. Ride quickly and win, hesitate and lose. The horse not only must be swift but it has to be intelligent enough to get around the barrel without tipping them.…
I’ve realized in my lifetime that saddling a horse that you are going to ride is not as natural of an act to other people as it is to me. Since the moment I had both the strength and height to lift my own tiny saddle up to the back of my animal, I was saddling by myself. These days in the time that I set aside to ride, I don’t even think about the act of saddling, I could almost finish the act blindfolded. In my realization that not all people know how to saddle a horse and if they have an idea it may not be the proper way, I decided to share my knowledge in this area with others.…
Throughout the horseback riding process the human body gains physical, mental, and emotional benefits, therefore, equestrian therapy and riding should be used more. Horseback riding provides people with physical benefits. “As you groom, clean stables, carry saddles, equipment or bales of hay you are also doing weight-bearing exercises that help maintain bone mass” (“Benefits of Horse Riding”). When a person is not…