BOK Ranch: A Hopeful Place
Written and Designed By Emily Andreas
Acknowledgements I would like to thank Freestyle Academy for giving me the resources to make this book, as well as BOK Ranch, Shannon Hill, Tish Dipman, and Amelia Kusar for allowing me to interview them and take photos of the ranch for this product. I would also like to thank Bella Roo, who was an excellent model.
Table of Contents Preface....................................Page 7 Introduction..............................Page 9 Chapter 1: What Is BOK All About?.....Page 11 Chapter 2: What Do Riders Learn From BOK?......................................... Page
14 Chapter 3: Why Is BOK Important?.....Page 20 Conclusion.............................. Page 23 Works Cited............................. Page 29
Preface I chose BOK Ranch for this project because I volunteer there and I thought it would be a good location and environment to document. I have been working at BOK for quite a while now, and I thought people would benefit from learning about this type of recreation in the community. While making this book, I had some challenges getting the pictures just right, because horses do NOT like to stay still for the camera. Through several photo shoots and hundreds of shots taken, I was able to get some perfect photos. I hope that you get a sense of hope or goodness from reading this book, because it is definitely a place to be hopeful about.
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Introduction You are standing on a green, grassy hill with the breeze flowing through the air. Horses are neighing in the background, but it is peaceful. You walk back to the path you were on and come to a barn. Looking up at the sign, it reads: BOK Ranch. You look around and see kids on horses with volunteers walking beside them and wonder what this place is. You have just wandered into the wonderful domain of BOK Ranch! This therapeutic horseback riding facility serves people with special needs, whether it be physical, emotional, or mental. The ranch was founded in 1984 by the Kulchin family, who had a history of working in 4-H programs. At BOK, we help people with all kinds of disabilities and hone the skills that they do have. We work on communication skills and try to broaden their knowledge of horses and how to interact with them. Shannon Hill, one of the instructors at BOK, says, “I think we’re important because… we aren’t just a typical horseback riding program where you show up and have a lesson and then you get drilled on how to ride horses and then you go home, and the next week you get drilled again; but you come, and if you’re the rider then you are greeted by the whole volunteer staff, and then you get to see your friends and we encourage that socialization.” BOK has a very friendly environment, and we try to make everyone, the riders and parents, as well as volunteers, feel included and welcome.
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Chapter One: What is BOK Ranch All About?
lot goes into a day at BOK. The volunteers and instructor get to the ranch at 8:30 am on the weekends (or 2:30pm on weekdays) and get the horses ready for the first lesson. The instructor writes down which rider will go on what horse and what tack they need - tack is the
saddle and headstall and such. Then the volunteers groom each horse and get them tacked up for the riders. “We try to focus on not only teaching them horseback riding skills to the best of their ability but also on the social aspects. So we want them to interact with their classmates, or,
more often, with their volunteers because they’re walking right next to the horses. Basically, we just want them to have a good time, to enjoy being outdoors, to get some exercise, to be around the animals, and the great volunteers and just feel supported and encouraged. So they’re out here to learn to ride, but also a lot more social skills, interactions,” says Sunday instructor Shannon Hill. Volunteers do a lot of work as well as the instructors. Every day they help with the horses, riders, and making sure that the day runs as smoothly as it possibly can. One volunteer, Amelia Kusar, reflects on how much work goes into a day at BOK. “I al11
ways feel tired, as I think we all do because we all have to get here at 8:30 in the morning and it’s certainly a long day and I think it’s physical but it’s also, I think, very mentally and emotionally trying for the volunteers. Not in a negative way, but it’s, y’know, it’s definitely work.” From personal experience, I know that what Amelia says is completely true. Working as a volunteer at BOK is very mentally tiring, because you have to work with kids who may not necessarily be able to communicate in ways that you can understand. But it is very rewarding, nonetheless. Shannon Hill describes it as magic. “You can’t really scientifically explain the connection that this kid, who 12
might not have any words, has with their horse, or with their volunteers. And the way that they figure out how to communicate with their horse, and the horse responds, and then they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, this huge animal is listening to me!’ And the volunteers figure out a way, even
if the kids can’t say words in a traditional way, they figure out what they mean when they want to do something or when they want the horse to stop. And so, I just go home in awe of like ‘Wow, that’s like magic.’”
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Chapter 2: What Do Riders Learn From BOK?
t BOK, we try to focus the riders on learning new ways to communicate, whether it be physical or verbal. While the kids are on their horses, they have this new ability to control something; it might be the first time in their life where they can actually control an animal to their liking. They are able to stop the horse, make it walk, trot, and turn. This gives the riders a sense of nobility and power. When the riders have their lesson, they are greeted by our volunteer staff and either are taken to their horse or their horse comes out to meet them. It’s great to see the smiles on their faces once they see 14
their horse. They get their helmet on, go up to the mounting block, and their horse is taken around to the shoot where the rider can get on. It’s amazing to see how excited the riders get when they see their horse coming up to let them ride. “It’s inspiring and I feel refreshed and like I’ve done something good, so it’s always a really good feeling after I leave,” says Amelia Kusar. It’s amazing to see what the riders can do, and I know that from personal experience. “I just go home thinking about each of the highlights that the riders achieved that day,” as Shannon explains about the riders.
“Whether it be doing their trot independently or sitting on their horse on their own on the whole trail.” It is very rewarding being able to work with all of these amazing kids and being able to see them grow. They’re all so inspirational to me because they defy the stereotype of their disability, they go beyond what anyone expects of them, and they really reach for the sky when they’re on their horse.
Chapter 3: Why Is BOK Important? B
OK Ranch is very important to the community around it, because these riders need a place they can feel comfortable and included. Shannon Hill recalls,“...they’re with people who support them and I think BOK is important because we treat every person as a person. Often these kids are treated, I think, much more as like a label of their diagnosis. And so here, half the time the people that are working with them don’t even know what that so-called label is. They just
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treat them as a kid here to ride. So I think that’s what makes our program so unique. It gives the kids a chance just to be a kid and be supported.” Our program helps people with any type of disability, ranging from anxiety to autism and down syndrome. From experience, I know that BOK is important to a lot of people, not just the riders. It is also helpful to the parents and friends, because they learn new things about their child’s/friend’s
disability and how to cope with them and be able to understand them more. Being able to see the parents and kids react with each other after the lesson is great. They are both just so happy and the rider talks about the lesson they had and what they did. “I just feel like it’s such a great honor to be able to connect the horses and the kids and the volunteers and then just watch them for an hour,” Shannon Hill says. “And then I get to do it again, and again, and again. So, yeah I
think it’s a really unique program and I love coming out here every weekend and working even though it’s not like a job, it’s like a passion and so I really enjoy it.” Tish Dipman, the executive director of BOK Ranch, says, “I think it’s important that recreation is available to everyone in the community, not just able-bodied
peers, but people with additional needs as well. And BOK is a recreationally based program. It is not therapy, we do not provide therapy, the instructors here are not therapists. So it is our vision and our goal to make recreation accessible to everyone. There isn’t a ton of opportunities, there are other opportunities for peo-
ple with disabilities to experience recreation, but we’re just one of them. So that’s what’s important to us.”
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Conclusion Look around you at the rolling grass hills and the horses standing in the pastures. This is BOK Ranch, and gazing at the corral with the lesson, you know it is a hopeful place. I had a lot of fun making this book and being able to take part in BOK’s wonderful program. I hope more people start volunteering and helping out there, because it is truly an amazing place. I think that people really get to learn more about themselves, as well as the people they work with at BOK. People need to realize that we are all equals, and that while helping those with special needs, you are also helping yourself be more accepting and more educated on what is going on in the world. We need to have this discussion now because not many people know about those with special needs, or, at least, they don’t know much about what they are going through. BOK is a hopeful, encouraging place, and everyone who participates benefits from being there. 23
“...we treat every person as a person.� -Shannon Hill
“I think it’s important that recreation is available to everyone in the community, not just ablebodied peers, but people with additional needs as well.” -Tish Dipman
“It’s inspiring and I feel refreshed and like I’ve done something good, so it’s always a really good feeling after I leave.” -Amelia Kusar
Works Cited “BOK Ranch Programs For Kids With Special Needs”. BOK Ranch. n.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 3, 2015. Dipman, Tish. Personal interview. 12 March 2015. “Equine Therapy For Special Needs”. Equestrian Therapy. n.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 8, 2015. “Equestrian Therapy - Horse Therapy For Special Needs”. Equestrian Therapy. n.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 8, 2015. Hill, Shannon. Personal interview. 8 February 2015. Kusar, Amelia. Personal interview. 8 February 2015. “The History of BOK Ranch”. BOK Ranch. n.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 3, 2015. “The Horses of BOK Ranch”. BOK Ranch. n.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 3, 2015. “Types of Equine Therapy”. Equestrian Therapy. n.p., n.d. Web. Feb. 8, 2015.
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Emily Andreas is a Junior attending Mountain View High School and Freestyle Academy. She is from Redwood City, California, and currently lives in Los Altos, California with her parents, twin brother, younger sister, and two dogs. She has a passion for music, longboarding, and many different forms of art. Emily participates in water polo and plays as a goalkeeper. In the future, she wants to become a recording artist or music producer and work for a record label. Emily would also like to travel and photograph places around the world.
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