The Lower Connecticut
Valley Educational
Riding Association,
Inc.
L.C.V ER A Hadlyme, Ct.
06439
Vol.
1,
No.
April
1
1982
HIGHLIGHT: CONFERENCE MAY 15th THE HUMAN/ COMPANION ANIMAL BOND PEOPLE AND HORSES Horses were prominent _in ¡.tt.e ¡ V/CJ::Y oldest graphic records made by man the Stone Age paintings made before writing was developed. They will also be found in tomorrow's newspaper s and t...P-levision programming. Between these -1 _ > es the list of per sons who have discussed horses would i ncl ude most of the great, and not so great, among scientists and lovers of life and nature. The subject - horse s in the service of, and for the pleasure of, mankind - is fascinating and inexhaustible. From horses we may learn not only about the horse itself, but also about animals in general; indeed about ourselves and about life as a who le . The unique relationship which man has had with the horse is appreciated and endorsed by those familiar with the equine world, though perhaps mystifying to the uniniated. Now research is given credence to the hypotheses that the bond between humans and animals has important implications as a therapeutic interaction. There have been three international conferences concerned with the human/ companion animal bond in
Nonprofit, tax exempt organization
two years, and a reservoir the past of data is building to support empirical conclusions. An increasing number of clinicians and educators are becoming aware of the potential animals have as agents and catalysts in therapeutic and educational processes . With this in mind, Southern Connecticut State College and the Lower Connecticut Valley Educational Riding Association are sponsoring a conference dealing with the Human/ Companion Animal Bond: People and Horses. The Conference will be held May 15th, 1982 at Davis Hall, Southerr. Connecticut State College, New Haven, Connecticut. Speakers will include material dealing with the bond from the viewpoint of the anthropologist, psychologist , therapist, special educator, competitor, veterinarian and ordinary horse lover. A preconference demonstration of riding with handicapped riders will be held Friday evening, May 14th . The Conference may be attended as part of the requirements for a graduate level course, Special Education 501, the Human/ Companion Animal Bond , to be offered by scsc during the summer session. Speakers include: Dr. Barbara nary Medicin
Jones School e, Univ. of
of VeteriPennsylvania.
Herbert Nieburg Psychotherapist, co-Director of Northern Westchester Consultation Associates. Author of 1 Pet Loss and Bereavement'. Natalie Riding, Sports
RAMBLINGSOF THE VICE-PRESISDENT We started out the sprin g term with a tremendous influx of students and volunteers. L.C.V.E.R.A. now has 62 happy eager students and 60 dedicated volunteers. Everyone 's enthusiasm is running high.
Bieber Coordinator of Nation al Association of for Cerebral Palsy.
Virginia Martin Professional Horsewoman. Borderland Farm/Winslow Foundation Riding for the Handicapped, Inc. Barbara t1on.
, 'rhe primary function of the ne~ly formed Education Commit tee, Chaired by Janie Davison, will be working with our students, teac hers, voJunteers and families to make them aware of the program's goals. This committee will also compliment Anne's instruction and classroom work with individual students.
Glascow RPr Winslow Founda-
Wendy Schugol Special Education Teacher and member of the NASCP International Riding Team. Ann Wolcott
Instructor
Maggie Marshall
Clinician
Special compliments and warm thanks go to Judy Lightfoot for the superb job she is doing with the Outreach Committee. She is bringing professional organization and sound ideas to a vital part of the future of L.C.V.E.R.A.
LCVERA SARAH
Nat Bieber
·rhrough the generosity of Gary Reynolds, we are being provided with a Peugeot 505 STI sedan to be raffled off on June 26th. Tickets (only 500 ) at $50.00 each - may be purchased from any volunteer. The raffle committee is co-chaired by Elly Johnston and Debby English. Thanks to Gary, L.C.V.E.R.A.'s programs should receive a great boostl
For more information please contact Natalie Bieber ( 203 ) 434-83 21 or Judy Lightfoot ( 203 ) 526-2914.
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NICEST •fiHNG TO HAPPEN ro •rHE INSIDE oF A MANIs THE OUTSIDE OF A HORSE"
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Also deep appreciation to Gilbert Cates, producer, for letting us have a copy of the T.V. A KID FROMNOWHERE to movie show to parents, students and friends on April ~1st at John Winthrop High School, Deep River and on April 2? nd at Adams Middle School, Guilford. This is a superb picture about a Down's Syndrome young boy training for the Special Olympics and his ultimate success. Beautifully acted and filmed.
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CAR RAFFLE A first for L.C.V.E.R.A.! We are co-sponsoring, on May 14th and 15th, ~ conference with Southern Connecticut ,~lege on the Human/ Companion Animal Bond: People and Horses. 'I'hese week-end seminars will be offered for c~edit by the college. L.C.V.E.R.A. w~l~ do a demonstration on therapeutic riding at the Yale Indoor Polo ring on Friday evening, May 14th. Nat Bieber is doing a great job organizing and co-ordinating the conference.
Who
would like
to have a new car?
Who
would like
to have a Peugeot?
Who
would like to have a red: 198 2 Peugeot 505 SI four door sedan? would like to have automatic transmission? electric windows? leather upholstery? reclining seats? cruise control? power locks? sun roof? AM/FMradio? and tape deck?
On Sunday, May 16th, several of our students will be competing in a class for handicapped people to be held at the Childrens Services Horse Show in Farmington. What a privilege to be working with such a thoughtful and vital group of people.
Who
would like car
Sis Gould
for
to have this
$50.
$15,000.
???
YOU WOULD?
Buy a raffle ticket. With only 500 tickets on sale your chances are excellent; and you're helping LCVERA too. Peugeot is one of the finest cars built in Europe. It has been brought over by Gary Reynolds of Reynolds Garage in Lyme. Just in case you don't want this particular model, an exchange can be arranged.
Ellie Johnston and Debbie English plan to take the car to some local shopping centers for viewing. Watch for their announcements.
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The raffle will be held on Saturday, June 2 6th. Tickets go on sale April ls¡ For further information call Sis Gould ( 203) 434-1407 or Ann Wolcott (~0 3) 434-913 .2. Buy a tick et for yourself a nd sell some to your friends. They just might give you a ride if they wint
PEUGEOT 3
REPORT OF THE OUTREACH COMMITTEE The Outreach Committee has been busy since last fall helping to coordinate 1 s many projects. Much of L.C.V.E.R.A. our time has been spent organizing the Spring Conference. Natalie Bieber is our Conference Coordinator with members of the Outreach Committee acting as Committee heads. Jonnie Edwards is in charge of horses and riders for the Friday night demonstration. Molly Francisco and Andy Weyer are responsible for the printed program; Charlotte Quigley for the volunteerhostesses for the conference itself. Sis gould and Nancy Rankin will be at our information table. (Lots of surprizes there!) There will be a wine and cheese party following the last workshop on Saturday which Judy Lovelace is organizing. We hope that all volunteers will want to attend the Conference. Please contact the Committee Chairmen mentioned above if you would like to help them. The Conference mailing list is my responsibilty. If you hear of anyone whom I've missed please let me know. We have distributed about 1000 preliminary fliers to date. This is an exciting project for L.C.V.E.R.A. Already we are hearing from people from far away who are planning to attend. Another major project of the Outreach Committee is the exciting Peugeot Car Raffle which will be launched on April 1st. Ellie Johnston and Debby English are co-chairmen of this event. We hope that all vo 1 unteers will sell at least 5 tickets or many more if possible! The drawing will be on Saturday, June 26th with a ga la affair at Reynolds Garage. This is an exciting opportunity for L.C.V.E.R.A. to raise enough money to ensure the continued success of our program.
An offshoot of the Outreach Committee is the new Educatio~ Committee headed by Janie Davi~~. You'll be hearing more about this soon when we all gather fo r some innovative training sessions planned by Anne Wolcott and Janie. Mike Boyd and Greta Jacobs, as Publicity Chairmen, are attending Outreach Co ,.imi ttee meetings and are willingly agreeing to publicize our many projects. It's amazing how muchis going on. The Movie "The Kid from Nowhere" will be shown in Madison/ Guilford and in Essex in late April. For those of you who did not see this program on T.V., it is beautifully done and should be seen by young an d old. Many thanks to Sis Gould for mak ing this showing possible. Although the Outreach Committee is not responsible for organizing our riding sessions, our instr.or, Anne Wolcott, and the volunteer chairmen are members of the committee and report on the program regularly. It's rewarding to hear how well all sessions are going. That, after all, is why there is an Outreach Committee and why our projects are so important to us. It's all said in the faces of our riders and the words of our instructor at any session at Cricklewood, Westbrook or at the Gould's. Any thoughts or ideas? the Outreach Ccmmittee at 2914. Judy
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Contact 526-
Lightfoot
where there's
a Will,
t 1ere's another way: Now Jenny is 14. She has progressed up in the Special Education classes of the Guilford School System, fir st at the A.w. Cox School and now at Adams Middle School. During this time her life has been filled with outside activities. June, with a dedicated group of volunteers, has brought together the Guilford Special Ed classes and the Lower Connecticut Valley Educational Riding Asso ciation to provide a horseback riding program which benefits all the Special Ed children in the elementary and middle school grades. This has provided miraculoui development for each one of the participants. Thanks to the devoted efforts of the faithful and tireless volunteers acting under the direction of Anne Wol cott and Sis Gould the children have developed self-assurnace and coordination to a degree that previously would have been unimaginable .
A FATHER'S VIEW On the 19th of July 1967 my wife June, and I felt as though the roof had fallen in on us. We were informed by the pediatrician that our new born baby was Downs Syndrome. When we asked for his prognosis we were advised that we could take her home and feed her - after that perhaps home care, perhaps an institution. We were on our own facing a situation abou t which we knew nothing. This was the starting point of a new dedication and a new interest. We obtained a book by a doctor in Boston. We learned about chromosome patterns and characteristics. We even drove to Boston twice to visit this doctor and to abtain a chromosome scan which only served to comfirm the original diagnosis.
This too, though in a different way, can be said for the swimming program which was initiated by John and Linda Phillips and the Madison J.C.'s. John was an excellent coach and thanks to his instruction Jenny has become an excellent swimmer. She has sucessfully competed in numerous Special Olympic meets.
Meanwhile our baby Jennifer, was developing, but only very slowly. Her muscle tone was poor. Rolling over and sitting up came slowlylong after so - called normal development would dictate. Standing, walking, first speaking - all of these things came very slowly.
And with the development of these skills Jenny's personality has blossomed. She feels good about herself and with this assurance she has made excellent progress. She likes her school work and spends hours at home copying whole pa ges from books and writing accounts of her daily doings. We do not have television in our h ouse and so she
During this time we learned of the Shoreline Association for Retarded and Handicapped, and of the day school which they operated for children from age three, in those days, and upward. This was the start ' f Jenny's schooling and really the ~evelopment of her personality.
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makes her own entertainment. She admires her sisters, Susan,a nurse, and Mary,an EM'r, and naturally enough her thoughts run to hospitals and the care of the sick. She will spend hours applying the instruments of her doctors kit to her dog,Tilly, whom we have dubbed the" patient patient." Under the guidance of her sister Jane, she has learned about making pottery and other crafts. She enjoys helping her brother, Stuart, a stern but kindly task master, loading firewood in his truck. Her work experience in the CETA program last summer provided skills which she is proud to display in help' ing at home. Jenny is widely known by friends and teachers for always coming up with the appropriate answer. Recently her math teacher, Mr. Gagliardi, caught her up on a falsehood. Having tried every ruse she could think of to extricate herself without sucess she succombed to the truth and brushed it off with a smile. "Sorry about that, Gag." she said.
COMMENTS FROJVI1'HE YOUNGADUL'I'S Philip
Edith Lois
Jenny is also a good companion. She frequently accompanies me on afternoon sails and occasionally for an overnight cruise. Pounding along with lee rail under she is entirely happy and at home. We take lon g walks together with the dogs and in the evening before the fire we play favorite games such as" Sorry," "Uno," or "checkers" until time for her to go up to bed. " Take her home and feed her," the pediatrician said, yes, w¡e did and we continue to do so. We believe in feeding her the challenges of life to develop the knowledge and skills which bring fulfillment and someday, we hop~, self sufficiency.
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THEY SAID IT
Sprague
Ordazzo Shorey
" I liked just be i ng on the horses and doing the exercises; it gives me a sense of accompl ish ment ." " I liked
riding."
" 'I'he Program and the Volunteers helped me not to be afraid of learning about new things. It's still hard to get off the horse,thoug h."
Carol Ann Sanders
" I liked learning t . ride and learning how to do a good job at i~ Riding is impor ta nt; it helped me learn how to deal with the horse and the other riders."
Lisa
"Bell was a race horse She is a good horse too. I love that mare very much."
Boyd
These young adult riders are from the Monday evening class at Westbrook.
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'rhe next hurdle we faced w as the stable management test, Feeding and working horses and mucking stalls I can do, but bog spavins, ringbone and bowed tendons leave me calling for the vet. rhe groundwork for our eventual ability to instruct the handicapped was laid by the physical therapist. Mary crammed into us an aquaintance with bones, muscles, tendons, the nervous system and related diseases; mental retardation; and learning disabilities. In this course we had both midterm and finals, on which we had to average 80 or more.
LEARNING TO BE AN INSTRUCTOR A LA CHEFF
The preliminary test one takes for the instructor's course at Cheff Center for the Handicapped is a riding test. How can you teach anyone else to ride if you can't ride yourself?
Once that was behind us we were plunged into instructing. True, we'd seen Sandy and Kelly instructing at odd moments when we had the time. And Lida had coached us carefully on the various disabilities. But panic broke out when we realized we were each being thrown into the ring alone to teach, Coutdn't we at least watch Bliss teach a full lesson first, we wailed.
Our class, eight females and one maley had just arrived. One was nineteen, most in their ?O's, my roommate was 40-ish and I topped off the list at a thumping 59. Besides director Lida Mccowan, the teaching s~~ff consisted of her daughter Bliss a son-in-law Buster, assistant director and stable manager; Kelly and Sandy, instructors; and Mary, physical therapist.
"If you watched Bliss out there," Lida said firmly, '' You'd all end up imitating her."
We each picked a horse from a posted list, then groomed and tacked up our mounts. Once astride ( no easy task for me as I unwittingly chose a large horse and was determined to get up from the ground,) we warmed up¡ riding casually around the arena, expecting to be called upon singly for serpentines, counter canters and flying changes.
Lida was right. Her sink or swim attitude helped us develop sea legs and an individual comfortable style of teaching that is also comfortable for the handicapped rider. School buses bring children to the center for classes; there are also evening classes for both the hearing and visually impaired and for adults. M? roommate Evelyn did a superb job with the class for deaf adults,all excellent riders, but to prepare :for it she stayed up til Ja.m. the night before studying signing.
"Okay," Bliss called after about 20 minutes, "you can put the horses away now," We began to realize then how closely we had been observed; also the ease with which we groomed and tacked up our horses,
One group arriving every afternoon is a family of six with a variety of disabilities. the children are adopted.
I was on hand a month later when the next class came in. These girls w~-e soon put through their paces 1- .gly and of the seven, two were sent home that day and two more were put on probation.
rhursday children All
"We're not giving the children pony rides," Lida says. "We're teacning then how to RIDE." 7
A final word, How was it living for a month in a student house with eight others, all but one younger than my own children? It was great.
Betty Ensign is an artist. She and h• late husband, Powell, lived on Nantucket Island and ran the Trot•s Hill Press, Betty is about to move to Greensboro N.c. and begin a new career as an in.:_ structor for the handicapped. We wish her luck. The Cheff Center is in August, Michigan and offers courses for individ, uals wishing to become riding instructors for the handicapped.
My only complaint was the junk food that kept finding its way into the kitchen. But my fellow students soon learned that if they let me make salads every night, and an occasional homemade soup or stewed fruit, I was happy. It was a good bunch. Betty
Ensign
MEASURING THE MARIGOLDS Many of our successes, as I like to call any change in performance, have nothin9 to do with riding. After her first ride on Santa Claus, our former New York City Police Horse, Dorthy, a wheelchaired CP with no 11 "expressive language, was heard to II I like you" to the big horse say who had carried her for 30 minutes. Her voice was barely a whisper - Santa Claus had lowered his muzzle to Dorthy's knee to hear her - but clearly she had communicated through spoken language, a small but smashing victory. Another new rider, reluctant to get close enough to mount his horse, was persuaded to lead the horse, an~ this he did for 45 minutes, albeit. the end of and 8' lead. Had we failed
Assessing the progrss of clients in a therapeutic riding program demands the point of view of Hans Christion Anderson's inchworm who, with infinite patience and inexhaustible optimism, measured the minutest parts of the marigolds, inch by careful inch, giving each part equal value. We, in LCVERA, as instructors, volunteers, parents, teachers, supervisors or siblings, must concentrate on the smallest improvement, the tiniest approximation and rejoice with the student in his efforts. \'ie must train our eyes and ears to watch for these small events; a difficult task for those of us accustomed to tracking larger uni ts.
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in not getting this boy mounted? Emphatically, no! He had made the necessary connection, the first small step that led him to get on the horse at the ¡ 'Xt lesson and eventually groom, tack .d ride without helpers at a walk and trot. And the silent victory of the young man who controlled his habitual screaming and hitting himself so that he might come to the stable and ride. Someone had explained to him that the screaming and hitting would frightten the horses. Controlling that behavior was a gargantuan effort, but invisible to anyone outside his central nervous system.
Still other easily overlooked gains occur with the learning disabled with increasing frequency. A child with poor listening skills learns to attend to the instructor's voice against a backyround of other noises. ,, silent, withdrawn child ,operates on the periphery of a group begins to feel that she is a capable member of a group with shared experiences and moves toward trusting relationships with other people - a subtle gain in,, crucial area of development. A boy with an auditory memory deficit executes a 3 part command given verbally.
Some progress proce,e4 so slowly that we can note it only over a long period of time, after each small increment has joined with another to become a remarkable whole. Ginny, a teenager who gave personal care a rather low priority, gradually saw herself as a taller, straighter, neat, proud rider and transformed herself from a sloppy, uncomed girl with poor posture to a neat, trim, well-,turned out individual who holds herself with nreat dignity, both on and off the. rse. Another gradual metamorphosis has occrred in Edith who first presented herself as a reluctant soul, arms wrapped in front of her, eyes cast down. Now in her fourth season with LCVERA, Edith has become as egar, attentive, outgoing perticipant who has to be reminded not to !:.!:!!l towards her horse.
Attitudinal changes in our riders have been profound but hard to see. The uncooperative boy with" NO" bounding both ends of his vocabulary becomes tractible, attentive and willing to try new things. The hostil 8 year old who has learned betrayal at an early age sheds his mistrust of adults as he finds himself accepted, first by the horse and then by this new set of adults who are reliable in their support. The demanding" me first'' child learns that he must wait - wait for another horse, wait until he has really cleaned the horse, wait while another rider gets some extra instructionand that his turn will come. He becomes more patient, learns through listening and understands the importance of completing a task.
Something all our riders must learn to some degree is the management of fear, an area in which our inchworm appraiser has a veritable romp through the marigolds. If you missed the day Paul first let go of the saddle with one hand for a split second, you missed the day he won his private decathelon. If you were not there the night Lois shifted all her weight into the stirrup and mounted by herself, you missed the end of her battle with paralyzing fear of falling, activated by losing the security of two feet on the ground, And did you hear the roar of the crowd when timid, mid Sarah let go with one brave ,,and while trotting? And remember the look of astonished triumph when Debbie realized she had jumped safely over crossrails.
All the time that we are attending to leg and hand positions, sitting straight, looking up, we must be equally aware of the changes that come slowly or like lightening and concentrate on helping the child or adult integrate that change into his personal repetoir so that it can be useful in his adaptation to life and thus his success as a useful human being, a pleasure to himself and others. Emulate the inchwormmeasure the details, the marigolds. Anne Wolcott, Instructor, LCVERA
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LOWER CONNECTICUT VALLEY EDUCATIONAL RIDING ASSOCIATION, INC. NEWSLETTER 58 Otter Cove Old Saybrook,
Drive CT 06475
Board of Trustees: Pauls. Pierson, M.D. President Sis (Mrs L.B.P.) Gould, Vice President Lyttleton B.P. Gould, Secretary Grace (Mrs Frai;ik) Hamilton, Treasurer Mrs William Boyd Mrs Jan Conant Mrs Paul Douglas Mrs Ashton Edwards Mrs Molly Francisco Mrs Lytlleton Gould Lyttleton Gould Mrs John Greene Mrs Alan Greener Mrs Frank Hamilton E'r3.nk Hamil ton Mrs Stuart Hotchkiss Mrs Richard Lightfoot Mrs Jeffrey Lovelace Mrs Dennis People Mrs Andrew Pfeiffer Dr Paul Pierson Dr John Anne Chief
Walsh
(Mrs Frank) Instructor
(Honorary) Wolcott,
Of:, ; 71