Feature Member Spotlight
STABILITY
CAN BE FOUND
among horses Story and photos by Andrea Haines
Imagine your surprise while stopped at a traffic light, glancing into a driver’s side van window and seeing a long fuzzy face staring back at you! Attached to that face is a stout body, four stubby legs and a very kind heart; Cooper the mini horse enjoys peeking through the center console of the van on the way to help others. “It’s almost as if he knows he’s going to work,” says Joan Marie Twining, Cooper’s partner. “He is always bringing a smile to peoples’ faces.”
4 LEADER
VOLUME 26 | ISSUE 1
J
oan is the Founder, Executive Director, and Vision Keeper of ROSES (Rose of Sharon Equestrian School) in Glen Arm, Maryland — a 90 percent volunteer-operated program for children, youth, adults, and senior citizens with special needs. “We serve individuals in all age groups,” she explains. “When we began, we served mainly children with physical disabilities. As time went on, we began to see more students with autism, behavioral issues, and social/emotional needs with many having multiple diagnoses.” This fall, ROSES is preparing to celebrate their 20-year anniversary of serving their community. “We have a Board of Directors, a team of dedicated volunteers, a part-time barn manager, and part-time stable hand,” Joan explains. “Our barn manager, Connor Bayley, is a graduate student at New York University (NYU) in the mental health and wellness program. She hopes to become a counselor utilizing equine assisted therapy with her clients.” Joan began her work with horses at age 11 in Massachusetts, working in barns, stables, and day camps caring for and exercising horses. “It was during my teen years as an equine-camp counselor where I began to see what powerful changes horses could facilitate in peoples’ lives, especially those impacted by trauma, disability or other special needs,” she expresses. Joan eventually found herself working as a journalist, covering a budding therapeutic riding program in Virginia. “There were not many places to become certified,” she mentions. She eventually found and attended the Cheff Center in Michigan. “To attend, you had to be willing to immerse yourself in a month-long program of training, teaching, and testing,” says Joan. “Once certified, I began to look for a way to provide this service to people with special needs. Back then, therapeutic programs were often an add-on to typical boarding and lesson barns. That was when I decided to build my own program from the ground up.” In 1996, Joan and husband Randy started plans on the facility. “We used a 12 acre parcel of land adjacent to his family’s farm,” she explains. “In the summer of 1997, we broke ground for the American with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant stable.” Building took several years, eventually welcoming the program’s first students in the fall of 2001.
