Equine Therapy Program on Path to Expansion

Three-year-old Lorene Long arrives at the indoor riding arena looking like a pint-sized fashionista in a pink shirt, pink shoes and purple shades.

“Wow! Look at your shirt!” says Cindy Lisenbardt, one of the PALS riding instructors, as she picks Lorene up and ruffles her hair. “Are you ready to ride?”

Lorene, whose nickname is “Renie,” answers with a smile that could light up a cave. Renie is excited about riding Lola, a 9-year-old Haflinger horse, in a 14,400-square-foot indoor riding arena that is part of the People and Animal Learning Services' new home at 7644 W. Elwren Road.

The arena is housed in the Equine Community Center - a sprawling, 35-foot-high facility that also includes 27 horse stalls, four offices, therapy room, classroom, two tack rooms, viewing room for people to watch riders through a large window, and community room with exposed cedar beams.

The classroom is used for educational programs, summer camps, volunteer training and board meetings. The tack rooms - one for PALS and one for owners of boarded horses - are used to store horse equipment such as bridles, brushes and pads.

Outside, there's a 32,500-square-foot riding arena, a small barn featuring eight more stalls, 15 acres of fenced pasture, a compost facility and an 11-space parking lot.
 
Renie, who has a form of cerebral palsy that's caused delays in her speech and motor skills, has been riding Lola once a week for 15 weeks - working on her balance, core strength and communication skills, The Herald-Times reported.

Lisenbardt stands on a wooden platform with Renie, who pushes a button that causes a hydraulic lift to raise the platform about three feet. From there, Lisenbardt helps Renie climb onto a felt pad on Lola's back.

Holding onto a leather handle, Renie says “Aww!” (her version of “Walk”), and Lola begins walking around the arena, flanked by Lisenbardt and three “side walkers.” Each time Renie spots a stuffed animal on top of an orange cone, she pulls back on the reins and says “Oh!” (her version of “Whoa!”), which signals Lola to stop. Lisenbardt then picks up the stuffed animal and hands it to Renie.

“The warmth of the horse helps her muscles relax,” says Fern Bonchek, PALS' executive director. “And the movement of the horse stimulates Renie's diaphragm, helping her with communication.”

Adam Long, Renie's father, says when Renie goes to bed on the nights before her riding sessions, she will often excitedly “sign” the word for Lola - adding that her love affair with Lola is evidenced by the more than 100 horse figurines and stuffed animals she has at home.

For the past decade, PALS' home had been a rented facility at Ellington Stables at 680 W. That Road.

But PALS has bought a new facility and 20 acres of land from Toby and Heather Turner, who bought the barn in an auction in 2003 after the previous owner, David Hinkle, died. Since that purchase, the Turners had been using the facility to run a horse-boarding business called Turner's Arena.

Bonchek said the newly renovated Equine Community Center enables PALS to house all its programs, staff, volunteers and horses under one roof. “It provides more of a community feeling among the staff,” she said. “We can now more easily work together in a team environment.”

She said PALS' indoor horse arena is twice as large its former arena, and the organization now has an outdoor arena.

“We've already been able to expand our programming and expand our hours later into the evening,” Bonchek said. “We'll eventually offer Friday and Saturday lessons as well.”

The nonprofit organization has already added an Equine Experiential Education program, a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Central Indiana that works on problem solving and communication skills and teamwork among Bigs, Littles and parents; Horses for Heroes for service veterans with physical or psychological disabilities; and Summer Camp featuring intensive riding and activities for camp kids.

She said by the end of 2017, PALS will have added three more programs - Equine Facilitated Learning that provides equestrian activities focusing on educational themes and standards; Hippotherapy that uses interactions with horses to facilitate physical, occupational and speech therapy for children age 2 and older; and a training program that allows people to become certified by PATH International as therapeutic horse riding instructors.

By that time, PALS will have eight programs, counting the two programs that have been continued from the old facility - therapeutic riding and recreational riding.

“That will increase the number of participants we serve by more than 50 percent,” Bonchek said. PALS' new home features 15 acres of fenced pasture for its 10 horses.

“This gives our horses a better quality of life, so they can be healthier and happier,” Bonchek said. “And as we expand the program, we will be able to add more horses to our herd.”

PALS had only 10 stalls at its former home and now has 35. Some of the stalls in each barn are filled with horses whose owners pay PALS monthly boarding fees.

Bonchek said since PALS began its programs at its new facility in June, it has doubled its number of full- and part-time staff to 12 - adding a barn manager, more instructors and other employees.

“It's wonderful to have a forever home,” Bonchek said. “This is a place we can call our own, a place we can expand in the years ahead to serve the different needs of individuals in our community.”
 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us