Central Kentucky Riding for Hope Needs Your Help

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“People don’t know we are here until they need us,” said Pat Kline, executive director of Central Kentucky Riding for Hope.

I think that should change.

CKRH, located at the Kentucky Horse Park, is a 27-year-old program that uses horses to strengthen muscles, improve balance, and build self-confidence in children and adults who have physical, cognitive, emotional and social needs.

It is a non-profit program that helps mentally and physically-challenged children and adults discover their maximum potential through equine therapy, according to Alison Pope, one of 280 active CKRH volunteers.

“The movement of the horse mimics walking for humans,” Pope said. “It trains their (the riders’) muscles and it is good for self-esteem. There is a sixth-sense, a magic with the horses. There is some kind of connection and it works.”

The reason we, who don’t need the services of CKRH or who don’t volunteer at the program, need to know it exists is because it need us.

After operating out of a barn for nearly three decades, CKRH is building, a little at a time, a new facility that is well on its way to being a new home.

Kline couldn’t contain her joy as she took me and photographer David Perry through the unfinished building that has offices, a conference and instructional room, observation areas, 20 stalls and a lot of storage rooms for tack, feed and even a washroom for volunteers who might decide to leave the muck there.

But what thrilled her the most was an indoor arena which could nearly double the hours an autistic child or one with cerebral palsy can feel as though they are masters of their universe. Now, therapy sessions, which are held in an outdoor arena, are at the mercy of the weather and daylight hours. The sessions stop in November and many clients lose what progress they have made.

The new facility will have an outdoor arena as well, along with a “great sensory trail that will include a wooded area, a pond, shade and breezes,” Kline said.

However, the new facility, despite CKRH having about $600,000 on-hand or in pledges, still needs about $1.8 million more to open its doors, board treasurer David Beck said. The total cost will be about $3.9 million.

So, the board is inviting current supporters and new ones to “The Final Furlong,” a gathering for cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres at the new facility Tuesday, from 5:30 to 7:30p.m. They want to show it off, tell you what’s still needed and then ask for your help.

The organization is funded through donations and gifts from individuals, businesses and the horse industry.

CKRH is more than a riding program for the physically, mentally and emotionally challenged, Kline said. “This is not a recreation program,” she said. “Kids have a great time here, but that’s a side benefit.”

CKRH is accredited by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). It is one of 694 such facilities nationwide.

The 12 certified or licensed instructors, 24 equine therapists, and trained volunteers provide summer camps for Shriner’s Hospital patients, Hospice of the Bluegrass bereavement retreats, and equine assisted learning for special education students in the public school system, including a non-mounted pilot program for special education at Huntertown Elementary School in third, fourth and fifth grades.

More than 1,500 riders have been served in six Central Kentucky counties. In 2007 alone, the program has worked with 279 clients in activities such as horsemanship, therapeutic riding and driving, equine-assisted pre-school program, life skills and retreats.

Seven sessions with one of the 21 horses, cost $150. Kline said that amounts to about 15 percent of the organization’s total revenues. “They really cost us about $2,000,” she said. “But we don’t turn anyone away because of money. We’ll look around for a scholarship.”

Most of the participants are children, Kline said, but because some riders have been with the program for 10 years and more, the number of adults is increasing.

The disabilities served include attention deficit disorder, Downs Syndrome, head and brain injury, hearing or visual impairment, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, mental retardation, spina bifida and stroke.

With all that going on, CKRH needs a bigger facility.

Follow the signs Tuesday deep into the horse park and make sure you take your checkbook. If you have anything left after paying Uncle Sam, this is a worthy cause.

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