What Being an Equestrian is Truly All About..

By: Brittany Bevis

All week, we’ve been sharing photos from the 2014 NSBA World Championship Show that capture the pure exhilaration and sense of accomplishment that come when a horse and rider are recognized as a World Champion team. Yesterday, some very special riders were rewarded for their hard work during the Equestrian’s With Disabilities Walk-Trot classes.

Sometimes, it seems as if the high pressure, high stakes world of competitive horse showing can lead us astray, away from the reason why we all started riding horses in the first place. Thankfully, shows that serve as venues for Equestrian’s With Disabilities classes help to provide a much-needed reminder, that at the heart of it all, it’s the innate, unconditional, indescribable partnership between a horse and rider that is the most important.

Perhaps, no one knows this better than Charlene Thomas of Glenoak Therapeutic Riding Center, who just happens to be the mother of AQHA/APHA horse trainer, Reid Thomas. Charlene has guided the reins of Glenoak in Corpus Christi, Texas for the past 12 years.

“Reid started riding when he was seven years old,” Charlene says. “He went off to college, continued riding horses, and when he finished at Texas A&M is kind of when all of this started.”

“We have 100 students per week that ride with us in the afternoons. We have six riders to a class and seven sessions per year. We take one week off, so we pretty much go year-round.”

Glenoak utilizes the expertise of four instructors that are all PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship) certified. Riders with disabilities ranging from spina bifida and muscular dystrophy to hearing and vision impairments are all welcome at Glenoak.

“The majority of what we see are traumatic brain injuries, cerebral palsy, and Down’s Syndrome,” she says. “We also have riders with spina bifida, muscular sclerosis, and muscular dystrophy.”

Four Glenoak riders, Jesse James Jasso, Sara Tower, Gillbert Gonzales, and Keifer Gunn, accompanied Charlene on the long trip from Corpus Christi to Tulsa to compete at their first-ever NSBA World Show. Not only was this the riders’ first World Show, this was their first time competing, ever.

A whopping 28 horse and rider teams competed in the EWD Walk-Trot Trail Independent Rider class. The winner was Daryl Madden aboard Sierra Czerwinski’s Snazzy Lil Chip. For his efforts, Madden received a bronze NSBA trophy and also took home a check for $192.50. The EWD Walk-Trot Trail Supported Rider class saw 14 competitors show. The big winner was Glenoak’s own Jesse James Jasso aboard Claire Cherrington’s Zips Dandy Sensation.

Our readers will certainly recognize many of the horse’s names that participated in the EWD classes, such as Miso Lazy, Selection So Simple, Zip Back N Jack, and Smokin Charlie Too. That’s because many of the animals are show horses currently competing on the circuit or former show horses that have been donated to a therapeutic riding facility.

“We have 20 horses at Glenoak,” Charlene says. “90% are off the Quarter Horse circuit. We’re very fortunate to have Reid in this industry. When someone has a horse with limited usage, we are able to take them and put them into our program. We have had several horses that have come off the circuit for a lameness issue, and they are put into our program, which is just walking and trotting on the rail and turnout. Within a year, we’ve been able to redevelop them. The horses are donated, so we keep them, but we had one that recently just went back onto the show circuit.”

“If there is a young horse that comes up with a lameness issue, and it just needs a year off from the stress of the circuit, it gives them another job to do. Most of the time, the horses we get are of such a mindset that they step right into our program. The only thing different that they have to put up with is having two side walkers and a leader giving them cues, as well as the rider on their back. “

Of the four riders Charlene brought to Tulsa, three have cerebral palsy and one suffers from a traumatic brain injury. All of the riders have limited mobility, so they competed in the EWD Supported Rider classes. So far, each of the riders has placed in the Top Ten in one event.

“We rented a van and drove all night on Tuesday to get here,” she says. “This is the first time they’ve ever competed. This is so overwhelming for them. We see smiles on their faces all the time, but the smiles this time were amazing. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for them.”

“Hopefully, next year we will have four or five riders come. Maybe, we will make this a major goal for the students. For the students that show, we have an Equine Sharing Program that helps when our students aren’t financially able to afford to be in those classes. Three of the riders that came to the NSBA World Show were on the scholarship program. The means to do something like this wouldn’t have happened without the scholarship fund”

“I know I shouldn’t brag on him too much, because he’s my son, but we wouldn’t be here without the help of Reid and his clients. They have helped with entry fees, let us use their horses, tack, and clothing, and many led the horses.”

One of those clients is Eric Mendrysa, who helped lead Jesse James Jasso to a win in the EWD Walk-Trot Trail Supported Rider class with Zips Dandy Sensation.

“I used to show this horse, and they asked me if I would like to lead him in one of the EWD classes,” Mendrysa says. “This was my first time participating, but it’s actually the horse’s third time winning an EWD class.”

“Jesse goes to the barn a lot, and he works very hard. [Because he is visually impaired], as long as you tell him where we are going next, he knows what to do. I would tell him that we were about to walk over the poles, and he would put his reins forward. Then, I would tell him we were going to trot to the left, so he knew to sit deep in his seat and sit back.”

“I definitely have to help, but Dandy is so amazing. He’s 17 years old, and he’s been doing this for so long. I think the judges seeing Jesse actually lift his reins and guide the horse is a big reason why he won the class.”

We would like to congratulate all of the EWD riders for their accomplishments at the NSBA World Show. Not every rider will become a World Champion, but every rider can experience the joy of riding a horse and the thrill of competition. After all, equestrians with disabilities are first and foremost EQUESTRIANS!