SIRE, Houston’s Therapeutic Riding Centers

Nearly 400 people blazed into the Houstonian Hotel for this year’s SIRE Trailblazer Luncheon held last week. President of the SIRE Board of Directors Richard “Whitey” White and Executive Director Jimm Williams provided the audience with background on Houston’s Therapeutic Riding Centers and the positive impact of therapeutic riding on physical and cognitive abilities. Guests also heard testimonials from clients Steven Schultz, Derrick Perkins, Nathaniel Hunter and family members about how SIRE has enriched their lives. The luncheon was free to guests and serves as a fund raising event with no minimum donation requirement.

SIRE provides programs for individuals who have physical and cognitive disabilities, sensory impairments and psycho-social disorders. SIRE works with its clients to improve motor skills, balance and posture while stimulating the cardiovascular system and normalizing muscle tone. The client also experiences the three-dimensional movement of the horse, similar to a human’s gait, which is difficult to duplicate in a clinical setting.

SIRE, Houston’s Therapeutic Equestrian Centers, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit therapeutic horseback riding organization which uses the spirit and movement of the horse to benefit people with disabilities. SIRE has been active in the Houston area for 26 years and currently serves clients at sites in Hockley, Spring and Fort Bend County. SIRE is a premier accredited center with NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association). For more information about SIRE, call 281.356.7558 or visit www.sire-htec.org.

SIRE, Houston’s Therapeutic Equestrian Centers, has announced the addition of Wendy Cook to the Development Team.

“We are excited to have Wendy join our team at SIRE,” said Jimm Williams, Executive Director of SIRE. “Her passion for helping others along with her extensive knowledge and love of horses will certainly assist SIRE, the volunteers and the riders of our organization. She brings with her some invaluable contacts throughout the equestrian community, as well as relationships with many area corporations and individuals who share a philanthropic belief and a willingness to give back to the local community.” Cook brings a wealth of experience to SIRE after serving for seven years as the Executive Director of the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show.

“I am thrilled to join SIRE and all of the people and horses that are a part of the organization,” says Cook. “SIRE has an honorable mission and provides many new concepts projected to catapult the benefits of therapeutic riding into the spotlight. I feel that I have much to offer, a great deal to learn as well as receive. I’ve been waiting a lifetime for this opportunity, and I look forward to the challenge!”

SIRE provides programs for individuals who have physical and cognitive disabilities, sensory impairments and psycho-social disorders. SIRE works with its clients to improve motor skills, balance and posture while stimulating the cardiovascular system and normalizing muscle tone. The client also experiences the three-dimensional movement of the horse, similar to a human’s gait, which is difficult to duplicate in a clinical setting.

SIRE, Houston’s Therapeutic Equestrian Centers, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit therapeutic horseback riding organization which uses the spirit and movement of the horse to benefit people with disabilities. SIRE has been active in the Houston area for 26 years and currently serves clients at sites in Hockley, Spring and Fort Bend County. SIRE is a premier accredited center with NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association). For more information about SIRE, call 281.356.7558 or visit www.sire-htec.org.

Anthony Busacca has joined SIRE as the Site Director and Instructor at the Hockley site. Anthony has worked in the horse industry his entire professional life. His experience includes equestrian center management, as well as training and showing dressage horses. He became involved in therapeutic riding in the 1980’s as a volunteer instructor at a small, local riding program in southern California. Now, as a NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) Master Level Instructor and Lead Evaluator he has trained and certified hundreds of instructors all across the United States and in Canada, Japan and Israel. Anthony served on the NARHA Instructor Certification Committee for five years and has presented numerous lectures at regional and national conferences. He has served as the Program Director/Head Instructor of Giant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center, located in the north San Francisco bay area for the past two years. Before that he was Program Director of the Fran Joswick/J. F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center in San Juan Capistrano, California for sixteen years.

From Anthony - “I am very excited about joining the SIRE team. In addition to anticipating the satisfaction derived from working with the program’s students and volunteers I am looking forward to expanding SIRE’s instructor training offerings. Inviting people from other neighborhoods to come to SIRE to receive their training and certification as Therapeutic Riding Instructors will have national and global impact as they return home to their local communities and implement what we have taught them.”

More information about all of our staff is found on our website.

It is time to start planning SIRE’s 2010 Shindig at the Houston Hilton Post Oak on May 1, 2010. We need help with invitations, decorations, entertainment, auction items, underwriters, and table sales. There will be an organizing meeting on Monday, January 11 at 7 pm. (Place to be determined based on the best location for the majority of volunteers). If you have always wanted to be in on the decision making, please contact Harla at development [at] sire-htec.org. We welcome your input on making the 2010 Shindig the best and most fun ever! Please respond by December 31, 2009.

“Becoming a More Natural Leader” is the topic of the volunteer enrichment on Saturday, Jan. 30th from 2-4 pm at the Hockley site. The enrichment will be conducted by Jeanie Gardner, Head Instructor at Hockley, and Parelli level 3 (ground) and level 2 (riding) instructor.

This enrichment is open to Horse Leaders from all sites. Please e-mail vc.hockley [at] sire-htec.org to let us know if you will attend this educational event.

SIRE is about success and we have as many stories of achievement as we have clients. Recently, several clients have demonstrated huge improvements in their skills—let us tell you about a few of them.

SIRE Hockley
Ignacio Murguia had surgery to straighten his legs, and he grew several inches. When he came back to ride, he had a “new body” that was difficult to manage. By working hard every week, Ignacio could sit up longer—back in September we were counting in minutes, and now he can sit up the entire session.

Choosing the right horse has helped Erin Brown, a longtime SIRE client, succeed after a setback. Erin fractured her pelvis in a fall at home, and had difficulties when she returned to riding. With lots of hard work, Erin has graduated to a horse with more movement.

It’s easier with a little help from your friends. Two girls, Yessenia Luna and Elizabeth Williams, encourage each other. Being a team has helped each girl learn new skills and share their friendship. Another team, Karen Abbott’s riders called the “Sensational Six”, has practically grown up at SIRE on horseback—they help each other and even have a group cheer at the end of class.

SIRE Spring
Progress can be measured in many ways—how well you hold the reins for steering, how many directions you can follow, recognizing yourself as a successful person.

Whitney Faerber’s family has watched her grow and improve while riding at SIRE Spring. She has been learning to ride without sidewalkers or leaders, and very recently she rode completely independent. The smile on her face lit up the arena.

Being able to sit upright on a horse is a huge accomplishment for some of our riders, especially for those in wheelchairs like Megan Fry. Recently, she participated in the Top Hands Horse Show, and demonstrated her abilities at the Horses & Humans Research Foundation’s Open House Presentation.

SIRE Fort Bend
Several Fort Bend riders have made great strides—some at Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Top Hands Horse Show, and some right here in the arena at SIRE.

Five of seven SIRE Fort Bend riders had never competed before at the show: Sebastian Arizpe, Alyse Delph, Erica Haase, Lance Nicholson and Derrick Perkins. Together with our show veterans Allison Meyer and Cade Zimmerman, these riders performed beautifully in their classes and accomplished individual personal goals.

Our 2008 Child Rider of the Year, Alejandro Araque, is one of the hardest working riders at SIRE. His strength and ability to use his body effectively to communicate with his horse continue to amaze us all.

Brittany Ricco is having an amazing semester, as she is taking control of her movements as well as her horse. Brittany can now stop those spasms and work through them.

So many wonderful riders, we can’t mention them all, but they all deserve applause. It’s our pleasure and privilege to work with them every week. They truly are our inspiration.

So what is a Round-up and why is it important to SIRE’s development efforts?

Round-ups are the best way to introduce people to the magic of SIRE and its mission. Just by listening to our one-hour presentation, a person can understand the freedom from disabilities that therapeutic riding brings to our clients. Not talking about it, not watching a video, not handing out a brochure, but sitting in the bleachers as a part of a therapeutic riding lesson is more powerful than any other message we can bring to the community about the benefits of SIRE. It captured me!

Round-ups are usually scheduled monthly at each of our three locations, conveniently on Saturday mornings. While clients are participating in their regular classes, we describe what is happening in the arena. Round-Up attendees see first-hand the client-specific therapeutic session planned by the instructor, understand the role and interaction of the volunteers, and appreciate the special bond that forms between horse and rider.

Round-ups are informational only… we never, ever ask our guests for money. When they ask how they can help, we tell them the best way to help SIRE is by spreading the word about what we do—and by inviting their friends and business associates to our next Round-up. You can do the same!

—Richard “Whitey” White, President

JOIN US FOR A ROUND-UP

Leave your checkbook at home and
come learn more about our amazing
equine-assisted therapy for people
with disabilities.

2009 ROUND-UP DATES

Hockley
5/16, 7/18, 10/3 and 11/14

Spring
4/18, 6/13, 9/12, 10/17 and 12/5

Ft. Bend
5/2, 6/27, 9/19, 11/7

by Peggy Wagner

Take a walk (or trot!) with me down Memory Lane….back to 1984. I saw an ad in my neighborhood paper about the need for volunteers at a therapeutic horseback riding program called SIRE, Self Improvement thru Riding Education, in the Cypress area. This was right up my alley, since horses and kids were my loves. I had a very short stint with another program a few years earlier that, unfortunately, lost its funding after only 2 sessions. But that experience planted a seed and I knew this would be something perfect for me. I went to the Volunteer Orientation where I met Cindy Lindh, SIRE’s founder, President of the Board and instructor, and about 6 or 7 other new volunteers. Little did I know at the time the hold SIRE would have on my heart for many years to come.

That first semester I volunteered at SIRE, one of my jobs was to meet Joan Woodard, the first Volunteer Coordinator, at J Bar M Ranch on Kluge Rd. where she would bring a borrowed horse trailer to pick up Sam, our roan colored Welch pony. I helped load up Sam and followed them back to Oakhollow Equestrian Park on Grant Rd. where the owners, Karen and Greg Zalar, graciously donated the use of their facilities for our SIRE classes one afternoon a week. The stalls there were full, so there was no room to board Sam or our other pony, Sambo. Sambo, a brownish-gray pony a little bigger than Sam, lived in a backyard pen at a home across the street from Oakhollow. So another one of my duties was to help stop traffic on Grant Rd. while Diane Ardissono, SIRE’s first volunteer, walked Sambo across the road to come work in the classes. The walk over was usually uneventful; however, the walk back, sometimes after dark during evening traffic, could be especially scary! Either Cindy Lindh or Physical Therapist, Diane Kornett instructed the 2 classes, with 2 or 3 clients each riding Sam, Sambo and other horses borrowed from Oakhollow. The schedule was written on a poster board tacked up by the stalls. It wasn’t long before I was given the title of “Tack Master” where my job was to make sure that all of the bridles, saddle pads, helmets…basically all of SIRE’s worldly belongings… were neatly packed away in our one large tack trunk kept in the Oakhollow tack room. It was a very exciting day when that tack trunk was replaced with an 8’ x 10’ wooden building that would eventually travel with SIRE to two other locations. SIRE remained at Oakhollow for 5 years and grew to riding 33 clients 2 afternoons per week. Two of those riders were Gabrielle Powers and Erin Brown who are both still riding today. Diana Moss and Karen Abbott began volunteering while SIRE was at Oakhollow and also remain with us today. Read more