SIRE, Houston’s Therapeutic Riding Centers

Riders apply now at all SIRE sites!

Therapeutic riding classes at our three SIRE locations have been running at maximum capacity. Up until now prospective clients were on a waiting list, anticipating a spot to open up in the schedule.

All that is changing this year.

Growth that our Spring and Fort Bend sites is creating an opportunity to serve more clients. As we construct new arenas and enlarge the office and barn facilities at these locations, we will be able to accommodate more riders at Hockley, Spring, and Fort Bend County @ Sienna Stables.

Summer Camp starts June 4th, and the Fall semester begins August 25th.

Please contact Jo Ann Trepl to schedule an evaluation. 281-356-7588, ext. 203.

By Peggy Wagner, Director of Volunteer Services

If volunteers are the heart of the SIRE program, then Volunteer Coordinators keep that heart beating!

With extraordinary planning, detailed organization and eloquent communication, our Volunteer Coordinators recruit, train and schedule the 200+ volunteers who give their time to SIRE each week.

Two and a half years ago the Volunteer Coordinator position at Hockley became available. Kassie Collins and Penny Kvello decided to share the job. These ladies are the epitome of devotion. You can find them in the office going over papers, in the stall brushing a horse, in the arena side-by-side with their volunteers, and at every special event doing whatever needs doing. Neither wanted to give up her time in the arena, so, in addition to their duties as staff members, they “volunteer” on their days off in order to spend time with the clients and horses that are so dear to their hearts. Thank you, Penny and Kassie!

We thought it was going to be hard to fill the shoes of our SIRESpring Volunteer Coordinator, Cathy Jorgenson, when she moved to Austin in late 2006. But then almost immediately, a Hockley volunteer, Jenny Dorsey, expressed an interest in the job. She brings with her a wealth of experience managing volunteers, as she is the current District Director of 12 chapters of the National Charity League, two-year president of her Cypress Creek NCL chapter, and past PTO President at her daughter’s schools. All this, along with over 900 volunteer hours at SIRE, make her the perfect fit. She, too, will continue to volunteer with her special clients at our Hockley site. Welcome, Jenny!

Susan Young, Heidi Jolly and Melisa Smith very generously donated their time to serve as Volunteer Coordinators for SIREFort Bend in 2006. The future growth of that site necessitated the addition of a part-time Volunteer Coordinator staff position. We are thrilled that Melisa Smith has accepted the job. Melisa brings her experience as a corporate trainer, the proprietor of an aviation insurance company, a riding instructor, and a volunteer with the Tejas Pony Club. Welcome, Melisa!

I, too, started as an arena volunteer at SIRE in 1984. I’ve served in many different capacities over the years, including six years as Hockley Volunteer Coordinator and twelve as a Daily Coordinator. With three locations now, there was a need for consistency among the sites, as well as support for the Volunteer Coordinators; hence, my new job as Director of Volunteer Services was born. I am very excited and honored to be among such a dedicated staff and look forward to being a part of SIRE’s progress and expansion.

On Sunday, January 28th, 2007 volunteers, clients and staff gathered at the Katy Visual Performing Arts Center to celebrate the outstanding dedication and performance of our volunteers and clients in 2006. Over 150 attendees flocked in from the Hockley, Spring and Fort Bend sites to partake in a pot luck banquet and receive awards for a job well done!

The following awards were given to the wonderful folks who contributed both their time and support to make it possible for SIRE to serve riders with disabilities at their facility in 2006.

President’s Award: Pat Roddy
Warren Reininger Memorial Award: Richard “Whitey” White

SIRE Fort Bend @ Sienna Stables
Outstanding Staff Member: Melisa Smith
Horse of the Year: Jesse
Horse Angel: Michelle Crawford
Jr. Volunteer of the Year: William Cary
Volunteer of the Year: Susan Young

SIRE Spring
Outstanding Staff Member: Truman Alexander
Horses of the Year: Rudy & Reggie
Horse Angel: Paul Lamb
Jr. Volunteers of the Year: Sarah Lechmann, Elizabeth Lechmann
Volunteers of the Year: Debbie Forth, Laura Claghorn

SIRE Hockley
Outstanding Staff Member: Karen Abbott
Horse of the Year: Ransom
Bill Ryan Memorial Award: Nancy Coyle
Horse Angel: Cheryl Kersh
Jr. Volunteers of the Year: Zach Gavia-Peyton, Emily Laurel
Volunteer of the Year: Luis Cardenas

By Lorraine Ostrowski, SIRE Spring Site Coordinator

Some of the earliest recorded artistic expressions were drawn on cave walls by Paleolithic painters. SIRESpring drew from this inspirational imagery by creating a “painted pony” for our site Show-Off.

On November 18, 2006, our riders, ages three to eighteen, showed-off their best equestrian talents for family and friends.

“Painting Pal” was the highlight of is year’s program, which is offered to all our riders who are too young, or can not, or do not attend the Top Hands Horse Show or Special Olympics Games. We saw demonstrations of developmental riding, posting and two-point drills, obstacle courses, musical horses, barrel and pole bending, and even a YMCA rendition on horseback.

Everyone participated in the annual blessing of the horse herd and shared in a pot luck feast provided by both parents and volunteers.

Clients were invited to paint, embellish, and imaginatively transform our real-live horse, Pal, with hand decorations and Indian symbols.

The horse was chosen as the “canvas” because it is through the spirit and movement of the horse that equestrian therapy benefits people with disabilities.

Medals and ribbons were awarded, along with fun and lasting memories with SIRESpring’s very own “Painted Pal”.

Appropriately named, our Trailblazers Luncheon held on November 2, 2007 gained new ground in financial support for SIRE’s mission. The presentation at our fifth annual fund-raising luncheon began with a short, heart-touching video, produced by Bob Allen from TV Channel 13. A quiet settled into the room, and the only sounds that could be heard were an occasional emotional breath and hushed tears.

As testimony to the remarkable benefits achieved through equestrian therapy, four-year-old Larke Dampeer, a rider at SIRE Fort Bend @ Sienna Stables, was carried to the podium by her father, accompanied by her older brother. Her mother spoke about how Larke was born with a zero Apgar score, which means she had no breathing nor did she have a heartbeat. Therapeutic riding at SIRE has had such a dramatic improvement on her life, that in less than two years, Miss Larke can walk independently, has more fluid movement in her upper body, and has started to feed herself. All of the physical improvements have allowed Larke to now be able to interact and play with other children her age. The ability to communicate with her SIRE horse, Jessie, is a great boost to her self-confidence, and the SIRE program, overall, has brought Larke and her family a greater level of joy and quality of life.

Another young client, Emily Hughes, has difficulty walking, but can independently ride her horse; it takes great focus for her to quiet the spasms, but she can complete a trail course at the Top Hands Horse Show each year. Riding on the back of a horse, Emily can leave her limitations on the ground and experience freedom of movement and confidence of self.

Now a beautiful young woman, Emily Lund, who has ridden with SIRE for six years, progressed from a very frightened child with three volunteers to a confident, independent equestrienne. Emily will now be leaving SIRE to head off to college on a full scholarship that covers her studies through her Masters degree!

It is hard to imagine that we could touch so many people, so deeply in one hour that they would commit more than $100,000 to our mission. Truly remarkable, because SIRE receives no state or federal funding.

The money raised at SIRE’s Trailblazers Luncheon will help bring the lives of many disabled adults and children closer to physical, mental and emotional healing.