News from Around SIRE
Lauded Instructor Named Top Coach
PJ Murray Honored for Boundless Generosity as an Instructor SIRE’s talented riders weren’t the only team members hauling home the hardware at Top Hands. PJ landed the Steve Mack Top Coach Award. Involved with SIRE since 2007, PJ’s recognition by Top Hands’ officials for her instructional leadership, expertise and compassion confirms what SIRE clients, their families and her colleagues
Top Hands 2020 Success!
SIRE Riders Earn 64 Top Hands Medals Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo time means go time at SIRE and not just for the western fashion statements and unbridled love of horses. SIRE’s bold, brave riding team makes its annual grand entrance into the iconic competition as part of the Top Hands Horse Show, an event designed specifically for rider
Esteemed SIRE Instructor Lands Regional Award
SIRE’s Shayna Bolton considers being named 2020’s Credentialed Professional of the Year for Region 8 by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.) more than a personal accomplishment. On a broader scale, the accolade celebrates the program quality at the Spring facility where she is the site manager and an instructor and has helped expand SIRE’s impact
Year End Appeal
Levi: Made Strong for SDR Surgery Levi was born with cerebral palsy. His work at SIRE enabled him to have the selective dorsal rhizotomy surgery (SDR) last fall. Please help us reach our year-end fundraising goal of $75,000 to help riders like Levi obtain the benefits that only therapeutic riding can provide. Year-End Donation
Key Tech Tools for Professionals With Disabilities
If you are one of the nearly 50 million people with a disability in the United States, odds are you're familiar with the wide range of technological tools available to help you navigate your personal life more easily. As technology has continued to advance, tech-oriented assistance is branching into the workplace as well. Read on for a few tech
Onsite Sports Massage Plays Critical Role in Horse Wellness
If SIRE’s horses aren’t yawning, their equine managers know, perhaps, they should be. Yawning, chewing, licking and mouth movements are predominant expressions of a horse relieving tension and body toxins during a therapeutic horse massage. Thanks to in-house and regularly visiting equine massage therapists, SIRE’s herd members enjoy these benefits on a regular basis. Along with keeping a parental-like
Volunteer Grandfather Pays It Forward at SIRE
Volunteer Grandfather Pays It Forward, Honors His Grandson’s Helpers Halfway across the country, one of SIRE volunteer Randy Cochran’s six grandchildren lives with autism spectrum disorder. Seven-year-old Markus Randall, his namesake, resides in Virginia with Randy’s daughter and her active-duty military husband. Markus participates in various special programs to help him triumph and live his best life. Randy often
ALL SIRE HORSE SHOW
ALL SIRE HORSE SHOWThank you to everyone who participated in the All SIRE Horse Show. We had over 120 riders and guests participate in the day of activities. A special shout out to Team Mancuso Powersports and Can-Am for the Defender donation.
2019 SIRE Rider Survey Complete
Statistics Affirm Life-Changing Results Each new day at SIRE unveils another dimension of the powerful, healing connection between horse and human. We know this even without the analytics; however, we are elated when we see the numbers. Our riders and their families provide statistical proof that documents the success or our program and helps tell our story. Our 2018-2019
SIRE Riders Shine at State Special Olympics
The weekend of May 17-19 all three SIRE sites participated in the State Special Olympics in the Brazos County Expo Center in Bryan, Texas. Riders, staff and volunteers have spent months practicing and preparing for this three-day event. Twenty-one SIRE riders and 15 SIRE horses participated in the multi-day competition in the English and Western equitation, trail, and dressage classes. It
SIRE Offers Summer Educational Workshops
This summer, Anthony Busacca, Education and Training Director/Program Consultant for SIRE Therapeutic Horsemanship, will be offering three educational opportunities for those interested in furthering their expertise as a therapeutic instructor or are considering owning a horse and need to learn about basic equine care and stable management. The three sessions will be offered June through August. Topics include: Instructor Training Course - June 27-29 at
Veteran Horses Ride Off into the Sunset
Earlier this month, we said a tearful goodbye to two of our retiring and dearest program horses, Hadley and Runa. While plans had already been made to retire Hadley, it became increasingly apparent over the past couple of months that our dear Runa was giving us signs she was ready for retirement too. We worked closely with our vet and farrier
SIRE Riding Prepares Levi for SDR Muscle Surgery Success
Levi Redmann’s world incorporates a lot of connections to SIRE. For his recent Jurassic World/Pokémon themed sixth birthday party, his two faithful side walkers and his riding classmate topped the guest list. In December, Levi’s holiday gift-giving plan incorporated peppermints for the horse herd. Levi was born with cerebral palsy. His mom, Heather, said that it was
Special Olympics 2019
During the month of April several SIRE riders participated in the Special Olympics Area Equestrian Competitions. Riders 8 years and older competed in events including equitation and working trail horse. Riders 12 years and older who participated will have the opportunity to compete at the State level May 17-19 at the Brazos County Expo Center in Bryan, Texas.
SIRE Under The Stars – Exceeds Goal
SIRE Therapeutic Horsemanship commemorated 35 years of transforming the lives of people with special needs through horse therapy and that intuitive connection between horse and human by achieving its $200,000 fundraising goal at SIRE Under the Stars, April 5, at River Oaks Country Club. Carol and Jim Farnsworth and Mary Elizabeth Wise Sand co-chaired the western chic-themed event that
SIRE LOVES VOLUNTEERS
SIRE riders rely on the dedication of our incredible volunteers. Annually, SIRE volunteers donate more than 30,000 hours of service. This is equivalent to 15 full-time employees working for the entire year! Recently at SIRE, each site held an appreciation event for volunteers and recognized those with 500+ and 1,000+ volunteer hours. It is this dedication and passion that