At Camp, Success Is Counted Bit by Bit

Spencer Teplitz bounced up and down like a pogo stick in the shade of a Newbury Park horse stable.

The 11-year-old autistic boy kept his day-camp helpers busy when he impulsively bolted or kicked dirt.

But something happened when riding teachers helped Spencer mount a chocolate-brown horse named Kharouselle. The boy quieted as he circled the arena. Then, improbably, he let out a big yawn.

“He’s relaxing,” said Gloria Hamblin, who runs the Ride On program for disabled children and adults. “It’s a little thing. But everyone gets excited with even the little things. It’s a step ahead.”

Tiny victories are the payoff for the organizers, volunteers and donors behind Ride On. The group began operating a therapeutic equestrian program out of a dusty stable next to the Ventura Freeway four months ago.

The nonprofit group has been working with disabled riders out of its Chatsworth base since 1994. Organizers jumped at the chance to expand into Ventura County when the Conejo Recreation & Park District offered a 40-year lease on the Walnut Grove Equestrian Center, tucked against a leafy residential neighborhood.

A local homeowner association donated the 13-acre property to the park district and Ride On agreed, for a $1-a-year fee, to create a program that organizers say will one day serve hundreds of county residents.

So far, the group has spent $100,000 adding portable offices and renovating a stable, barn and riding arena. But there is much left to do, said Bryan McQueeney, Ride On’s executive director.

More horses and ponies are needed to add to the five already donated. The animals are tested to make sure they remain calm around children who might kick or scream.

Ride On also hopes to attract speech pathologists and physical therapists for on-site therapy. Most of all, McQueeney said, the group needs volunteers and money.

Organizers scored something of a coup when business magnate David Murdock agreed to host a fund-raiser.

Tex Ward, general manager of the Conejo recreation district, said he is impressed with group members’ hard work. In coming weeks, Ride On plans to cut riding trails into the hills surrounding the stable to further enhance the property.

“They’ve done a marvelous job in a short period of time,” Ward said. “Partnerships like this stretch our tax dollars--and they need stretching.”

Therapeutic riding began in California 30 years ago and has grown to about 85 horse clubs across the state and in Nevada.

Riding teachers say the experience of sitting on a 6-foot-tall horse builds the confidence of disabled people and helps strengthen muscles that otherwise are not used.

“It moves the pelvis in the same way as when you walk,” Hamblin said. “And when the horse trots, it’s the same movement as jogging.”

On a recent day, disabled children from a Thousand Oaks day camp took turns circling the arena.

Andy Clemens, 14, mounted a horse named Gem with assistance from instructor Julie Ringwood.

Volunteer Megan McQueeney, 15, led the horse by the reins, while two spotters walked on each side to help Andy should he need it. But Andy, who is developmentally delayed, easily handled the simple instructions spoken by teacher Sara Jones.

Jones wore a microphone headset and her words were amplified through a speaker--necessary because of the nearby freeway noise.

Ward said Caltrans plans to eventually build a sound wall, which should diminish the problem.

Bryan McQueeney’s involvement as a volunteer in therapeutic equestrian programs goes back 17 years. But three years ago, he suddenly became a client when daughter Megan developed a bone infection so severe that she was temporarily paralyzed.

During the three months that Megan relearned how to walk, she rode at the Chatsworth Ride On stable. Even though Megan is again in good health, her father said it was an experience he will never forget.

“Never did I think that I would be using a therapeutic equestrian program,” he said. “But that’s the point. You just never know when it’s going to be relevant to your life.”

FYI

The group’s Web site is https://www.rideon.org. To volunteer, call 375-9078. For more information on a Sept. 8 fund-raiser at David Murdock’s Hidden Valley ranch, call 496-0767. Tickets are $150 a plate.