New center aims to provide rides for hundreds on waiting list.
by Allison Joyce
TheShopper.com
May 20, 2008
EQUI-KIDS, a nonprofit therapeutic riding program for kids and adults with mental, physical and emotional disabilities, celebrates its 20th birthday next year.
The greatest gift this incredible organization could have received will come just before this milestone anniversary when later this summer staff and volunteers begin the process of moving its operations—lock, stock, barrel and horses—to a brand new riding center that Executive Director and Founder Barbara S. Ford says will not only expand the program to welcome more riders, but will also belong to EQUI-KIDS. Up until now, the program leased property to sustain its modest facility at Brookgreen Farm.
“We had expanded as much as we could where we were. As the word has spread about the benefits of the program, both our classes and our waiting list have grown. It’s heartbreaking, but there are over 300 on our waiting list right now. But we just couldn’t grow anymore where we were,” Barbara explains. “And we could only provide classes in fair weather without an indoor riding facility. That’s really been our only regret…that we couldn’t help more people who really need our program.”
That all changed when local developer/builder Jim Arnhold, Chairman of H.A.V., Inc. and the late Breck Wood of William E. Wood and Associates found out about EQUI-KIDS.
“Our family doesn’t even ride, but I could immediately see the importance of this program to our community and people with disabilities,” Jim recalls.
He devised a plan to develop a riding center at Heritage Park, a new community he was a partner in, and they donated 92 acres of the property to EQUI-KIDS as part of the project. He also joined the Board of Directors and heads up a Capital Campaign that aims to raise $5 million for the center.
“We have our work cut out for us,” Jim quips affably, “but it’s truly a labor of love for the many businesses and community members who have generously and tirelessly joined our campaign to help EQUI-KIDS reach its goal to establish a Regional Therapeutic Riding Center.”
Barbara’s own love of horses, riding and the outdoors since childhood led her to start EQUI-KIDS, a North American Riding for the Handicapped Association Premier Accredited Center, during the late ’80s.
“I knew of other programs like EQUI-KIDS, but there was nothing here for children at that time. I partnered with the local 4-H and soon had six kids and one pony,” Barbara says.
Thanks to volunteers, donations and all of the help EQUI-KIDS has received over the years with fundraising events, the program grew to 14 horses and ponies and as many as 150 volunteers. For the past few years the program has been able to give rides to as many as 70 people a week. Many riders come via school partnership programs. Malibu Elementary and Linkhorn Academy are two local schools that participate.
“We started out mainly with children and still have many kids in the program. But what we found out is that adults with mental and physical disabilities are just as influenced by the riding and the relationship with the horses as our younger riders,” Barbara elaborates.
From left: Director of Development Jill Arnone, Board Member and Chairman of the EQUI-KIDS Capital Campaign Jim Arnhold, and Executive Director and Founder Barbara S. Ford.
EQUI-KIDS accepts children as young as three or four and adults up to 60 years old. “To qualify for the program, a doctor’s approval is required,” Barbara adds. Riding therapy has been very successful in treating eating disorders, learning disabilities, chronic fears, autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome and Cystic Fibrosis as well as a host of other disabilities. In addition to 12-week sessions, EQUI-KIDS offers a variety of programs that include the on-site weekly horseback riding lessons; a summer camp program; summer lessons for individuals on the waiting list; a mobile equestrian outreach program; participation in local, state and national competitions, and school partnership programs. Expansion has always been a primary focus for EQUI-KIDS.
“We really wanted to establish a riding center that would allow us to expand our program to better serve Virginia and North Carolina. As an example, it’s been difficult to provide lessons for those adults in wheelchairs. At the new facility we will have the space and the resources for carts that kids and adults will be able to drive so that they can have the same type of experience our riders enjoy,” Barbara says.
The new location and the sprawling acreage at EQUI-KIDS’ disposal plus the new buildings, which will include an indoor riding arena, will allow the program to operate year-round and accommodate many more horses. It’s always been an ambitious, yet attainable plan, according to Jim.
“Our Capital Campaign, which just kicked off this year, is really attracting the attention of businesses and individuals who share the vision we have to make EQUI-KIDS a visible and an integral part of the community. Everyone is looking forward to EQUI-KIDS’ arrival. Heritage Park homeowners keep asking me when the horses are going to get here,” Jim says with a laugh. “It won’t be long now.”
EQUI-KIDS accepts children as young as three or four and
adults up to 60 years old.
The first phase of the anchor structure, a combination barn and administration facility, is near completion under Jim’s leadership and thanks to contributors such as TowneBank, The Patricia and Douglas Perry Foundation, the Napolitano Family Foundation, Breck Wood, William E.Wood & Associates, Dick Thurmond President, Suffolk Concrete, Jeff Hebenstriet, Allan Gibbs, Capital Concrete, Titan Concrete, A&W Contracting, Watson Electric, Curtis Key Plumbing, Trent Merritt, the Beasley Foundation, HSMM which has taken on the project in a big way, and hundreds of other in-kind and cash donors.
Jim says the list is long and that interest in the project continues to grow.
In addition to the Capital Campaign, fundraising events take place throughout the year to support EQUI-KIDS. On May 14, EQUI-KIDS is hosting a fun-filled golf tournament at Oceana Naval Air Station Golf Course. Registration is at 10:00 a.m. and the tournament includes a live auction, prizes and an awards dinner. EQUI-KIDS is seeking sponsors as well as players and volunteers.
On Saturday, June 7th, there’s the 5K Trot, One Mile Gallop and 1.5 Mile Run with the Hounds. “We are always seeking volunteers to help in any way they want to contribute,” Director of Development Jill Arnone says.
“Whatever time anyone has to give is so appreciated. We also love to have visitors and we’re really looking forward to having plenty once we move to Heritage Park,” Barbara adds. “All you have to do is see the joy on the faces of our riders to appreciate what the program does for them. It instills confidence, raises self-esteem, builds strength—mentally and physically—and forges a bond that, simply put, changes lives forever. We see it over and over, and we know it’s important for our community to see how EQUI-KIDS is helping thousands of children and adults throughout our region too. And now, thanks to Jim and the generosity of so many who share our dream, we hope waiting lists at EQUI-KIDS will be a thing of the past.”
EQUI-KIDS
1252 Oceana Blvd.
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
757-425-8833
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