Six-year-old Riley Cooper traversed the covered arena of
California Stables sidesaddle, looking as though she did it every
day of the week. Then, as if to prove her skills, she effortlessly
turned around and rode backwards.
Six-year-old Riley Cooper traversed the covered arena of California Stables sidesaddle, looking as though she did it every day of the week. Then, as if to prove her skills, she effortlessly turned around and rode backwards.
She’s a natural rider, said Head Riding Instructor Garry Stauber.
And yet, Cooper almost never gets to ride horses. Cooper – decked out in a bright pink shirt and sporting short brown hair – is one of 16 kids who participated in a five-day riding camp run by DreamPower, a nonprofit group that provides therapy through horses. From July 13 through Friday, participants ranging from 6 to 12 years old worked with horses to overcome social and developmental disabilities. They worked on a variety of skills, including building up their trunk strength, balance, social skills, and fine and gross motor skills.
Cooper has always loved horses, having ridden a large pony bareback when she was younger.
“Every time she saw a horse she would just light up,” said Cooper’s mother, Misty Chambless.
At the camp, Cooper was put on a horse that cuts cattle, and the horse was so sensitive to movement that the slightest turn of Cooper’s head turned the horse in a different direction.
But Cooper has more experience than most at the camp. About half the camp’s participants never rode a horse before, said Stauber. By the end of camp, the children were balancing Beanie Babies on their hands and playing catch while riding.
The camp costs participants only $50 and is run by donations and more than 30 volunteers. The youth group of South Valley Community Church brought about 15 teens to help campers with crafts and riding.
Some of the camp’s adult volunteers, such as Julie Whelan, took a week off work to be at the camp.
“I think, as an adult, it’s the most gratifying thing I’ve done,” said Whelan, who is on the DreamPower Board of Directors. “There’s just something about horses and kids.”
Six-year-old Ethan Lake, of Morgan Hill, liked brushing the horses.
“You have to get all the dirt off,” he said, smiling brightly and wiping his shirt with his hand like he was grooming a horse.
“I got to ride backward and forward,” he beamed. “It was fun. I thought it would be scary.”
A typical day for camp participants ran from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The children split into four small groups, each named after a type of horse, and moved through four stations – riding, grooming, arts and crafts, and a daily special.
The children combined crafts and horses on Thursday when they painted the mini ponies and mini donkey with glitter paint.
On Thursday, camp participants also learned how much a horse ate. The kids tasted oat grain, beet pulp, rice bran and flax seed – grains that are all parts of DreamPower horses’ diets. The children also got the chance to lick a salt block.
Volunteers then weighed hay, water and horse excrement in buckets to examine how much horses eat, drink and excrete each day – about 20 pounds, 90 pounds and 50 pounds, respectively.
In addition to riding and crafts, camp participants enjoyed farm life. They petted horses, a young calico cat and chickens. Aaron Jackson, 13, of Gilroy, enjoyed petting a white and tan hen, he said.
“It was soft like a horse or a dog,” said Jackson.
Some camp participants also got to see nature in action. High School Youth Pastor Isaac Servano of South Valley Community Church swatted the unsuspecting fly with a white towel near the arts and crafts table and the fly eventually made it into a spider’s web.
“What’s cooler for a kid than to see a spider catch a fly,” said Servano.
Servano had just as much fun as the children, who he enjoyed working with, he said.
“They got the cards stacked against them,” he said.
For instance, one child attending the camp was 13 years old, but already had nine surgeries and expected to have several more. At the camp, the teen was able to ride horses, make crafts and enjoy time with friends. Everything changes while the children are at the camp.
“You watch these kids smile and it’s a beautiful thing,” Whelan said.
