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Ride On Center for Kids

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Written by Katherine Kennedy Monday, 07 May 2007

Horseback riding motivates challenged lives

Nancy O’Meara started Ride On Center for Kids in 1998 as a hobby to help children with special needs. She began the organization with a horse and four children. Now she teaches physical, emotional, social and educational skills to 120 clients whose ages range from two- to 80-years-old.

“There have been tremendous improvements in clients,” O’Meara said. “I have seen kids who went on to compete in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and won trophies and belt buckles, men with strokes learn to walk by themselves again and soldiers from Iraq who are amputees go from being afraid to ride a horse to riding confidently by themselves.”

R.O.C.K. uses hippotherapy, a treatment that uses multidimensional movement of a horse to simulate normal human walking, and therapeutic riding to improve the lives of the special needs population of Williamson and surrounding counties.

It provides services to people with many different disabilities and challenges including amputations, autism, brain injuries, stroke, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, multiple sclerosis and at-risk students.

“We all have potential, but sometimes it gets trapped. People with disabilities are put in a certain box by others, but through our program, change is inspired and our clients can expect great things,” executive director and physical therapist O’Meara said. “Our program offers a catalyst to change by providing choices and improving life skills. When you put someone on a horse, you see them wake up and become empowered.”

One of the program’s goals is to teach and improve life and functional skills that can be used at home and in school. O’Meara said R.O.C.K. also tries to help their clients become better citizens, which will benefit the community and society as a whole.

“This is a huge confidence builder, partly because it empowers students by showing them that someone is listening. They have to learn to communicate with the horse to get it to do what they want or go where they want to go,” O’Meara said.

Leadership Round Rock

Leadership Round Rock, a leadership program of the Chamber of Commerce, provides education and information to participants about Round Rock, Williamson County and state government.

As a class project, the group built and landscaped a sensory trail using different types of materials that horses will be led over allowing the rider to experience different sounds, feels and smells.

“We needed a trail that could be accessed from our new arena,”said Joan Schroeder, program director. “Riding inside the arena gets boring for the students. We don’t use only one horse, and we don’t want to use only one riding experience.” Map for Ride On Center for Kids and Leadership Round Rock