April 12, 2007

Hope on horseback

Almaden couple offers hope on horseback to youth with physical and emotional disabilities

One Step Closer Therapeutic Riding program to hold open house April 14

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

One Step Closer Therapeutic Riding recently opened its stable doors to help individuals with physical or emotional disabilities and youth-at-risk at Calero Ranch Stables.

Mark and Landa Keirstead have found their calling in life—One Step Closer Therapeutic Riding. Photos by Dan Martin

One Step Closer Therapeutic Riding is an equestrian organization using the human-horse relationship to help participants reach their full potential. Whether on horseback or playing ground games, the activities assist healing and physical development, stimulate learning, and are aimed at building confidence and self-esteem. And the special bond that is created between horse and human is an added incentive.

“We’ve been open about eight weeks,” said One Step Closer program director Landa Keirstead. “We’re very excited to have the open house on April 14 to let people know we’re here. We want to be one of the best. We don’t call it handicapped; we call it handi-capable.”

Keirstead knows about the therapeutic value of the horse/human bond. When her father was serving in Vietnam she found solace with her equine. A cousin with cerebral palsy had a “great influence” on her as well. And she is certified with North American Riding for the Handicapped Association [NARHA]. One Step Closer is a nonprofit, Christian based organization.

“We were empty nesters and were questioning what we wanted to do,” said Mark Keirstead who volunteers at One Step Closer when he’s not working as a sales manager. In the past, he has volunteered with World Vision. The couple lives in Almaden Valley. “As Christians we found that this was God’s direction for us and this was the time to do it. And there is a great need for it.”

Therapeutic riding has been used since the early 1950s in Europe as a tool for improving the lives of individuals with physical disabilities. NARHA was founded in 1969 to promote and support therapeutic riding in the United States and Canada. Individuals with almost any cognitive, physical and/or emotional disability can benefit from therapeutic riding, vaulting, competition or other safe and supervised interaction with equines.

Six-year-old Gabe Martin loves his therapeutic riding classes as well as “his” horse Reba. “I sit up like this,” said Gabe sitting very straight and tall. “And I feel like a prince!”

The theory is that because horseback riding can be so gentle and rhythmically moves the rider’s body in a manner similar to a human gait, riders with physical disabilities often exhibit improvement in flexibility, balance and muscle strength. And, individuals with mental or emotional disabilities form a unique relationship with the horse that may lead to increased confidence, patience and self-esteem.

“I’ve always wanted to do something like this,” said advisory board member Martha Edwards, M.S.W. “To grow in a solid program with kids and adults with various problems is gratifying. One Step Closer combines the two things I love: social work and horses.”

One Step Closer nurtures the horse-human relationship blending natural horsemanship methodologies with the therapeutic benefits of the program. Disabilities and challenges that are addressed at One Step Closer Therapeutic Riding include: ADD, autism, amputations, learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, emotional disorders, spinal cord and brain injuries, and youth-at-risk. Besides therapeutic riding lessons, One Step Closer also provides grooming and horse care, ground lessons, equine psychology and behavioral instruction and natural horsemanship training.

EMQ Children and Family Services is nationally recognized for its innovative family-centered Wraparound programs that help children recover from trauma, severe depression, and thoughts of suicide and cope with problems with drug or alcohol abuse, severe attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and serious behavioral issues.. Soon EMQ plans to send kids to the One Step Closer Therapeutic Riding program.

“We're really excited,” said EMQ Director of Communications Kriss Austin. “One Step Closer is an amazing organization. They're not just teachers, they are certified therapeutic instructors. We heard about them through word of mouth. It's a small community that works with kids at risk. Not only will the children and teens learn how to groom, ride, and about horse psychology, they'll have the unique interaction of caring and responding to the equine. And some kids are more likely to express themselves to an animal than a human being.”

Besides horseback riding and physical therapy, new friends are made. Left: Gabe Martin, One Step Closer program director Landa Keirstead, and Cassie Wootan.

Gabe Martin is a 6-year-old with Down syndrome who loves his therapeutic riding sessions at One Step Closer.

“The poor kid had been evaluated and observed and he was tired of it,” said Gabe’s father Dan Martin. “This is really strengthening his core muscle group. His posture is better and he loves to go and looks forward to it. In fact, he can’t talk about anything else! I like the idea of therapy that doesn’t feel like intervention.”

Martin credits his wife Janine with discovering therapeutic riding and One Step Closer.

“Janine did a Web search and found some therapeutic riding, but they were prohibitive,” said Martin. “They were too costly or too far away. We live in Santa Teresa so One Step Closer was perfect for us to bring Gabe.”

The therapeutic riding is benefiting Gabe, but equally impressive is the horse-human bond.

“It’s really great to see Gabe enjoying something that’s so helpful for him,” said Janine Martin. “He has already developed a real attachment to ‘his’ horse Reba.”

And Reba has an attachment for him as well. Mark Keirstead commented to the Martins that when Gabe left the corral area after his therapy, the horse showed clear disappointment that their time together had ended. But perhaps the best accolades for One Step Closer Theraputic Riding are from Gabe.

“I sit up like this,” said Gabe sitting very straight and tall. “And I feel like a prince!”

For more information on One Step Closer Therapeutic Riding, visit www.osctr.org or call 997-7264 or visit their open house at Calero Ranch Stables, 23201 McKean Rd., San Jose, Saturday, April 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.