Aging horses, pandemic-related losses threaten future of therapeutic riding center in Poway

Back in 2014, three horse-loving friends who volunteered together at local therapeutic riding centers fulfilled their shared dream and launched their own center in Poway called Ride Above Disability. It provides lessons to riders ages 3 to 60 with autism, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, Rett syndrome, Down syndrome and chromosomal deletion syndrome.

What started seven years ago with just two horses and 16 students gradually grew into a thriving organization with 10 horses and 65 students by March 2020. Then came the pandemic, which devastated the center's finances. Then, on its heels, came a second challenge: aging horses. In recent months, veterinary bills have barely outpaced the income Ride Above Disability earns from its lessons.

Program director Allie Sarnataro said she and her RAD co-founders, equine director Katie Cram and executive director Wayne Jackson, are planning several fundraisers this fall, and they've created a wish list on Amazon for everything from hoof ointment to student riding helmets. But one thing they haven't done yet is raise the price of lessons, which haven't changed in six years, because many of the ranch's long-term students might not be able to afford to keep coming.

"We never thought we would have to deal with this in our careers," said Sarnataro, who also oversees RAD's volunteer program . "It's definitely been a learning experience."

Sarnataro, Cram and Jackson met about 10 years ago as volunteers in the Helen Woodward Animal Clinic's therapeutic riding program in Rancho Santa Fe. While working there and at other centers countywide, Sarnataro said they came up with ideas for their own unique riding program, which would allow students' siblings and parents to take lessons, would include training in horsemanship and would focus more heavily on skills and strength-training than on the students' individual disabilities.

RAD's lead instructor is Rebecca Palter, who is certified by the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH). Before joining RAD in 2016, she worked as a caregiver for a brain-injured child and she worked in the neuroscience field doing research on treatments for children with brain injuries. But she grew frustrated with the slow pace of her research and was eager to be more hands-on in helping special needs children. Tears fill Palter's eyes when she talks about the milestones her students achieve in their lessons. A 4-year-old girl who had been nonverbal at all of her lessons over the past two years unexpectedly said goodbye to Palter as she left the ranch on Wednesday.

"We don't know for sure how these things happen, but the rules here are different and these children respond to that," Palter said. "Normally people with disabilities are spoken down to, but here they're up above everyone on horseback and they're in control. Riding puts them right at the center of things."

Each student's lessons are tailored to the goals their families want them to accomplish. For many riders that may involve working on core strength, confidence, emotional control and positive social interactions. For more advanced riders, it may involve developing better motor and physical skills so they can ride independently or participate in horse-jumping and gymkhana (pattern racing) shows.

Since many students have been coming to RAD for four or more years, Cram said her challenge as equine director is to build a herd of horses suitable for students of all ages and skill levels. Dixie is a 16-year-old Norwegian fjord horse who is low to the ground for smaller students but can also carry heavy riders. She's also calm enough that even if a student had a grand mal seizure on her back, she wouldn't get spooked. Bai is a 6-year-old retired thoroughbred racehorse who is gentle-natured but well-suited to more independent riders. Then there's McKenna, a 26-year-old quarter horse/Arabian mix who's used just for easy lessons with young riders since she's nearing retirement.

Cram said horses usually get burned out doing lessons after three to four years, so RAD's horses never do more than two lessons a day to extend their working life. But eventually they age out, like Poppy, a 20-year-old Welsh pony who will retire at the end of this month to a pasture in Ramona. To replace the retirees like Poppy, Cram recently purchased two new horses: Cody, age 7, and Clark, age 9, who arrived in July from a ranch in Arizona. They're now in training to see if they have the right temperament for the job.

Because many of RAD's horses are older, Cram said their medical and feed costs are high. In order to reduce the chance of the horses developing Cushing's disease, a common pituitary gland problem in older horses, RAD buys them a more expensive low-sugar feed. The older horses also require regular treatments with medications to reduce inflammation in the cartilage and joints so they won't ever need daily pain medication.

RAD leases land from the Rolling Hills Boarding Stable, which is across the street at 15529 Sycamore Canyon Road in Poway. RAD offers student lessons five days a week, with Sundays off and Mondays set aside for volunteer lessons and training. Lessons for students who need extra support are 30 minutes long, while more advanced independent rider lessons are 45 minutes. Students with challenges sitting up on their horses require an instructor and up to three volunteers. The weekly lessons cost students about $48 apiece, with the rest of the cost covered by grants and donations.

RAD's annual budget is about $193,000, which covers the cost of the horses and their care, three full-time employees and three part-timers. Jackson, a Marine veteran, earns no salary. Lately, Sarnataro said, the center has been barely breaking even due to a surge in veterinary bills over the past six months. Because money has been tight, the center has been unable to do any upgrades to its property. It needs a new arena, a new horse trailer and it could use a flushing toilet, as well as some new office equipment, she said.

Because of the pandemic, RAD canceled its fundraisers in 2020, but this fall it will host a series of events to raise money for veterinary and other bills. In October, Sarnataro said she's planning an open house and chili cookoff. In November, they'll do a holiday photo shoot where families can pose with the horses. And in December there will be an online auction. For more details, visit radtrc.org.

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune.

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