Rescue Me: A (Bridal) Path to Renewal, Part 2

AUGUST 04, 2014 IN TIMES LEADER

I planned to post this last week, but it's all a blur now. The children pictured are therapy clients. The adorable little boy has a disease that constricts his muscles, and he is in pain much of the time. Riding helps strengthen and stretch his muscles, and he looks forward to seeing the horses and RJ volunteers twice a week, though the therapy is painful. The little girl is autistic and was barely communicating before she began riding. She isolated herself from her classmates and refused to touch anything that might get her hands dirty. After three weeks of riding, her teacher called the girl's mother to tell her she was interacting with the other children, telling them about the horse. She loves feeding Apache after her ride, something she never would have done three months ago. Here is the rest of the feature.

Twelve of the ranch horses are therapy horses (seven of the rescues,) but not all horses are suited to therapy jobs. They have to be desensitized to loud noises and sudden movements; they have to have patience; they cannot be claustrophobic because attendants have to walk on either side of them. Larish says she also brushes sensitive skin areas to make sure they won’t react, and the trained horses are not afraid of wheelchairs. The evaluations and training are for both the horses’ and patients’ safety.

Larish say a 30-year old rescue named Apache and 24-year old Cisco are two popular therapy horses because of their calm and sweet demeanors. Cisco was Berica’s mate and mourns her death.

“Cisco is a teacher, a wise old man,” Larish notes. “That horse knows it all. Whenever I’m upset I tell him all my troubles, and he just soaks it all in. He was endurance trained, so he can ride like the wind. But put a child on his back and he’s on his tip toes, he’s so gentle. If horses have a job to do, they feel much better.”

At RJ Ranch their jobs involve helping (with doctors’ permission) clients from 4 to 98 years old address issues with autism, Down syndrome, multiple sclerosis, stroke, cancer, brain injuries, behavior, addiction, physical and developmental disabilities and all types of abuse. Clients come through agencies or individuals in the Upper Ohio Valley.

Responses to the treatments are positive. Larish says one patient came to the ranch as a last resort after being given just weeks to live. She was using a walker and didn’t know anything about horses, but the staff worked with her, starting with grooming. One and a half years later, the patient is fully functional, living on her own and driving.

She notes a 4-year old patient who was non-verbal and non-functioning (having to be fed and dressed, etc. by others.) After three months of riding, he began speaking, repeating others’ words. He then started talking on his own and is now in the fourth grade with no IEP or behavior issues.

“What most of us find normal or annoying has some of my parents jumping for joy—like talking or playing in the mud,” says Larish. “It’s amazing what happens to children when they ride,”

That applies to many of the ranch’s workers, too. Larish’s daughter Julianna, 17, and Larish’s boyfriend’s son Jeremy, 23, manage daily chores and activities for the other nine volunteer workers, all teenagers. They work as a team and follow chore charts. There is a garden that provides most of the farm’s food, and Larish purchased a pig and cow for butchering. Julianna points out that the group comes up with its own projects and systems to make the farm work more efficiently, and the process builds leadership skills.

“There’s peer pressure,” Julianna says. “But it’s good peer pressure.”

Aside from regular farm chores like cleaning stables, mending fences and cutting and baling 200 acres of hay, the students are trained to assist the riders as leaders and attendants. Most are staying on the farm for the summer, even some that live nearby. Larish is in contact with their parents but says many of the kids who have lived on the ranches come from difficult home lives and are considered high risk, and this is a safe place for them to be.

Remembering her promise to provide sanctuary, Larish, called “Momma Julz” by the kids, says that many open up with stories about their lives at home and on the streets when they feel comfortable. She and Julianna tallied the number of teens with whom Larish has interacted with and/or housed, and they came up with 57. She does hope to work with probation and community service programs to reach more high risk youth.

“These kids used to be out partying,” she adds. “Now they work all day, and our parties are sitting around a campfire and eating s’mores.” 

But there is more work to do. Her most immediate need is completing the riding arena with rolling, sand and gravel. Ideally, they will close it in, also, so therapy is available in the winter months and on rainy days. As mentioned, there are 200 acres of hay to mow, so Larish would welcome volunteers for help there and with riding sessions.

Though the ranch is a nonprofit, currently all of the expenses are out-of-pocket, so donations of tack (especially child-sized,) lead ropes, halters, bareback pads, bits and bridles are welcome. Senior Equine feed, Special Horse feed and oats would also be useful. Many parents have to pay for therapy riding sessions because their insurance doesn’t cover them. Larish says sponsorships for those children would mean a great deal to parents facing additional medical costs. For more information on donating, equine therapy sessions or general riding sessions, email rjranch911@gmail.com or call (740) 686-2989. 

Native American animal totems indicate the spirit of the horse is about inner strength, drive and overcoming obstacles to pursue goals in life. Larish says that “watching people come alive again” around the horses—as they develop their strengths--keeps her mission with the ranch at the forefront. But it is Larish’s own ability to overcome obstacles that has given new life and purpose to a farm, to neglected horses, troubled children and patients and parents looking for hope.