by Meta Machulis

A horse farm in Cabery is helping kids with special needs find new skills, self-confidence and success.

Heather Ridge Farm is an equestrian center specializing in therapeutic riding lessons for children. The farm and owner/instructor Cheryl Case are certified through NARHA (the North Amer-ican Riding for the Handi-capped Association), a nonprofit that promotes equine-assisted activities and therapies for individuals with special needs.

“I’ve been involved with horses most of my life,” Case said. She started Heather Ridge in 2002; now, the farm’s seven horses help 17 young riders from Dwight, Cullom, Braid-wood, Pontiac, Plainfield, Bloomington and Hinsdale.

One of those riders is seven-year-old Taylor Peck of Dwight. Taylor, who is developmentally disabled, has been taking lessons at Heather Ridge for a few months.

“She has low muscle tone throughout her body,” explained Taylor’s mother, Shelley Peck. The riding lessons force Taylor to practice keeping her trunk stable and improve her balance, Shelley said.

But the lessons aren’t all about work.

“It’s actually soothing to (Taylor),” Shelley said. “She loves the horse.” She added, “I don’t think that she realizes she’s doing a therapy.”

Case explained that the therapeutic lessons at Heather Ridge are designed to build confidence and muscle tone in a fun way.

“We play games, and everybody gets to have a friend they ride with,” Case said.

Riders first learn to make the horse walk and trot and how to  steer and stop. Grooming and bathing the horse, as well as putting on and taking off the saddle and bridle, also become part of the lessons. Once riders are comfortable on their horses, games are played to teach and improve skills.

“I try to incorporate following directions and executing the task,” Case said. She explained a game in which riders draw cards with parts of a sandwich and then have to move the horse around and place objects to “build the sandwich” in the same order that the cards were drawn. In another game, large dice are rolled. Students must count the total on the dice and count aloud while making the horse walk that many steps. Other games may involve bean bags or scavenger hunts on horseback.

“We try to incorporate speech and politeness,” Case said.

She said the lessons are good for special needs children who often have a hard time playing normal school sports because they cannot interact well with other children or have a difficult time understanding the rules of the game. What young riders learn at Heather Ridge carries over to daily living, too – Case said the lessons have helped improve children’s behavior at home and school and their interaction with other children.

“It makes a very big difference in families’ lives,” Case said. “I feel like I see miracles every day. I see parents who are crying. I see children speak who don’t speak…and it’s not just me; it’s something about that horse.” She said the children develop an emotional bond with the horses – something Shelley Peck has seen first-hand in her daughter.

“She cried a lot the first day (of lessons) because she was scared,” Shelley said. “The second day she was on the horse, she was like, ‘See ya!’” She added, “She loved all the horses.”

Shelley said Taylor also shares a bond with the other special needs kids at Heather Ridge, who all seem to understand that they have something in common. She said the lessons are calming to Taylor. She said Taylor did not like her regular therapy sessions, so her family is grateful to have found a type of therapy Taylor really enjoys.

“I think the program’s great,” Shelley said. “We are fortunate.”

A few weeks ago, Taylor and three other six- and seven-year-olds from Hea-ther Ridge traveled to Burr Ridge to participate in a Special Olympics event at the Ray Graham Associa-tion’s Hanson Center. The kids competed against a larger riding center, so there were about 25 to 30 kids total at the competition, Case said. It was the first time the Heather Ridge kids had been in such a competition, “which is sometimes emotional for them,” Case said. But “They did really well. I was really proud of them.”

The children competed in seven events, including a trail class, walking over a bridge and moving an object from one basket to another. The Heather Ridge group brought home a first, a second, a third, two fourth and a sixth place ribbon. Taylor won two of those ribbons.

“Getting her ribbon, she was really excited,” Shelley said. She added that, for kids with special needs, the Special Olympics are “like all-stars for our sons in baseball. It’s a really big deal to them.”

Heather Ridge Farm is part of Region Six of the Special Olympics. Case explained that children cannot formally compete in the Special Olympics until age eight, but she is a qualified Special Olympics coach and hopes to bring a group to competition next year.

Heather Ridge Farm also offers riding lessons for able-bodied children. Case said able-bodied kids at Heather Ridge compete in four equestrian shows in the Quad Cities area throughout the summer.

Private and semi-private, half-hour long lessons are offered at Heather Ridge. For special needs children, financial assistance for lessons is available through the State of Illinois and through the Livingston County Institute for Human Re-sources.

To make an appointment for lessons, call Cheryl Case at 815-715-0821. For more information, look up Heather Ridge Farm on Facebook or go online to www.heatherridgefarm.com