02/20/2024
Meet Sara at Mangold Ranch LLC! Join our amazing program. “Have it Your Way Horsemanship” Horses are Therapy for our souls, they can help us in so many ways! We have fun activities in this program that teach you all about horses and yourself actually! Give us a call or text at 716-201-6229!
www.MangoldRanchLLC.com
Located in Lockport, NY
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 "𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲"
The best way to start this article is by introducing myself. I'm Sarah, and I manage a lot of the backend here at Mangold. I do the billing, maintain the backend systems on the website, write articles, make flyers, and do whatever else needs done around here. I also assist Megan with training our horses. I like to think I do a good job most of the time.
I am also very invested in our Have it Your Way program, because I'm disabled.
I received my autism diagnosis at eight years old through an independent neuropsychologist after my parents noticed there was just something different about me. I didn't really have friends my own age, was extremely verbal while somehow still managing to miss all the finer points of a conversation, and couldn't grasp math skills to save my life. I couldn't read facial expressions, and didn't really understand when other kids did not appreciate my weird mannerisms. And because of my autism, I've always been absolutely obsessed with animals of all kinds. I have a gift with them that I'm lucky has only grown as I've gotten older.
Later in life I developed rheumatoid arthritis and started needing hearing aids as a result, but I'm still doing okay.
When you grow up with a disability like autism, you get to experience all kinds of therapies. I had social skills club, special education, various peer groups with clever labels designed to help me learn to 'fit in' better. I spent a lot of my life either being put in programs with other disabled kids or given a neurotypical 'buddy' to try to help me out, one that typically didn't really want to deal with me. As a result, I often wound up either feeling like a burden, or worse, feeling othered because the programs I spent time in were obviously meant as a way to fix whatever was wrong with me, not as a way for me to have fun.
Equestrian opportunities for the disabled rider can often feel like this.
Therapy programs are great! They help a lot of people. They're an instrumental tool for helping some people to learn to live as they are. But oftentimes they result in students being siloed off into groups of other disabled people, riding as a way to 'fix' them as opposed to for leisure or as a hobby.
At the same time, it can be difficult to find 'regular' riding programs if you're disabled. I was a handful as a kid. I didn't have very good executive function and so I was a lot for an instructor to keep track of. I had trouble balancing myself and so I was hard to teach. I actually spent years thinking I couldn't do it at all! I still remember vividly being 'fired' from a volunteer opportunity at the local stable growing up because I just was not fast enough cleaning stalls and sometimes forgot to put the wheelbarrow away. I was ten years old and very upset about it.
Some programs won't take disabled clients at all and refer them to therapy programs that only service disabled people.
We want our program at Mangold Ranch Versatility to be different than that.
Everyone wants opportunities to learn, grow, and express themselves. Everyone wants to feel like they belong somewhere. And we want to craft a program where our disabled riders feel like they belong and can succeed and are wanted and valued as members of our community. And that's why we don't call the program "therapy".
Ten year old me could have been successful with just a little extra guidance. I was lucky enough that the ranch gave me a shot and found ways for me to be successful. I was so successful actually that over the summer I broke my first horse to saddle all on my own. I was so successful that I am now taking on my own training projects! I still always have Megan to ask for help--and I often do--but the things I can do independently go far beyond anything anyone ever expected me to be capable of. I just needed a chance.
We want our students to have a chance to find their passions too! We find ways for everyone to participate in horsemanship even if they can't--or in some cases do not wish--to ride! We do groundwork. We have horses that are broke to drive a cart. We have a donkey that loves to do obstacle courses with our students. There's never any pressure to enjoy horses a specific way or to become a certain level of rider in order to have value.
Most people don't want every leisure activity they have to be tied into 'fixing' whatever problem society has deemed they have. I do not need fixing, because there's nothing wrong with me. Sometimes I want to do things for fun and enjoyment, because they bring peace to my soul. Horses have helped me to grow as a person, but not because they were labeled therapy. They just do that.
Participants in our inclusive horsemanship programs don't need fixing, either. They're fine, just the way they are. We see you and we welcome you, and we want you to be members of our community.
