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Community Corner

Chariot Riders Are Set to Host Spring Horse Show May 22 in Manchester

Assisted and unassisted riders to compete

After a long, stagnant winter and a lot of hard work, Chariot Riders therapeutic riding center will host its Spring Horse Show for assisted and unassisted riders on May 22.

The event, held at the center's Manchester location, begins at 9 a.m. with assisted riders and is free and open to the public.

Competition gives riders an opportunity to show their families what they can do sitting astride a horse, said Chariot Riders Director Linda Fazio.

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"We teach on ability, not necessarily the disability. So [assisted competitors] can be riding with able-bodied riders, but they've reached that level when they've sat astride the horse. The wheelchair is left behind and they're up there. It's independence and it's fun,"  Fazio said.

Although the show primarily features Chariot Riders students, other riders are welcome to bring their horses. A downloadable entry form is available on the center's website. 

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Not all Chariot Riders programs are geared toward competition though, Fazio said.

"Some programs we have, [students] do not sit astride the horse. We work with the different agencies throughout Ocean and Monmouth: mental health agencies, schools, DYFS. ... We gear a program that is appropriate for the child or adult that's coming in to Chariot Riders," she said.

Patch.com asked Fazio what keeps her motivated to do this kind of work.

"No day's the same," she said, noting a group of Wall High School students who were at the center for a trail ride when Patch.com visited, one of whom patiently fed her horse an apple from a bucket after the ride.

"Having (name withheld) hold the bucket. She normally doesn't stand still," said  Fazio about her student's progress.

Chariot Riders opened in 1989. Fazio prepared the site for North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA), became do-codirector in 1993, and purchased the facility in 1997, she said.

The tough, petite director began riding and competing in England when she was 11 years old and continued when she moved to the United States, she said.

"I saw therapeutic riding at one of the competitions and I was just amazed at how the horses behaved, because when you're a rider and competitor, you're goal is to have the horse go over a jump or do a dressage test ... and then to look and see how well the horse is performing with a physically challenged student without the cues that I was used to as a competitor to giving a horse," Fazio said.

The program is volunteer based, with 36 volunteers contributing time at the Manchester facility on a regular basis, Fazio said. The organization rents another facility in Farmingdale and runs a program there in collaboration with the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore so that its services can be offered to more riders,  Fazio said. 

"We were growing and having only the 11 horses here, you can't put that much pressure on the horses," she explained. 

Chariot Riders horses are donated and there is currently a waiting list to donate healthy, low maintainance horses, she said.

"I get numerous phone calls every month, asking if they can donate, especially in this economy," Fazio said.

"We take them in on a trial basis. We introduce them to wheel chairs and to the different components that they might come across by riding in a therapeutic program and you would be amazed at how quickly they settle down," she said.

Chariot Riders is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

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