Page 27 - Leisure Living Magazine: May 2020 Edition

“Fire” The Miniature Therapy Horse
Big Things Come In Small Packages
By Sherri Roth, Feature Writer
“Have another glass of wine, dear. We are bidding on a horse!” exclaimed Jan Helsper to her husband Richard as she headed to the silent auction tables. The two were winding down a fundraising evening for an Indiana therapeutic riding program where Jan served as Executive Director.
“One of our program’s sponsors had donated a min- iature horse weanling for the silent auction,” remembers Jan. “It was an unusual si- lent auction item, even for an event that attracted many people from the horse in- dustry. During the last few minutes of the fundraiser, I realized that no one had bid on the weanling.” Not want- ing to upset the donor, Jan put pen in hand and scrib- bled the bid that would make the Blue Roan mini named “Fire” a Christmas present for their daughter Shannon.
“Fire spent many
months at our family farm
as a companion to our hors-
es before his first interac-
tion with any participants
of the therapeutic riding program”, says Jan. It was during this time that Fire demonstrated his affectionate, playful and inquisitive nature. He was also very intuitive, making him a wonderful candidate for the therapeutic team working with children and adults. His small size would prove to be advantageous when working with wheel- chair-bound clients. To ensure that Fire met the safety requirements for the program, Shannon rigorously worked with him, instilling trust and
Samantha Kichurchak with miniature therapy horse Fire.
confidence while exposing him to as many differ- ent life situations as possible. Sirens, dogs, loud noises, flying Nerf balls, people approaching him quickly and/or from behind, parades...all were introduced slowly so that Fire was able to calmly accept any new situation that might present itself. Shannon’s training paid off in a big way as Fire expertly served children and adults with various disabilities and special needs, in particular chil-
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