Western Day

June 7, 2009

This year's 24th annual Western Day was a HUGE success!  Thank you to everyone who participated!!

Brent Hooper, a long time B.O.K. Ranch therapeutic riding student can now add business owner to his resume!

For some time now Brent along with his caregivers have been working as pet sitters when owners go out of town. Brent and his dedicated Mother, Kathy have developed a book to act as a guide for both pet sitters and pet owners. This book has places to list emergency and travel information, diet and exercise information and a lot more.

Brent and Tish at Bark in the Park

Mighty Update

As many of you already know, our beloved Haflinger gelding, Mighty, has had a rough go of it for the past month. 

On Monday, September 15th, Mighty was admitted into the hospital at Peninsula Equine Medical Center with a very high fever of 105 degrees. Over the course of the following few weeks, Mighty’s fever of unknown origin continued to play havoc with his red and white blood cells and his protein levels. As a result of his mysterious illness, Mighty also started to colic and ended up having surgery to remove an impaction.

After several weeks on IV fluids and around the clock care in intensive care, Mighty was released from the hospital and moved to Ann Kulchin’s house where he is able to be closely monitored and fed small amounts of food around the clock.

Mighty still has a long road of recovery left in front of him, but it appears that he is definitely moving in the right direction.  The B.O.K. Ranch would like to say Thank You to the Peninsula Equine staff, who invested a great deal of time and energy into saving Mighty’s life.  We would also like to say Thank You to Sarah Fagan and her mother Tracie Tavel, who have diligently made 4 trips a day to Ann’s house, making sure Mighty’s discharge instructions were flawlessly carried out.  B.O.K. would also like to say Thank You to Mike and Theresa Mansfield, Mighty’s owners who decided to stick it out with Mighty and have made sure that he has been able to receive excellent care throughout his ordeal.

Autism Tree Project Foundation Golf Tournament

On July 20, 2008 both Cadence Therapy and B.O.K. Ranch were happy to support the Autism Tree Project Foundation by sponsoring a hole at their 3rd annual golf tournament fundraiser. The Autism Tree Project Foundation promotes autism education and early intervention programs in California. Well Done!

Horse Donations

The B.O.K. Ranch’s equine staff is made up of an extraordinarily gifted group of horses. Each horse in our program fits a special niche and is able to rise to any occasion, even when asked to go into stressful situations.

At B.O.K. we consider our horses service animals, similar to service dogs who work with people with visual impairments and mobility issues. When our horses are in the arena they are at work and are not treated as pets during that time. When they are outside of the arena they are able to mingle within a heard and just be “regular” horses.

The B.O.K. Ranch does take Horse Donations and even on occasion has the financial means to purchase potential therapeutic riding horses.

Any new horse coming into our program must fit within this basic list of criteria:

• Must be 100% sound at all gaits.

• Must be considered a “been there, done that” type of horse.

• Must be level headed and able to pass extensive temperament tests.

• Must be available to enter our program on a 30 day trial.

• Must be able to be tied.

• Must be excellent with the farrier and veterinarian.

• Should be between 14.1 hands and 15.3 hands tall.

• Should be between the ages of 9 years and 18 years old.

All breeds are welcome; there is no particular breed or training discipline that makes for an ideal therapeutic riding horse. An excellent therapeutic riding horse is a special breed unto itself.

Employment with B.O.K. Ranch

The B.O.K. Ranch is currently looking to hire:

NARHA certified riding instructors: As a premier accredited center, all of our riding instructors must successfully complete and obtain a minimum of a registered level instructor certification from the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association.

B.O.K. Ranch does offer mentorship programs for NARHA instructors in training.

A vaulting coach: Vaulting coaches are needed to support interactive vaulters ages 7 and up. Vaulting coach qualifications: Must hold a NARHA instructor certification and a NARHA vaulting certification. Familiarity with the American Vaulting Association is a plus.

A therapeutic carriage driving instructor: Inquire within

Working Students: Working students are needed in assisting the equine director, groom and school the horses. Working students must have an excellent equestrian knowledge base. In exchange for helping with the horses, working students are offered riding lessons with Ashley McIntyre, B.O.K.’s head riding instructor.

Volunteers: Volunteers are always needed! Please visit our volunteer page to learn more about ways to help.

These are some of the basic differences between Hippotherapy and Therapeutic Riding. These differences and similarities are reflective of NARHA certified centers only. There are many facilities throughout the country not affiliated with NARHA that are conducting programs for people with disabilities that most likely differ from the following list.

Hippotherapy

Therapeutic Riding

*There are always exceptions to the rule, many of these differences and similarities are changed and modified on an individual basis.*