Horses can play a leading role in our lives if you let them. Here at PSA (Poland Springs Academy) I can proudly say that our school is one of the only schools that offer the chance of therapeutic riding lessons, and Equestrian lessons. In this class it teaches the kids the responsibility of owning a horse and how to take care of them, and learn what actions cause a positive and negative reaction. Every lesson we start grooming them we saddle them up and at our own pace we learn our limits and set goals with the horses. You can bet I signed up; I love working with the horses, and every morning, when I arrive I pop in and visit them while they eat their breakfast.

Recently one of our horses, Lady, has grown ill; being 27 years old she is weak and has bad legs, and is no longer available for riding. I’ve learned that she needs a lot of extra care. We check her legs everyday for swelling and to see if they are hot. These are signs of discomfort. Luckily we have also recently gotten two new horses a standard bred, named Mimi, and A Percheron half Standard bred name Livian. Though sadly they haven’t been ridden enough to have riders on there back daily. They should be ready the spring of 2004 hopefully. So my aunt Tina Hanscome, and Jean Kaulback the riding instructor, as well as myself, are carefully getting them use to us so we can get them into the speed of things. They will help with the growing demand of the students that really need the service that the horses give.

Each riding lesson works in different ways for every child. For me I suppose, it makes me feel sort of a sense of belonging, and makes me feel in lots of ways that I am one with nature, as silly as that may sound. For each student that sense is different. This also teaches students that have a hard time learning to calm down and stay focused. They seem to relax and focus while they are on a horse. They even feel like they are in control so to speak. Though lately money has been tight hospital and vet bills alone just on Lady have cost quite a lot. So Jean and Tina are trying hard to raise the money on there own. We also offer riding lessons after school for those that are interested call 998-4566. Any help you can offer will be appreciated.