Cooperative Living September 2020 - 15

come around to gently shaking reins
up and down when she is on a horse
and gets the " walk on " command.
" That was huge, " Hopkins says.
" I really think she has a grasp of
the 'walk on.' That's how she does
it. She couldn't say 'walk,' but she
always says it with her reins. "
HORSE SENSE
Bella was destined to be horse meat.
The sleekly muscled, 20-year-old
Percheron was up for auction by the
pound, which meant she was headed
to a grisly end when a rescue group
in Salisbury took her in.
Now, she's the star of the show,
grazing gently in a grassy pasture
that adjoins Statum Road in between
tending to the needy.
" She's truly the heart of our
program, " Hopkins marvels. " She was
going to go and be food. And we are
so lucky that they got her and that
we were able to get her because she
is an angel. She is the most tolerant,
steadfast force I have ever seen. "
The other horses had previous lives,
as well. Choptank Electric Cooperative,
a strong supporter of Positive Strides,
sponsors Reds, a chestnut quarter-horse
gelding in his mid-20s. Pumpkin Patch
was a guest horse for fox hunts; the
20-something likes to be in your face,
but is an easy rider.
No matter the
level of need, all the
horses have an
uncanny knack to
adapt to their riders.
" The horses have
this innate sense that
I cannot explain for
the life of me, how
they know what each
of these individuals
need. But they just
know, " Hopkins says.
That's essential because training
traditional riders and students with
disabilities could not be more different;
the word patience might as well be
etched into each saddle.
" With a disability rider, you may
be so thrilled to see a slight movement
as the rider tells the horse to walk on, "
Hopkins says. " A lot of times, they may
have a delay in processing information
and you might have to wait quite a
while for them to process what we're
asking them to do. "
BIG HUGS
On an afternoon last March, the
farm was bustling. A group of about
10 at-risk youths from Dorchester
County was getting an introduction
to equine life.
They were part of a " Time to
Ride " pilot after-school program that
Hopkins developed with support from
Harvesting Hope, a youth and family
services organization in nearby
Cambridge, the Maryland Horse
Council and a grant from the United
Way of the Lower Eastern Shore.
Current and retired schoolteachers
" Almost every day, there's
one little thing that happens
that makes you say, 'You
know what? This is worth
all of the stress and worry. "
- Kimberly Hopkins
co-opliving.com
were on hand for in-class instruction
before riders got hands-on experience
with horses. During horse-leading
exercises, Hopkins spotted one teen,
hoodie pulled low, who was clearly
uninterested in communicating.
" He had this huge smile. It did my
heart good because even though he
didn't want anyone to see it, he was
loving it, " she says.
Then COVID-19 hit. The class is on
hold and the center has taken a hit. An
annual bicycle challenge that raises $2030,000
was scrapped, and rider fees are
down. The horses still must eat to the
cost of $60,000 annually; many require
special diets because of their age.
Hopkins and the center's board have
been working on a limited reopening
plan for the fall, knowing services will
be more important than ever. " We feel
like with COVID and so many other
things being uncertain in the world
today, we will have a larger need to offer
more of our mental health and wellness
programs, " she says.
Until then, she thinks of the ending
of the first " Time to Ride " class, when
one girl lined up on the bus to return
home.
" She got up the steps, stopped,
ran back to me and my teacher
friends, and gave us all hugs. So that
was a wonderful way to end that
first session. " ■
For more information,
visit positivestridescenter.org.
September 2020 | Cooperative Living | 13
http://www.positivestridescenter.org http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living September 2020

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