Riding center helps kids with special needs

Linda McLendon started Full Circle Therapeutic Riding Center in Palm City 19 years ago with one horse and a boy with autism. The 65-year-old former legal secretary and published author has since worked with 400 special needs kids. She’s watched several of them start riding as toddlers and progress into adulthood. McLendon grew up in Martin County and hopes to expand the program, find a (hopefully) donated piece of land and groom someone to take her place before she retires.

“I learned how to ride my first horse at Payson Park in Indiantown,” she said. “I always had a dream of working with horses and children. I started out teaching 4-H kids. A mother called me and asked me if I could teach her autistic son. My friend donated a horse and I started teaching him. He rode with me for 15 years.”

McLendon is sponsored by Parent to Parent of the Treasure Coast, Inc. Many of the children in the riding program are referred by Parent to Parent, which is a resource for parents of children with special needs. Many of the kids open up once they’re on a horse, even if they are simply walking around a ring.

“It definitely works or I wouldn’t have walked in circles for 20 years,” McLendon said. “I walked 383 miles last year. I have parents that tell me that their child is very quiet and reserved until they come out here. They save up things to tell me.”

New royal court

Palm Beach County has a new royal court — with a western twist. The 2nd Annual Miss and Mister Rodeo Palm Beach County pageant was held Oct. 13 at Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in suburban West Palm Beach. Contestants of all ages competed in several events, from modeling and western wear to horsemanship for the older divisions. Pageant director Chelsea Chilcutt was thrilled at how many locals ended up winning their divisions.

“I had 37 contestants this year, up from 23 last year,” she said. “It was open statewide, but it was great to have locals competing.”

Chilcutt ran the show, keeping everyone on time and organized. About 100 spectators showed up, leaving standing room only around the pavilion. As usual, the smallest contestants stole the show.

“The little ones were so much fun to watch,” Chilcutt said. “It’s all about their personality. The older ones can practice. The younger ones are judged on whatever they feel like doing in that second.”

Now that the dust has settled and the winners have walked away with their sashes and belt buckles, they will begin making appearances at community events.

“Their first event will be The Acreage fall fest,” Chilcutt said. “There is a parade Nov. 3 and the fall fest is on the 10th. They will also appear at the West Palm Beach Rodeo Nov. 16 and 17.”

Chilcutt is thankful for the help she received from more than 20 sponsors and the Palm Beach County Mounted Posse, which is headquartered at JBEC.

“It was awesome,” she said. “We had a lot more support this year.”


Comment

This news was published in the Palm Beach Post newspaper on October 25, 2012 and was written by Amy Bower Doucette.

Hippotherapy is therapy for conjunction with other therapies not instead of them. Hippotherapy is a form of equine medicine. Students never learn to ride, but they seize to the horse's movement and they achieve muscle and improve circulation and balance while getting a massage of the organs by improving the digestive system. Always is run by a physiotherapist and a riding instructor.

At first, the classes last a few minutes and go up to 45 minutes. At the end of the class the student lies face down like a sack of potatoes to remove fluid from the lungs, which is difficult for people in wheelchairs. Hippotherapy is almost always made with hair or wool, to prevent rubbing. Many times, depending on the degree of disability of the student, you need a back-rider or someone riding behind the student to catch him.

Many classes begin with cleaning the horse by the student. This helps the student know the animal while improving their coordination and muscle.

When Linda McLendon  founded this center with the intention of helping sick children, she demonstrated that you don't have to have many resources, she began with a single horse, to do great things. She has made happier the lives of many children and their parents, using something that she love, the horses. This serves as a role model for others because it shows us that we can all do our part and thereby gradually changing the world. This technique, help sick children, is also used in Spain. In Almeria there is a center called Animo where horses used to help sick children and adults,  to open to the world and they have obtained promising results.