Freedom Riders

Sterling and I have been a part of an organization called Freedom Riders for the last two years, and I participated in it a year before that(before I met Sterling). I learned about it through Weber State's Community Involvement Center when I was trying to rack up 350 service hours (non-religion related, even though I was serving on institute council half that time) for a service scholarship. I fell in love with it. Every Thursday evening throughout the summer we get to help cerebral palsy kids go horse-back riding. There have to be a LOT of volunteers to make this happen. Because of the children's capabilities, there has to be a person on either side of the horse (side-walkers), and person leading the horse, and two people that take kids on and off the horse. As well as a plethora of volunteers that stand in the middle of the arena that the horses walk around and encourage the kids to play games like tossing bean bags at stuffed animals, while on the horse. Or "driving" the horse with a frisbee in their arms...or my favorite, singing songs with them. There are also cones that they can pull flowers out of (tall cones, they pull out the flower while on the horse) and put them back in at the next cone, and pull a new one out(all while on the horse). We also have "races"--at the beginning of every race the lady yells "This is a WALKING race! No running, loping, galloping, dancing...and other hilarious forms of movement until all the kids are giggling. It is not only therapeutic for the kids' muscles to sit on the horse, but therapeutic to have the attention, and for the parents to see the kids so happy. Last year, when I was pregnant, they gave us a baby-sized Freedom Riders shirt for Ruthie to wear, so on Thursday, we got to try it out:

I'm not much use there anymore, because Ruthie keeps my hands full and she isn't allowed in the arena when kids are riding anyway, but Sterling plans on continuing to go every week this summer. After all, he has service hours to fill for medical school applications, and what better way to carry on the tradition? (I was going to post pictures from previous years, but they are all boxed up for the move. Sorry)