The Northwest Voice

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Hearing that a child will never progress in physical and mental ability can be a stunning blow to any parent.

That is just the news Northwest resident Christina Heard received about her daughter, Kelsey.

“When she was first born, she was just limp,” Heard said. “A lot of people said she wouldn’t progress, wouldn’t follow directions and would never understand.”
Kelsey’s condition is a result of a rare chromosome deletion for which there is no known cause.

Luckily for Kelsey, all hope was not abandoned upon hearing the news of her condition. When Kelsey was 3, her mom got involved with Kern Regional Center, which connected them with several therapy options. For physical therapy, they were given a choice between going to the MARE riding center or water therapy.
Kelsey didn’t do well in the water, so they went to MARE.

MARE, which stands for Mastering Abilities Riding Equines, is a therapeutic riding center that provides equine assisted programs to children and adults with physical, cognitive or emotional challenges. MARE serves Kern County with programs that include sport riding, equestrian vaulting, hippotherapy, carriage driving and teen enrichment programs.

Kelsey is just one of more than 90 riders the facility serves each week.

Kelsey, now 6, has progressed beyond what anyone, even her mom, could have imagined for her through hippotherapy classes at MARE once a week.

“She’s definitely a lot better. When we first came out here, she had no muscle tone,” said Heard as she looked on at her daughter during a lesson. “She can sit up straight, communicates, listens, follows directions and she’s more responsive to animals in general.”

It’s all thanks to the dedication of the therapists and volunteers at MARE, according to Heard. During this particular therapy session, Kelsey responded to colors and animal puppets, and was even able to reach out to place colored rings on posts set up throughout the riding pen.

“It’s emotional sometimes watching her because they said she would never thrive, she’d never comprehend.”

It has given Heard great aspirations for her daughter where once she had none. Heard hopes that Kelsey will one day be able to do the vaulting lessons — gymnastics on horseback — that are also offered at MARE.

It’s stories like Kelsey’s that drive program coordinator and head riding instructor, Helen McKee.

“What I do is just so fulfilling,” she said. “I’ve made a real difference in these parents’ and kids’ lives.”

McKee, a Northwest resident, has been around the horse world her whole life. Her father, an old cowboy, suffered from multiple sclerosis and McKee took care of him. She never thought later in life she would find a career that linked those two worlds together.

“There is such a need for something for kids or anybody with a disability that can be widely served with the horse,” she said. “The animals are such a good point to open up the kids. They don’t realize they’re getting therapy, but they are.”
It isn’t just the clients that benefit from the therapy.

“Everyone comes here for their own purpose. For example, we take kids doing community service through teen court as well as volunteers from high schools and CSUB, but they leave here completely changed,” she said. “It’s amazing, the transition you see with our volunteers. Not one person walks away unchanged.”
Northwest resident Betty McCarthy is one of the many adult clients MARE also serves. McCarthy is a math teacher at South High School and suffers from multiple sclerosis.

Prior to starting at MARE, she had trouble getting into bed because of an inability to lift her left leg. She also had trouble moving her left foot even slightly, which most people don’t realize is necessary for things like putting on socks in the morning. After just six months of riding, McCarthy has noticed a big difference in her ability to do these everyday tasks that most of us take for granted.

McCarthy rides on Tuesdays and always notices a difference the next day.
“Wednesdays are my good days,” she said.

An animal lover, McCarthy said that getting therapy on the back of a horse beats a sterile physical therapy office or gym any day.

“I love this place, I love what it does,” she said. “You feel the power of the horse underneath you and it’s like that power comes into your body.”

It’s not only the power of the horse, but the position of the rider that helps them to get the therapy they need, according to MARE occupational therapist Judy Hilburn.

“Most people think that when they are on a horse, they’re just sitting, but the sitting position simulates standing and walking as far as muscle groups are concerned,” she said.

The staff at MARE is made up mostly of volunteers, and this nonprofit organization completely relies on donations from the community to cover operating costs, including hay for feeding the horses and maintenance of the facility.

Even though he is retired, it’s a safe bet you can find Victor Mungary around the MARE barns most days.

Like many retirees these days, Mungary sat around the house for a couple months after leaving his administrative job and then started to get restless. His wife showed him a flyer for MARE requesting volunteers and said, “Here, go do something.”

Now he jokes that she regrets that push because she doesn’t seem him as much. Mungary is very dedicated to MARE as a volunteer and board member. He serves as their “go-to guy” for anything and everything. He walks horses during lessons, cleans out stalls, feeds horses, keeps track of supplies, trains and works with horses, and maintains farm vehicles. He even fixed about 80 percent of the piping that burst during last year’s big freeze.

But like many at MARE, for Mungary it’s all about the kids.

“I’m out here for these kids,” he said. “They work their hearts out to do things we take for granted.”