New barn, outdoor area is big boost for club

    On January 23, Manes and Tails first meeting of  2010 was at the home of Shelley Taylor of Monticello.
    What a treat because Taylor has a new barn and outdoor area where she, Sara Wotton and Ginger Pryor, North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) instructors, will be providing horse-related services to children and families with special needs. 
    For the past several years, they have been borrowing space around southern Aroostook to work with people and horses, and now they have a spot to call home for their horse-related work. This new facility will improve their ability to serve the special needs community, as well as regular programming that stimulates students’ confidence and life skills.
Contributed photograph
REACHING OUT – Shelly Taylor reaches out to ‘Cowboy’ in front of her new barn in Monticello. Taylor, Sara Wotton and Ginger Pryor, all of Monticello, NARHA certified instructors, hosted the January Manes and Tails meeting, including a look at their new facility to work with special needs and regular children and families.
    Manes and Tails provided scholarships to Taylor, Wotton and Pryor for their original NARHA certifications trainings in 2004, and the ladies have attended many workshops and additional trainings since.
     Most Manes and Tails meetings have an educational element, this one was about the new facility, meeting the most important teachers, the horses, and spending some time on the vaulting barrel for adults and children.
    The vaulting barrel is a device that people can practice sitting and doing exercises on to improve balance and coordination, in preparation for horse back activities. Interactive Vaulting is a group activity where one student rides in a circle on a lunge line calling out directions to different individuals surrounding the circle. Everyone gets a turn to be the caller/rider. Depending on the abilities of the caller/rider, volunteers may walk beside or even sit with them on the horse. This is not circus vaulting, but can become as much fun.
     New to Manes and Tails at this meeting, and another plus for County horse programs, is Tracy Thibodeau of north Caribou, who has been getting started in 2009 working with regular and special needs students.  Thibodeau is very excited about expanding her own training and serving special needs clientele.
     The number of horse professionals offering lessons and special needs programming is growing in the County. During 2009 at least three new facilities opened or upgraded their services. Many that have been going on for years are more open to special needs clients than before.
     The next Manes and Tails meeting will be in Monticello, Saturday, Feb. 20. The meeting will start at 1:30 p.m. at the farm of Debra Lavine, 202 Fletcher Rd., Monticello, who has a group of miniature horses that were a big hit during the summer of 2009. 
    Lavine will be offering the Saturday morning programs again this year starting in May and is looking for mature volunteers to help with the groups of children who take part in the programs.  After introductions to the minis and Lavine’s program, Manes and Tails will hold a short business meeting. The public is always invited to all Manes and Tails functions.
    Manes and Tails is a non-profit volunteer organization founded in 2003 to support relationship-based horse programs countywide.  The group works toward public education of the diverse ways horses can be used improve human lives and participates in fund raising and grant writing to scholarship students and trainers to programs to fit their needs. During 2009, monetary and in-kind equipment donations and volunteers were also tremendous benefits to the cause. 
    For more information about Manes and Tails, how to find services or questions about the human /horse connections you may visit www.manesandtails.org  and please be patient while the new Web master gets on board, or contact Nancy Dumond Violette at 868-5324 or Shelly Taylor at 538-9376. Manes and Tails also has a newly formed, just getting started Facebook page called “Manes and Tails Aroostook.”