Special needs children ride high in saddle, thanks to Benton County, Ore. posse

Amie Wise Mendez has five children, and three of them have special needs. With one child who is medically fragile, another on the autism spectrum and a third with a rare genetic condition, there are numerous meetings, medical appointments and trips to Doernbecher’s Children’s Hospital in Portland.

But on Nov.14, the Corvallis resident was among many others able to find forgetfulness from day-to-day stresses thanks to the Benton County Sheriff ’s Office Mounted Posse. The posse was hosting its sixth-annual horse­back ride event for children with special needs and their siblings at the Benton County Fairgrounds indoor arena.

“Three of my children are special needs,” Wise Mendez said. “It’s been an amazing experience for them, just being out with the people and the animals.”

Participants were helped up onto the horses and led around the arena. Special accommoda­tions were made for mounting, dismounting and safety while on horseback. Riders between 3 and 18 years old who were able to hang on by themselves were allowed to participate. Benton County Sheriff Scott Jackson sponsored the event. County Emergency Services Program Specialist and Posse Capt. Lacey Duncan coor­dinated the activities.

“A few other counties with pos­ses around the state do this, too, and it’s become a really popular thing,” Duncan said. “We have seven posse members here right now and over 40 volunteers from the horse community who love to help out.”

The event, which typically draws between 45 and 50 par­ticipants, accommodated nearly 100 youth this year. This year’s ride was the biggest ever, and when volunteers saw the line growing longer during the 9:30 a.m. check-in they decided to get the rides started early to accom­modate everyone.

“We’ll stay until everybody gets to ride,” Duncan said.

There was a coloring area and brushing and petting station with miniature ponies, as well. Photographs were taken in front of a green screen and printed onsite to give to the children. The green screen allowed for computer generated western style backgrounds for the photos.

This year, a pony was provided for those who were intimidated to hop on a full-sized horse to ride around the arena. Free hot chocolate was provided by Elmer’s restaurant, as well as coloring crayons.

One of the volunteers was Katie Schrock. The 23-year-old from Corvallis is just finishing up her studies at Oregon State University and she’s going to be next year’s Miss Rodeo Oregon. Schrock was giving her personal time in an unofficial capacity, though. Instead of the typically ornate hat and Western attire, she came in a baseball cap and hoodie sweatshirt to walk the children around the arena on horseback.

“I actually brought my horse last year,” she said. “They do an amazing job here. One of my best friends is on the posse here, and her horse is the same breed as the horse from (the movie) Frozen so the kids are loving that. Basically I’m just being a personality and showing them around.”

Other members of local rodeo royalty were on hand, as well, dressed for the part in their West­ern garb and ceremonial hats. Philomath Frolic Rodeo Queens Darian Anderton and Rachel Ci­hak and Benton County Fair and Rodeo Queens Gracie Kulonis and Adrienne Foster both were in attendance.

Jennifer Woolley, of Corvallis, eagerly snapped pictures of her daughter, Abby, as she gleefully mounted the horse with assis­tance and began trotting around the loop. They found out about the event through a flyer at Jef­ferson Elementary School, where Abby is a fourth-grader.

“I think it’s fabulous,” Wool­ley said. “There are not a lot of community things for this popu­lation so any time we can find something that kind of reaches out to this group, it is awesome.”

Abby is no novice when it comes to horseback riding. She’s in a program that allows her adaptive horseback riding opportunities and she also takes riding lessons.

“She loves being around the horses,” Woolley said.

The siblings of special needs children got to ride, as well. One of them was Emilio Mendez, also a Jefferson student and the son of Wise Mendez.

He said the best part was being on the horse and being up high in the air atop the animal. He reported riding twice that day.

“I came last year and the year before that,” he said shyly.

The idea was inspired by the Linn County, Ore. Sheriff ’s Mounted Posse, which had been holding a similar event for several years. Initially the special needs ride was conducted twice a year, but volunteers decided recently to trim it back to an annual event and make it more action-packed.

Parents and children came, rode and left with smiles on their faces. It’s not every day many children get to be around horses, let alone ride one in a safe environment. It’s also a pleasant distraction for many families to just enjoy life.

“This is a nice break away because we just got back from Doernbecher (hospital),” Wise Mendez said. “This is a nice way to forget everything and the kids can be kids.”