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Elko Edition REaching ElkhaRt, kosciusko, noblE and lagRangE countiEs
June 2025
Vol. 38, No. 4
www.seniorlifenewspapers.com
Riders find joy and pride at
LEAD ON — Volunteer Judy Himora leads Andon Zehring’s horse during a riding session. Volunteers at The Magical Meadows can learn how to handle horses if they’ve never worked with them before.
The Magical Meadows Text and Photos By LILLI DWYER Staff Writer The Magical Meadows started in 2007 with “a young man with autism, a horse named Magic and my driveway,” said owner and founder Tammy Stackhouse. The Magical Meadows offers therapeutic horseback riding to children and adults with disabilities, at risk children, veterans and first responders. Stackhouse, a former medical worker and school bus driver, was approached by the mother of one of her students with an idea. Knowing Stackhouse had horses, she was curious about therapeutic horseback riding for her son. “I knew nothing about it, began to research it and fell in love with the concept because with having horses, I knew how healing they were in my
ts Mid-
lunteer Kerry Coulter pe
EQUINE FRIEND — Vo night the horse.
life. I could see how beneficial it could be for disabilities,” Stackhouse said. Eighteen years later, the facility is up to 42 acres, 23
lee Cable get Stackhouse helps Kynz my Tam — E RID TO Y READ nded The Magical r saddle. Stackhouse fou he of p rru sti the o int t her foo ck riding, in 2007. ng therapeutic horseba eri off t rofi np no a s, ow Mead e weekly rider to 120. n has expanded from on tio era op the n, the ce Sin
horses and nine dedicated staff members. About 120 riders are served weekly, including Stackhouse’s first rider, now 33. Riding and challenges like weaving through poles on
horseback offer many benefits, Stackhouse said, that complement traditional therapies. “There’s stretching, hand/eye coordination, vocalization, eye contact, communication. We try
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to encourage things the kids struggle with ... Even if they do nothing but sit on that horse, they are receiving benefits because the movement of the horse is exactly like the moveContinued on page 2
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