Meet the OTA Fieldwork Students

Mane Stream is excited to be working with two Level I Occupational Therapy Assistant students from Raritan Valley Community College this fall. During the next few months, Kerese and Robin will be observing a total of 45 hours of OT/PT/SLP therapy sessions. Please make sure to introduce yourself if you see them!

 Get to know more about Kerese! 

I am a current student at the Raritan Valley Community College where I am pursuing an Associate’s Degree as an Occupational Therapy Assistant. When not at school or studying I am also currently employed as a Preschool Teacher and a mentor to individuals with disabilities. Helping others to reach their ultimate potential is a driving force for me as over the years I have seen so many students get left behind because of a lack of resources. Thus, I felt the need to change my career path to be on the other side providing these resources and assistance to improve the quality of life for others.

In addition, I think becoming an OTA is very rewarding and I love the idea that I am with the client throughout the process to achieve a positive outcome.  I am super excited to be here at Mane Stream doing my Level I clinical and learning about Hippotherapy as it relates to Occupational Therapy. In addition, I am looking forward to applying concepts that I have learned so far and connecting them to each therapy session. I am a visual learner so it is very interesting to observe the connection between each diagnosis and the treatment plans. I am grateful for the staff here at Mane Stream as they made me feel like a part of the team and I am so happy to see what unfolds the next few months for my Fieldwork experience.

Get to know more about Robin! 

My background is in music, I attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA and toured throughout a 15 year period in several places including Europe, Asia, Scandinavia and the Middle East in various bands as a 4 and 5 string bassist. 

 My interest in OT came from my father having several medical issues and observing the OT's that worked with him in hospitals, subacute and acute facilities. My other inspiration came from my best friend whom I met at Berklee, who is an amazing jazz drummer. He had an accident while at school and luckily because we were in Boston with excellent medical facilities, they figured out that all the years of his brittle bones and medical issues were caused by Osteogenesis Imperfecta. Watching the therapy he had to go through was inspiring and the OT's were always the most focused on his personal goals, his creativity as a musician, and overall well-being. My goal is to be able to make a difference in people's lives as they did. 

Hippotherapy is one of the most amazing treatment tools that I have witnessed, and I will forever be an advocate. I hope to learn the foundational activities and interventions that it provides. The communication between the client, therapist, horse, and volunteers is paramount and I hope to learn the various ways they interact to reach client goals; the excitement from the children to start their sessions is infectious. I used to ride years ago, and this has inspired me to "get back in the saddle" and make it a part of my life again. 

Spirit Wear Online

Autumn is here! And so is our fall spirit wear.

Grab one of these cute Kate Magnier designs before 10/4 at midnight. With several colors to choose from and both short and long sleeves, youth sizes and a hoodie, there's something for everyone! https://manestreamfall2020.itemorder.com/sale

Therapy Increases Client Base

OT sessions started in July and PT sessions started in August. Additional slots in OT, PT and SLP are now available.

As the school year begins, Mane Stream’s Therapy Services is gettin’ back into full swing right along with you!

We know that scheduling is quite the jigsaw puzzle, and we’re here to help! Mane Stream is excited to offer expanded speech-language pathology services to existing clients in the early afternoons during the week. We continue to have limited availability in our OT and PT services.

If you are a current client and are interested in learning more about our reopening process, what therapy services will look like this fall, and what openings we have in our schedule, please contact our Director of Therapy Services Melanie at melanie@manestreamnj.org or call our office at (908) 439-9636.

Virtual Field Trips

Getting Creative with Technology

Over the course of the past few months, Mane Stream’s staff has been able to showcase their creativity by hosting virtual field trips with our friends who weren’t able to visit us this spring. One of our community partners, the Somerset County Adult Day Center, completed an interactive activity with the parts of the horse (which wouldn’t have been complete without our handsome model Joe!).

Are you an educator, troop leader, or looking to supplement distance learning? Virtual field trips or activities at Mane Stream could be just what you are looking for OR hadn’t even imagined!

Shoot us an email jen@manestreamnj.org and we will work on developing an activity that is just right for your group!

Silly.girlzz

A Passion To Do Good!

Maya and Charlie are local equestrians who wanted to give back to the community when COVID hit. They're selling handmade bracelets and the proceeds go to Mane Stream! They have big hearts, and great stories of their own. Check them out on IG @silly.girlzz to see more and learn how you can purchase a bracelet or two of your own! (Currently also on sale at Horseman’s Outlet, Palermo Show Stable, Phoenix Rising Farm, and Heaven’s Gate)

How it Began…

“We met at the barn and quickly became great friends! As summer approached during this difficult time and the world seemed to be shutting down, we knew we needed to make a plan to keep busy, have fun, and do something meaningful. The idea of SILLY GIRLZZ happened so quickly and naturally, we knew this was it! SILLY GIRLZZ allows us to connect with horses, stay creative, but most importantly…help those in need!” - Love, Charlie & Maya

Therapy Services at Mane Stream

Mane Stream’s Therapy Services has seen an increase in returning clients over the past couple of weeks. Clients have been working with our SLP Melanie and our OT Gina on a variety of tasks and activities in the clinic, barn, and arena as we all get back into the swing of things.

Back in June, we welcomed Carmine, our first client back to the farm. His first session was packed with a treasure hunt to find ponies, comparing small excavators to big excavators, and making sure the horses stayed in their stalls. It was a session filled with discovery and language!

While July was quite hot, clients worked on functional skills with both their two and four-legged friends! Some clients even got to help take care of the horses while working on color identification (of feed buckets!) and making requests (turning the water spigots on and off!)

We’re looking forward to welcoming back additional therapy clients in the fall.

Sunset Yoga Series

with Gia Esposito of Airs Above Yoga

Here’s your chance to get out and visit the farm…and join us for Sunset Yoga at the Farm!

For a $10 donation to Mane Stream you can sign up to attend our Sunday evening yoga sessions. Space is limited so you must RSVP.

We request you bring your own yoga mat, mask, and plenty of water. We will set up spaces 6 feet apart for your yoga mat so we can practice safe social distancing. We have plenty of hand sanitizer too!

BONUS: Each day attendees will be entered in a raffle and at the end of the series we will pull the winning ticket and that person will receive a gift certificate for a private Zoom yoga session with Gia and Airs Above Yoga!

This is a weather-dependent event and will be canceled for inclement weather.

Please wear a mask upon arrival and be prepared for a temperature check as per our policies and procedures. Visit our website to learn more about our COVID-19 specific policies.

If you have any questions reach out to Rebecca at volunteer@manestreamnj.org

Summer Camp Update

We’re mid-way and “Mornings at Mane Stream” are going marvelously!

Mandatory temperature checks for everyone!

We're keeping things safe with small groups each week, mandatory temperature checks each morning, and masks when we aren't riding. Despite the limited space, we've seen a lot of returning smiling campers this year! While we are missing our volunteer buddies, campers are really thriving in a more independent atmosphere. Our year-round adaptive riders are enjoying grooming and tacking at camp while learning from some visiting riders. While the days are shorter, it just means our mornings are jam-packed with riding and horse care. With such busy mornings, social distancing has been a breeze and the campers (and Miss Kelly) are constantly coming in with some pretty cool masks.

The horses are loving the attention after having a very quiet spring. All our campers are doing a great job helping us keep them in shape until we can open our schedule back up fully. They are even dusting off the jumping skills for Dorito, Buzz, Judge, Po, and Joe! Smaller groups of campers means tons of opportunities to ride different horses. Campers may need to work on their half-halts one day with Po and get a leg workout the next day on Joe. It's been a great way to make everyday fun and challenging for each rider. While for most of the campers it's all about the cantering and jumping, there’s still time for a few summer favorite games like ride-a-buck and musical stalls!

It's been a pretty hot couple of weeks, so water balloon fights are sorely missed but we're keeping cool with plenty of pow-wows in the shade. There have been homemade horse treats and a few rousing games of horse-themed Pictionary as well to help us stay cool and entertained. Campers are rising to the challenge to draw some pretty hard topics like barrel racing and dressage. There have been a few great portraits drawn of Miss Jen as well, complete with her signature bun and sunglasses!

This year Jane, Jen, Mel, Ivy, and Kelly are joined by special guest Kathy Dermody--you may recognize her from the annual horse show as our esteemed judge--and volunteers Ellie and Hannah. We are missing Holland but thrilled about her new addition, Hadleigh!

Hard to believe but we are more than halfway through with the summer--time flies when you are having fun. If you want to see more of the camp shenanigans (Miss Kelly has returned complete with glitter and fairy wings) keep your eye on the Mane Stream Instagram and Facebook--Louisa, Rebecca, and Alanna have been doing an amazing job of posting the fun.

Only 4 more weeks!

Written by:
Jane Banta, Interim Camp Director

Volunteer Coordinator Update

Mane Stream is so happy to have so many enthusiastic people who want to help implement our mission.

I appreciate your understanding and patience at this time. Rebecca Jablonski, Volunteer Coordinator

The pandemic this year has forced us to change our practices to ensure the health and safety of our participants, staff and volunteers. We have had to drastically reduce the number of people on the property for the time being while we monitor the health crisis closely to determine the best course of action for our participants and volunteers.

Since we are limiting the number of people on the property and practicing social distancing, we have made the difficult decision to postpone all orientations and trainings for the rest of the year. We will reevaluate at the end of the year and potentially set up new dates at that time.

If you attended a virtual orientation during the quarantine, we will reach out to you first to offer the hands-on training when it becomes available.

Volunteers with Mad Skills!

Our volunteers come to Mane Stream for a lot of different reasons. Normally they would be spending their time at the barn supporting our programs and our mission but the pandemic has made that difficult, to say the least. In an attempt to remain connected, we asked our volunteers to share what they do outside of the time they spend with us at Mane Stream. What hidden talents do they have? What is their “back story” and how did they get to where they are now? Boy, did we get some great responses! These stories completely fascinated us and we want to let you in on their secret talents that aren’t so secret.

Raphaela Araki-Leite

Raphaela Araki-Leite is a brand new volunteer to Mane Stream. When we reached out and asked if anyone had any special talents or stories not related to Mane Stream that they wanted to share, she stepped up to the plate and blew us all away! Raphaela says “This is just a hobby but I have always loved art and quarantine gave me the opportunity to finish [some works in progress] and start some [new] projects!”  Quarantine never looked so beautiful! Are you an artist too?? Leave a comment and let us know!

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Karen Ricciardi

Volunteer, Karen Ricciardi, shared so many fun facts about herself! She worked in restaurants as a teenager and that experience inspired her to become a trained baker and cook at the New York Restaurant School. She put herself through school and everything! She also used to volunteer with her sister Laura making soup once a week for 60-80 senior citizens and did that for about 7 years. We bet the soup was delicious. Karen also is an avid reader, she set a goal to read 50 books last year, and made it to 48. What an accomplishment! I bet she has a ton of great recommendations. Ask Karen for a soup recipe or book recommendation below in the comments!

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Maggie Conroy

Dedicated volunteer Maggie Conroy has definitely lived an exciting life! She used to work for the William J Barnes Agency in Westfield where she shipped the United States Equestrian Team’s horses to Europe. The company coordinated all aspects involved in the shipping process, from health papers to USDA permits to quarantine to vanning and plane reservations. They also arranged for the import of horses from Iceland and they did domestic travel too. She had the opportunity to fly via Luftansa with horses from Newark to Los Angeles,  twice (with a professional groom.) We have the pictures to prove it! Have your own horse story you want to share? Comment below! 

Volunteers with mad skills, stories, and SOUP!

Our volunteers come from a wide variety of backgrounds to build our vibrant community of people. We are in awe of their talent, kindness, dedication, and special love for horses. Hearing your stories helps us stay connected. Do you have a special talent or story you want to share with Mane Stream? Want to connect with others? Contact volunteer@manestreamnj.org!