June 2025 Newsletter - Partners in Possibilities

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From Idea to Implementation - Program Development at Mane Stream

Have you ever wondered how Mane Stream's horses come to be part of our amazing herd? It takes a special horse to be able to do the work required in our adaptive riding, therapy services, summer camp and field trip programs. Currently, we have 14 horses and ponies in our herd, and all but one were donated to us. They range in age from 12 to 30. The horses who were donated, come to us from all over the region, and our newest horse, Eli, (who was donated by Leslie Plum) was shipped from Florida for us to try. To make the cut, horses must be sound at the walk, trot, and canter, able to handle the kind of work we will ask them to do, have a great temperament, and love people and other horses.

All of our current herd members had full careers before coming to Mane Stream. Most were hunters and jumpers with long show histories, and a couple were dressage stars. For many horses, their competitive days might be over but they are not ready for full retirement yet. This is when owners consider donating them to Mane Stream.

The intake process begins when an owner is referred to Mane Stream or finds us on their own, and has a preliminary conversation with Jen Dermody, Director of Program Services and Equine Manager. After the conversation, if the horse seems like it might fill a need for Mane Stream, the owner will send photos and video of the horse being ridden. If it still seems like a good fit after viewing the video, Jen and Kelly Champion, one of our instructors, will go see the horse in person. At the horse's farm, they'll ask that someone ride the horse for them, and if they like what they see, they'll ask if Kelly can ride it. If that test ride goes well, we will invite the horse to come to Mane Stream for a 30-day trial.

During the 30-day trial, we work with the horse to ensure that it will be a good fit for our mounted programs. First our staff will ride it using traditional riding tack. If it's a pony and will be used in therapy too, we will also use the specific therapy tack on it. During this time, we introduce the horse to the tools and toys that will be used during lessons and sessions. Horses that make it into the herd don't bat an eyelash when they see hula hoops, balls, big dice, colorful cones and the many other items that we use with our riders and clients.

At the end of the trial period, and sometimes before the end, we ask our veterinarian to examine the horse to make sure that everything is in order and then we decide about whether we will accept the horse. Most of the time it’s an enthusiastic yes! Thanks to a lot of generous donors over the years, Mane Stream has had the pleasure of working with many wonderful horses who have positively changed the lives of our participants. Owners are able to visit their horses at Mane Stream as often as they’d like, and we love when they come during program, so they can see firsthand the gift they have given to our participants.

Know anyone who is thinking about donating their beloved horse? Contact at Jen at jen@manestreamnj.org.

Everything’s Better When You Do It Together – Group Occupational Therapy

Mane Stream has been providing therapy services since the early 1990s. Currently we have three occupational therapists on staff, one psychologist, and we contract with an additional psychologist and a licensed clinical social worker. We have a predominantly pediatric practice for occupational therapy, meaning that most of our sessions are in the afterschool hours during the week, leaving the facility and our staff with availability during the day. For the past few years, we have been working on developing programs and building relationships with groups that have the same availability.

In fall of 2023, we had our first group therapy field trip with the Pillar Elementary School in Livingston. Pillar Elementary School is part of the Pillar Care Continuum and serves children with a wide range of special needs, often co-occurring with complex medical challenges. Pillar has its own therapy programs but were looking for something more and they contacted Mane Stream to explore a custom therapy program for their students.

Group occupational therapy seemed like the best fit and it has been an extraordinary success. The program has evolved over the past two years and now, students from the Pillar School visit Mane Stream for 24 weeks per year in two 12-week sessions for group therapy sessions with one of our occupational therapists. A few weeks before the start of the session, the OT (Emily) and our Director of Program Services (Jen), visit the school to screen the students who want to participate.

The screening begins with a careful review of the child’s medical form. If there are no obvious contraindications, Emily and Jen see the children in person at their school. They bring helmets to make sure that the children can properly wear a helmet and then they put the children on a large exercise ball. The movement of the ball is a good approximation of a horse’s movement and shows them a child’s core and neck control.  

We work with 9 students in each session. Three students at a time work in small groups with the OT using the horse and a team of volunteers. Sessions take place in our indoor arena and, when the weather is nice, outside around the farm. Each student has personal goals but for most they are working on increasing their core strength, balance and stamina. As an example, an exercise to improve balance is for the therapist to hold an object on the student’s right side and ask the student to reach across their body, use their left hand to grab it and give it to the volunteer on their left side.

When students are not working with the therapist, they visit the barn for grooming and connecting with the horses, and participate in other activities and games. The same 9 students participate for 6 weeks in a row and then another group of 9 students visit the farm for 6 weeks. The program runs for 12 weeks in the spring and 12 weeks in the fall.

The feedback we have received from the staff who attend with the students, as well as from their teachers and parents, has been overwhelmingly positive. We can see progress towards goals week over week, with some students achieving truly remarkable results. For example, Jamelah, age 7, uses a wheelchair for mobility and is non-verbal. Her chair provides a lot of core support for her and when she was first on the horse, she was not able to fully hold herself upright for more than a few minutes. After only a couple of sessions, she was sitting up much taller in the saddle and her aide said that the change in her posture carried over for the next few days after Jamelah’s session.

The Pillar School students visit on Tuesday mornings and we’d love to have you come and see your generosity in action. Call or email Trish at 908-439-9636 or trish@manestreamnj.org to arrange a visit.