Mucking in to help the young ones

All around the country offenders serving community work sentences are helping out with Riding for the Disabled (RDA).

Tauranga Equestrian Therapy Centre Operations Manager Kat Macmillan says, “Without these people serving the community many not for profit organisations would find it hard to operate. And it works well for the offenders too. Many of them complete their hours and then come back as volunteers.”

Offenders not only help with the cleaning and maintenance work around the stables but some offenders may also be chosen to assist with leading the horses. “There are always two people walking the horse when a person with disabilities is riding,” says Belinda van Schalkwyk, the Senior Community Work Supervisor in Tauranga involved with this project.

“One of them is a volunteer and sometimes the other one will be one of the offenders on community work.

“Assisting Riding for the Disabled is a very good form of community work for offenders to do. They gain important skills towards an offence free life such as learning to work in groups.”

Kat says that the offenders work hard. “They are treated with respect and are humbled by working with other volunteers and seeing people with disabilities who are less advantaged than themselves.”

Glenys Kempton is Horse Manager and Instructor at the Southland RDA in Invercargill. About 100 riders, mainly children, come here each week.

“Horse riding is great for everybody, especially for children with disabilities and even those with behavioural problems. You soon learn to behave yourself if you’re on top of a horse!”

Glenys says they appreciate the labour they get from offenders on community work every Tuesday and Friday.

“On average three offenders help out with tasks such as cleaning and checking the paddocks for rabbit holes. That’s very important to ensure the horses don’t trip and fall down. But we mainly need the offenders to walk with the horses so the kids can ride. Without their help quite a few would miss out.

“The offenders get something out of this too. One of the female offenders has said that she’s only now discovering the beauty of these animals. She grew up on a farm and thought all animals were the same. But seeing how the children benefit from the horses and just working with them has opened her eyes.”