Xenophon Therapeutic Riding Center

The Jean Schaffner Spirit Award is a long-time tradition at Xenophon and one of the highlights of our annual gala.  It was established years ago, by our dedicated builder, volunteer, and donor, Kate Schaffner, in memory of her beloved mother, Jean Schaffner. The purpose of the award is to honor a volunteer who goes above and beyond in their service to the center.  Choosing this recipient is an extremely difficult task, as we are fortunate to have so many individuals who give their time tirelessly to Xenophon.  Most volunteers come to Xenophon to interact with the horses and children, but there are many volunteers behind the scenes, be it mucking stalls, grading our arena, or being the go to “fix it man”, that have done so much for the organization for a longtime. Often times those volunteers are not seen or recognized.

This year, the award went to a husband and wife team, Jim and Kelly Pire.  Jim Pire created our amazing website.  He continues to keep us up to date with the technological side of things, answering questions, fixing problems, and providing translations in the foreign language of computer jargon.  He has served a bigger, priceless role at the center, by capturing the essence of Xenophon in still shots.  The smiles that move us to tears, the view to the very souls of our horses through eyes captured on film are all the work of his creative hands.  He has created a beautiful historical chronicle of the center while somehow even making mucking a stall look glamorous!   Kelly started out as a sidewalker.  She helps out on extra days when needed, mucks stalls, and exercises the horses.  In the years she has been at the center she has matured as a horsewoman and has become one of our top horse handlers.  But just like her husband, she has contributed hours of work behind the scenes.  As a team, each and every year they create the amazing programs for this gala, a job deserving recognition in and of itself, requiring long hours and down to the wire deadlines.  Congratulations Jim and Kelly and thank you for all you do for
Xenophon.

Girl Scout Troop #32761 from Walnut Creek is a special group of young ladies. After a busy season selling cookies, they decided to donate a portion of their profits to a charitable organization. Xenophon was fortunate to be chosen. On Monday, May 13, 2013 the troop came to visit the center, watch lessons and present Xenophon with a check for $220.00.  Thank you, Girls, for your thoughtfulness and hard work. We are truly grateful.

On April 23, 2013, Xenophon was pleased to host our neighbors, The Lost Valley Homeowners Association, for an evening BBQ.  Neighbors came to meet one another, share some good food, and learn about our center.  Our therapeutic riding student Matthew Trueblood, gave a wonderful demonstration, in which he showed off his independent riding skills, rising trot and impressive dismount.   Lucas Giusti helped to increase the understanding amongst our guests of the ins and outs of hippotherapy.  Orinda mayor, Amy Worth, joined us for the evening.

One of the integral parts of lessons at Xenophon is the ability to ride out of the arena on our trail.  New learning opportunities are provided and riders can view and interact with nature. Riding up and down hills creates new balance sensations and uses different muscles.  This year, thanks to a grant from the Margaret Blodgett Foundation, Xenophon will be building a state of the art integrative sensory trail.  The trail will have numerous components: a real railroad crossing, an auditory garden where children can experience different sounds, a sensory box allowing the opportunity to touch and feel different objects, road signs, an interactive water feature and an experiential pathway with different footings for the horses. Sam Griebstein has already installed our experiential pathway for his Eagle Scout project and it is fantastic.  Paul Ogle will be building our railroad crossing for his Eagle Scout project, and volunteer groups from local companies will be installing the remaining portions in May and June.  We hope to make this a model trail system for other therapeutic riding centers across the nation.

BEFORE
AFTER WILL COME SOON

As many know, the land on which our center sits belongs to PG&E.  We have had a wonderful relationship with this company over the past 17 years, which has included the ability to hold a long-term lease so that we could build our covered arena on our present site.   In addition, the company has been a Platinum Pony sponsor for our gala.  This year, they have granted us use of the pasture across the street, on the corner of Valley View and Don Gabriel for the purpose of grazing and turning out our horses.  While the horses will mainly be housed on our present site, the pasture will offer them the space to kick up their heals and just “be horses”.  New fencing will be installed in the coming weeks.  Thank you, PG&E.

On March 27, 2013 Xenophon was fortunate to have a group of 15 high school students from Sprintstone School in Lafayette, come out to visit the center.  As part of their pre-vocational training blocks, the students came out to learn about what a therapeutic riding center is all about and what it takes to keep one running efficiently.  That experience included getting down and dirty with jobs like weeding planter beds, shoveling and spreading bark, emptying compost bins, and cleaning tack.  But it was not all work and no play.  The students learned about our special horses and were able to interact with them through grooming and tacking.  They were a delightful bunch and we are thankful for their hard work.  We hope they will visit us again in the near future.

It is with much sadness, that we had to put down one of our very special team members, Cocoa.  As many know, Cocoa suffered from extreme arthritis in her hind legs.  Over the last  few months, Cocoa’s disease progressed at a rapid rate. She had taken several terrible falls and was having trouble getting back up after rolling.  Last week she fell again in her paddock and could not get herself back up. Our veterinarian was called, and on his advice, the decision was made to end Cocoa’s suffering.

Cocoa came to Xenophon in 2001.  She was purchased for the center after having had several owners and many jobs: including show horse, parade horse and trail companion.  Cocoa had a huge spirit and could be quite the challenge for her able-bodied riders.  What made her so special to Xenophon was that she had an intuitive sense of her riders abilities.  Thus, our most challenging riders were put on Cocoa.  She would always carry them with concern and care.  Cocoa’s disease prevented her from carrying riders for the past 7 months, but true to Cocoa form, she continued to play an active role in the program by caring for her students on the ground.  During her ground lessons, Cocoa could give and heal just by her presence. She worked for Xenophon for over 11 years and impacted the lives of countless children and adults alike.  In 2008 she won the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship’s Horse of the Year award.

We are grateful we could honor Cocoa at our horse show. It was a fitting tribute to an amazing horse. We are happy that people had time to visit with her and say their goodbyes over the last weeks. She has left a huge hole in the program and in many hearts. She will be sorely missed and fondly remembered.

Xenophon’s volunteers are of every age and come from all walks of life. We are fortunate to have a number of teenage volunteers that also come to the center each week to give of their time. Many come to fulfill their school’s community service hour requirements, but stay well beyond the needed hours for they, too, are drawn in to the magic of special needs children and horses. Each of these teens brings energy and laughter to the program. In light of the stressful work schedule of high school students these days, the hours given to Xenophon are especially appreciated. Each year, Xenophon recognizes one of these teens who seems to go above and beyond the norm in terms of hours of time given, jobs done, and overall helpfulness within the program. This year, Rachel Ziegler was chosen by the Xenophon Staff as the outstanding teen volunteer of the year. Our staff says,

“Rachel is always quick to jump in where needed and take on any task no matter how trivial or how dirty she might get.”

“Rachel has an amazing level of maturity about her. She always gives her all to the job”.

Congratulations, Rachel, and thank you for all you do for Xenophon!