By Stephanie Samuel

Sentinel Staff Writer

There was plenty of activity Saturday and Sunday at the Prince George's Equestrian Center behind Upper Marlboro's Showplace Arena. The center was the staging grounds for the two-day Maryland Special Olympics and Challenged Rider Horse Show.

Teams of special needs riders came from all over the state to compete in the show. Many even braved the severe heat that beat down on show goers Saturday.

Mother Margie Allen traveled from Frederick County with her daughter Colleen Allen and two other riders from the Frederick County 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program to compete Saturday.

Margie Allen said Colleen first began riding at the age of 3. Now 25, Colleen Allen displayed her tenacity at the show. On the trail, she refused to quit when her horse, Lucy, stood still rather than back up. Later she happily held up the ribbons she received in both trails and equitation.

"She's happiest when she on the horse," Margie Allen said.

Teammate Chris Schrumpf, 15, of Monrovia, Md. started riding when he was 5 years old and competed in two events. He took home a gold and a bronze medal.

"I love horses and I love to ride horses," he said.

Both Schrumpf and Colleen Allen, like all the riders that weekend, are challenged riders. Colleen Allen is mentally retarded and has a disease that makes her prone to seizures. Yet many of the riders performed with little to no assistance. The credit goes to the therapeutic riding programs that diligently work with them.

"It doesn't matter what their disability is, we work with them where they are," said Debbie Endlich, owner of Silverado Stables, home to the Frederick County 4-H Therapeutic Riding Program. There challenged riders like Schrumpf and Colleen Allen learn to make the horses walk, trot and stop.

The program currently has 72 students ranging from ages 2 to 80. Endlich says she has seen riders with a number of disabilities, both physical and mental, on her ranch. She and volunteers find ways to help them experience the joy of the horses and the technique of horse riding. They start off learning how to groom the horses and tack up their saddles.

"They get an appreciation of the animals," FC4HTRP Volunteer Chris Eissen said.

That's not always an easy task for a challenged rider. Evelyn Alston of Baltimore said her daughter Christine Alston, 19, just started riding last year at Freedom Therapeutic Riding Program. Evelyn Alston said she initially did not think Christine Alston would take to riding because of her fear of the horses.

"I didn't want her to participate because she's afraid. But now she grooms the animals," she said. Christine Alston also competed for the first time with her schoolmates from East Baltimore Alternative Learning Center on Saturday.

In the ring of a therapeutic riding program, instructors train students to compete in various riding competitions. For the trail competition, riders memorize a course in which riders had maneuver their horses around cones, over a bridge and over logs. For the equitation competition, riders learn to display their balance, control and presentation atop a horse. For the relay race, an event made especially for the Special Olympics, riders walk their horses as quickly as they can in the ring.

Volunteers are essential part of the therapeutic riding programs. Often, two to six side walkers are needed to help students maintain balance atop the horse while a horse leader helps control the horse. Eissen says, on occasion, volunteers at FC4HTRP have to use their imagination to help students. For blind students, Eissen say they employ pet toys with bells to help the students make their way around the ring. For other students, volunteers use the ring to teach the students colors, shapes and direction.

"It's not just riding, it's learning," Eissen says.

Parents and spectators witness first hand Saturday and Sunday the lessons that these challenged riders have learned.

"She more people oriented," Margie Allen said of Colleen. "And she's getting more independent lately." At the show, Colleen waved and said hi to the other riders and insisted on dismounting her horse without help.

"Self confidence is the biggest [lesson]," said Freedom Therapeudic Riding Program Trainer Meredith Forbes. East Baltimore ALC teacher Greg Mobley also says of riding, "It's intellectually challenging." "They're using their whole body and mind in this station," Forbes said.

Margie Allen says she's also learned some lessons from the volunteers.

"This world is so accepting ... you meet the best people," she said. "I'm so glad I'm in this world. If I didn't have Colleen, it all would be foreign to me."

Contact Stephanie Samuel at

ssamuel@thesentinel.com

Photo by Marketa Ebert