After years of volunteering with Mane Stream “A-Team Terri doesn’t need instruction, she picks up what the therapists are puttin’ down!” Melanie Dominko-Richards MS, CCC-SLP, HPCS, Director of Therapy Services.
50 People for 50 Years: Terri Andrechick, Volunteer
Written by: Terri Andrechick
I got involved with Mane Stream back when it was Somerset Hills Handicapped Riding Center (SHHRC) back in 2002. It was my love of horses and helping others that drew me to Mane Stream. My thought was if I could give a parent 1 hour to just sit and have a cup of coffee or an hour of silence to read a book, why shouldn’t I?! My children were grown and I had some available time so I looked up volunteer opportunities and found Mane Stream and it sounded like something I could do.
My first meeting was with Carol, the volunteer coordinator at the time. We [prospective volunteers] all met in a large room and she went over everything from how Mane Stream began, their purpose and it all sounded great. I started slowly by coming once a week usually on a Saturday and began getting comfortable with the horses as well as the participants and instructors. My favorite instructors were Kathy Brennan and Gloria (don’t recall her last name), we all had such great fun. I remember the classes were sometimes crowded with 3 or 4 riders at a time but somehow, they always figured out how to make it work, like playing Stop and Go, or matching the little horse pictures with the large pictures on the wall. The games were meant to encourage the clients to listen and find things plus they learned how to control the horse, although hopefully, they didn’t notice we were guiding them.
I’ve been at Mane Stream so long that I’ve seen Mel (Melanie Dominko-Richards) become a beautiful, enthusiast, wonderful, excellent therapist [speech-language pathologist] from a high school volunteer. So, she has a special place in my heart for her hard work and dedication.
Over the years, horses have come and gone, instructors have been joined by therapists, and the time with the riders and clients is spent focused on their individual abilities and how to challenge that ability to the next level rather than grouping like abilities into one class.
My favorite part of being a volunteer for so many years is having had the opportunity to watch the riders and clients grow and achieve levels no one thought they could. I’ve seen a young adult that had little to no core strength after several months start to sit up, which his mother never thought would ever happen. I’ve seen some clients come in who were non-verbal and over time start saying “go” or “stop” and eventually “walk-on”.
My absolute favorite memory has to be one time when we walked outside thru the woods out past the cornfield. We kept telling the rider to “duck” to avoid the over-hanging branches. After about the third or fourth time the young man was laughing hysterically so we stopped to see if he was okay. His response made my heart happy – he said “no one has ever asked me to duck and I’ve never been able to walk thru woods after a rain in the mud before”. You see this client was a wheelchair user and to see the huge smile on his face and to see it from his perspective made tromping around the mud all the sweeter. I’ve seen smiles on riders that just light up their face when they trot and then there are those who are so excited because they found the hidden object all by themselves.
I’ve been blessed to have worked with many instructors and therapists and now that I’m retired I have more time to enjoy this blessing. I’ve made some amazing friends and enjoy catching up with them and hearing how their families have grown, plus I get to see impressive goals being reached by clients year after year.
There are so many memories, I’ve forgotten more than I remember. I only hope I’ll be physically able to continue volunteering for a few more years but, when I have to stop, my heart will be full with all the memories of the people who volunteer there as well as the riders and clients I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the years.
