Those with special needs got their chance to show how a 4-legged friend has improved their quality of life.
Wednesday (May 24th) was the annual horse show at the CHAPS barn, located about 5 miles southeast of Sheridan.
Regardless if they could ride a horse, or just walk it around, about 16 special needs adults got to put on a show for their peers and demonstrate their horsemanship skills.
Kristen Marcus is the executive director of the Sheridan CHAPS program.
She says unlike other horse shows, this annual event is a chance for other horse riders to shine.
“Everybody gets to go to the horse show in the fair, but there’s not really a class for us, so we do our own and they get to practice all of their skills and they know that they get to show off. It’s very empowering to them. You see some of our clients out here have wheelchairs or walkers and they can get on the back of a horse just like everybody else can, but then they can ride that horse through this obstacle course or lead the horse through that obstacle course even with the walker, and yeah it takes a little extra help, but who cares? They’re doing this of their own accord and they get to show off for everybody while they do it.”
Marcus says CHAPS does another horse show for those of younger ages in October.
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