BY KATIE MORROW, JUNIOR JOURNALIST
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| Mycah McColm with her horse Chrome On My Zipper rides in the spirit of Horses of Hope. |
Mycah McColm dedicates the time that she is not riding and showing her 4-year-old gelding, Chrome On My Zipper, to volunteering at Horses of Hope, a nonprofit therapeutic riding center in her hometown of Baxter Springs, Kansas. The 19-year-old is showing in hunter under saddle, equitation and performance halter geldings at the 2007 Ford AQHYA World Championship Show this week.
Mycah is certified through NARHA, the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association as a Certified Therapeutic Horseback Riding Instructor. Her parents Allen and Shelly McColm, along with Vallerie Sweeton, founded Horses of Hope 10 years ago to help disabled riders use horses as a means of therapy.
"I have been involved with it since the day it started," Mycah says.
Horses of Hope’s second campus, located in Buffalo, Missouri, was founded four years ago and features "hippotherapy," a means of rehabilitation in which the physical therapist uses the horse's specific movements to help the neurological and sensory functions of the riders.
Horses of Hope also offers a show team called Team Hope. Team Hope allows riders from both the Kansas and Missouri centers to compete in AQHA’s equestrians with disabilities trail, horsemanship, and equitation classes. Riders accumulate points from each of the shows and are able to compete for a national award presented at the AQHA Banquet. Last year, AQHA presented national awards to three Horses of Hope riders, one in horsemanship and two in trail.
Next January, Mycah will attend Southwest Missouri State in Springfield, Missouri, and pursue a career in speech pathology. After graduating, she plans to become a licensed speech therapist and use her talents to help clients at Horses of Hope in the field of hippotherapy.
Mycah appreciates the many AQHA members and judges who have donated their American Quarter Horses to disabled riding programs. "I would like to thank AQHA for supporting all equestrians with disabilities," she says.
