Volunteer of the Week: Ann Lyon Ritchie

Ann Lyon Ritchie of is giving back and gaining a chance to be around the animal that she loves—the horse—while helping children on the autistic spectrum.

Ritchie has been volunteering with In-Stride Therapeutic Riding in South Park every Thursday since August, with children from the age of five to young adults in their 20s.

Riders need a side walker depending on their ability, or two, while a horse handler leads the animal, which is why volunteers are needed.

“I do anything they need,” she said.

Side walkers help the rider to do some exercises during each session. Afterward, the volunteers hang out with the horses. That’s the added bonus.

“I like being around the horses,” Ritchie said. “That has always been my hobby but horses are really expensive to own and I have a daughter in childcare now. A lot of the volunteers joke that this is our horse fix for the week.”

For Ritchie, the experience is equally rewarding from all angles.

"The horses are beautiful to work with and it is my own therapy in a way,” she said. “When I go into the horse barn, everything on the other side of my life just drops away. It’s my time to relax.”

She also is happy to see the riders transform.

“There’s the benefit of being around the horses if you are an animal lover, and also you see results in the riders,” she said. “One of them started in September and she was terrified on the horse and crying, and the next lesson, she was asking to trot. You see results and that makes it worth while—you see the difference.”

For more information, visit http://www.instridetherapeuticride.org/.