Indiana rider Mike Montgomery’s apartment could be a museum for the Palomino Horse Breeders of America (PHBA) according to trainer Melonie Furnish. Each of the awards he’s won and every World Show photo is on display.

His PHBA Lifetime Achievement Award and a photo of Todd Sommers with Seven S Flashy Zipper have a prominent place in his collection.

“Every year, Mike gets a big group picture at the World Show and he asks everyone to get in with him,” Furnish said.

For 19 years, Montgomery has competed in the Challenged Horseman classes at the PHBA World Show. He is one of the riders who inspired the development of Equestrians with Disabilities classes within PHBA and the entire industry. In 2000, Montgomery and Rob Statler, Ashford, Alabama competed in a class in which they were led into the arena. They were led in and down the center line and got to experience all of the glory of riding at a World Show, Furnish said.

“This was the first challenged rider program of its kind and it has evolved into the premier Challenged Rider Program that most associations have patterned theirs after,” said Debbie Wall the secretary/treasurer of The PHBA Challenged Horseman Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit.

There weren’t funds for awards so Furnish, Steve Tidwell, Betty Salter and Pat Bolloch paid for the first World Championship trophies. One year, Bolloch stood at the rail asking for help. Every trainer that rode by chipped in.

The PHBA class started with just two riders and has sparked an industry-wide movement to incorporate equestrians with disabilities classes in breed shows. Most breed associations have introduced classes for riders with disabilities. The division includes assisted rider classes, where a handler and a side-walker lead the exhibitor through the class and events for independent riders with medically diagnosed conditions and impairments.

Each association has given their programs slightly different names. The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and National Snaffle Bit Association (NSBA) classes are known as Equestrians With Disabilities (EWD), the American Paint Horse Association hosts CHAMPS (Challenged Horseman and American Paint Horses).  PHBA has the Challenged Horseman Program and the Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) has Challenged Horseman and Appaloosa Competition for Independent and Supported Exhibitors (CHAPS). Available classes vary by association and range from Showmanship, Barrel Racing to Equitation, Hunter Under Saddle, Trail, Horsemanship, Western Pleasure and Reining.

Not only have these classes given all riders an opportunity to compete at regional and world championship shows, these programs have inspired able-bodied riders, trainers and show management to get involved. At the 2018 PHBA World Show, the Indiana Youth Quarter Horse Association made it their mission to send Montgomery to the All-American Quarter Horse Congress. Within 20 minutes they raised $4,000, according to Furnish.

“They wanted to do a community project fundraiser that would pay all of his expenses,” Furnish said. “They treated him to a first-class experience. They paid for everything down to the shavings in his stall, the entry fees, a golf cart, his hotel, Congress jacket and belt buckle.”

The 74-year-old says that his trip to the Congress has been the highlight of his riding career. He finished in the Top 5 in Western Pleasure Equestrians With Disabilities class.

“I worked extra hard to get there and practiced with Superbowl News Flash (Eli) so I wouldn’t let my Indiana friends down who made it possible for me to reach my dream,” Montgomery said.

Competing at a world show is a lot of work – especially for trainers who teach equestrians with disabilities –but the ribbons, belt buckles and memories are worth it. It takes a village of trainers, Read on to learn what it takes to get involved in equestrians with disabilities programs.

Opportunities Abound

Montgomery is likely the longest continuous challenged horseman competitor, but he didn’t start showing until in his mid-50s. Although his show career didn’t begin until 2000, Furnish has been an integral part of his riding career for much longer than that.

Five decades ago, Montgomery’s family sent a 2-year-old to Furnish’s husband, Terry, for training. Montgomery, who has no muscles in hands or much strength in legs, was thriving in a therapeutic riding program and wanted to ride more often.

Like Montgomery, many riders who compete in these classes are first introduced to horses through therapeutic riding centers. The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH, Intl.) is a nonprofit that was formed in 1969. The organization’s mission is to promote equine assisted therapies, which encompasses riding, driving and equine-assisted mental health. The nonprofit was originally known as the North American Handicapped Riding Association (NAHRA) before changing its name in 2010.

“The benefit of riding is unparalleled,” said Caroline King. Doctors told King that John (15) would never speak.  The DREAM Park Therapeutic Riding program in Logan Township, New Jersey has disproved the diagnosis he received at birth.

DREAM Park Therapeutic Riding program Durector Terry Lewis explains.

“Now John takes the microphone and talks,” said Terry Lewis, program director. “We try to have all our riders talk to the horses by saying walk-on or whoa. It’s easier for them to talk to the horses than to other people.”

The benefits of therapeutic riding programs are well-established. They help riders develop core strength balance and coordination. Through riding, riders with physical and mental challenges strengthen their bodies and empower their spirits, find confidence and self-assurance. The benefits are noticeable immediately and have long-lasting effects.

“We can see John straighten up while he’s riding,” King said. “But you can’t even see the real benefits until after the lesson. We say that John is firing on all cylinders after riding and can communicate more effectively with us.”

Lewis, who is a certified PATH instructor and a Thoroughbred farm manager, has always felt a calling to serve people with special needs. He thought he’d have to wait until retirement to run a therapeutic riding program. Then the DREAM Park opportunity came along. In 2013, He started the program with one rider, one horse and five volunteers. Today, the program serves 30 riders, some of whom compete in Challenged Horseman and American Paint Horse (CHAMPS) classes at three APHA Shows and the AQHA Region 5 Championship Show.

It can be difficult for PATH centers to take riders to shows because of the resources to staff lessons at the center and at a show. Nearly 90% of centers don’t have riders participate in competition, said Kaye Marks, director of marketing and communications, PATH, Intl. NSBA’s Coaches Summit, is partnering with PATH, Intl. to explore opportunities for engagement and expansion of current or new riding programs for the inclusion of Equestrians with Disabilities and Veterans through the Heroes on Horses programs.

“The NSBA Foundation is working to develop programs to support offering these classes and getting the therapeutic riding community to realize the benefits of competition,” said Lynn Campbell, NSBA Foundation Director. “We’ve been working with PATH because their expertise is in therapeutic riding and our expertise is in showing and we’re working to bring those two communities together.”

The NSBA is just one of the associations that has seen growth in EWD classes. Entries have doubled in the last five years, according to Stephanie Lynn, director of operations, NSBA. In 2018, there were a total of 857 entries at NSBA sanctioned shows.

As interest and entries continue to increase in EWD events, trainers and therapeutic riding centers alike need horses and humans to keep pace with demand.

Healing Horses

All riders know that it’s the horses that make or break riding experiences. Just like any discipline, not every horse is well-suited for equestrians with disabilities. One would expect that a bomb-proof horse would be the perfect mount and that high-level performance horse would be too hot. But that’s not always the case.

Lewis says it may take as long as three months to evaluate a horse and be sure the horse can stay in the program. The horses must be comfortable with riders who don’t have good balance, may pull on their manes or make loud noises. It can take a few months for all the behaviors of the students to be seen by the horse and be sure a horse can handle the program.

“Not only must the horse be calm and safe when it is carrying a rider, it must also stand quietly still while balls, toys, beanbags, etc. are being thrown at it and from it,” he said. “Standing patiently on the side lines between lessons and getting along well with the other horses in the arena and in the paddock are also important. A pushy or lazy horse isn’t good either.”

Therapeutic riding centers are often approached by horse owners looking to donate an older show horse ready for retirement. Lewis says he’s frequently asked to take horses into his program. When considering a horse for the program, one of the first things he looks at is size. He doesn’t want a horse that’s too tall, since it would make it difficult for the side walkers to reach the students. A good size is from 14.2 to 15.2 hands, he said.

Trainers like Furnish who privately coach riders like Montgomery are also diligent to match horses with the right temperament to the rider. Although Montgomery keeps a horse at home he enjoys riding recreationally, when it comes to the shows he wants to be competitive. He’s shown nine different horses throughout the years.  This is the second year in a row he’ll be showing Eli, who is owned by Diane Kutz from Illinois.

“He is the only horse I have ever rode two years in a row,” Furnish said. “I always have a different horse at the world show until Ms. Kutz let me show Eli.”

To Furnish, Montgomery is a horseman.

“He knows his horses,” he said. “Mike has always been able to get right up on his horse until this last year.  He now needs a small step stool.  We have always teased him that he could get on easier than the trainers.”

Kaye Marks, director of marketing and communications, PATH, Intl. says the horses that are well-suited for equestrians with disabilities are one in a million and they never judge the rider. She estimates that nearly 90% of PATH centers take horses in on a trial period to test fit. In many cases the centers retire horses on their property or the horses will go home to live with volunteers when they retire from a therapeutic riding program.

“The horses are so sensitive to each rider. I’ve heard instructors say things like a horse stopped in an arena and the handler couldn’t get the horse to move. Thirty seconds later the rider had a seizure,” she said.

The Volunteers

Riding programs for equestrians with disabilities would be impossible without the volunteers who donate their time to these programs. And anyone can get involved. Michigan horse show mom, Beth Hartman was inspired to volunteer after watching an EWD class at the 2016 NSBA World Show. Hartman isn’t a rider or exhibitor herself, but has experienced the joys of riding and showing through her daughter.

“I came home from the world show that year and looked up the local therapeutic riding center. I did a volunteer orientation class and a month later I started volunteering,” she said. “It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”

Once a week she spends a half-day at the Cheff Therapeutic Riding Center in Augusta, Michigan. She now serves on the NSBA Foundation board and has been instrumental in creating a Coaches Summit to educate the therapy community about the benefit of horse showing.

The number of volunteers needed varies depending on the size of the program. The DREAM Park Therapeutic program needs 20 to 25 volunteers for the 12-15 lessons held twice a week. Each new rider starts with one horse leader, two side walkers and an instructor. Some riders always ride with three volunteers, others experience improved balance and control and only need one or no side-walker. Volunteers also assist with facility maintenance, barn chores, office help, exercise rider to keep horses tuned up, Marks said.

“Volunteers have to have a heart for working with people with special needs. If that person also has horse knowledge that’s helpful, but not always necessary,” Lewis said.

“Working with people with disabilities sometimes takes a lot out of you,” Hartman said. “Sometimes I’m emotionally drained after three or four hours, but when I see the rider’s parents feel relaxed for the one hour they get to themselves, it makes me feel good that I’m making a difference.”

The PATH, Intl. website is a resource for finding centers close by. Marks encourages individuals interested in volunteering to meet other people in their area with the same interest by visiting a center near home or attending regional conference.

Trainers like the Furnishes work with riders one-on-one based upon individual relationships. Jeremy Mimitz of Skyz The Limit Performance Horses in South Windsor, Connecticut and Charlene McDonald of Quarter Ridge Farm in Westboro, Massachusetts have prepared riders for AQHA’s Region 6 Championship Show.

“I teach several students with disabilities and I love the joy my clients get out of riding,” said McDonald. “The horses never judge the riders.”

Until this season, Montgomery has been the only rider Furnish has prepared to compete in PHBA’s Challenged Horseman classes. However, this year she has started working with Sandy Walker who will be attending the PHBA World Championship Show for the first time.

“It’s been a real blessing for Terry and I to share this journey with Mike,” Furnish said.

Her advice to other trainers interested in getting involved is to check the association rules that apply to the EWD program.  The rules vary slightly from one organization to another. All programs do require a sign document from the rider’s doctor that list the disability of the rider, she said.

Montgomery is looking forward to another successful year in the show pen and encourages other riders with disabilities to give it a try.

“Find someone like Terry and Melonie that will help you follow your dream and don’t give up,” he said.

Photos provided by PATH International, Jeff Kirkbride, Shane Rux and Ruhle Photographix