Therapy instructor Paula O’Neil is pictured with Gypsy, a therapy horse used to help children with developmental disabilities through the Special Strides program in Monroe. A nearly 200-acre farm that doubles as a haven of happiness for children with disabilities is celebrating its 25th anniversary.
Congress Hill Farm on Federal Road in Monroe is inviting the community to celebrate the milestone on July 16. The event will help support Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Center, a nonprofit organization that is based at the farm and is devoted to improving the lives of children with developmental disabilities.
The event will begin at 8 p.m. and will feature live music from Speed Limit, which will perform songs by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Yes, The Doors and other classic bands. The Manalapanbased band includes guitarist Norman Good, who is a friend and supporter of Special Strides. Laurie and Sam Landy, owners of Congress Hill Farm, hope people will come out and gather around their pond to enjoy a night of entertainment. In lieu of a cover charge, a donation of $20 per person will be collected to benefit the kids at Special Strides.
Attendees should bring beach chairs or a blanket, and are welcome to bring their own beverages and food.
Laurie Landy, an occupational therapist, is co-director of the unique 13-year-old Special Strides program, where volunteers and instructors combine the use of horses and therapy to achieve goals in an atmosphere that is fun for their clients. The organization offers a range of programs to help disabled children. Riding, hippotherapy and a driving program are all used to achieve functional therapeutic goals.
Therapeutic riding teaches clients riding and horsemanship skills with the assistance of instructors and volunteers who may lead the horse or walk alongside to provide additional safety. Hippotherapy uses the horse’s motion to help children and adults, Landy said. The Joseph Farrelly Driving program offers students with physical, mental, sensory or emotional conditions the benefits of the motion and emotion of the horse without being on top of the horse.
Landy said that in one case, she brought a very disabled young girl to the farm to see the horses. The child hadn’t uttered a word for an entire year, but when she was lifted onto the horse and began to ride, she started to sing the words from “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.”
“There is such a strong sensation to be on a horse,” Landy said, adding that it activates all the body’s senses. “We all thought that there was something to this.”
In another case, a young man who had cerebral palsy used a walker to get around. But after just a few sessions at the farm, he started walking without the assistance.
“You can really see how it opens people up,” she said.
The Special Strides program has become known on a state and national level, and has recently become a premier accredited center.
“Many types of disciplines get along together on the farm,” Landy said, noting that there are other programs at the farm, part of which has been donated for the use of a day camp. The property also includes an equestrian center, an indoor riding arena, two outdoor arenas, a track for horse training, a swimming pool for horses, sensory trails, and a playground with a log swing.
It is a great place for clients to interact with nature and is open year-round, Landy said.
“They really get a sense of farm life, too,” she said of the children, who can see goats, chicken, sheep and even llamas when visiting the farm.
“The farmhas been a haven for happiness through horses, nature and the friends they have made along the way,” Landy said.
Once owned by the famous harness horseman Herve Filion, the farm originally measured 80 acres in size before the Landy family purchased it in 1986. It has since been expanded to comprise 180 acres.
The farm, to Landy, is special in so many ways. Not only is it home to Special Strides and other programs, but it is also where she met her husband. She was set up on a blind date with the man who would later become her spouse.
“I just knewIwas going to love the person who lived there,” she said.
Years later, she still enjoys running and operating the farm — a wish she had had for many years.
“And I still even like him [her husband],” she said with a laugh.
Since her arrival, both the farm and the program have come a long way. In 1998, Special Strides had just four participating students and one horse.
“No one got paid for a long time,” Landy said.
Today, the program has 30 paid employees, 40 volunteers and 140 clients who travel fromnear and far to partake in the benefits of Special Strides.
Landy said the community support that the program receives is crucial to the success of the program. Many people have donated time and money to see that the organization can continue in its efforts to provide therapy to children.
Students at junior high school or high school levels volunteer to raise money for scholarships every year. Through fundraising efforts like the Fund a Child Program and a Bowl-a-Thon, the organization was able to award scholarshipmoney to 80 programparticipants last year.
Fundraising is important to the program, and Special Strides relies on family donations, grants and friendships to provide money needed to stay afloat.
“We are dedicated to providing this therapy regardless of [a client’s] financial situation,” she said.
Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops travel to the farmto help with the program. They assist in cleaning up the woods and are educated by volunteers and staff about how the therapy horses are used.
“It’s really about the friendships that we have made throughout the years,” she said.
The anniversary event will take place on the farm located at 118 Federal Road. For more information, call Special Strides at 732- 446-0945 or log on to http://www.specialstrides.com. For more information about the band, visit www.SpeedLimitNJ.com.