The Shea Center

I've probably mentioned the Shea Center in one of my earlier posts, so I thought I would give a little more info. I first started volunteering with the J.F. Shea Therapeutic Riding Center, in San Juan Capistrano, when I was in college. It's a non-profit that offers physcial therapy and hippotherapy classes for individuals with disabilities (in case you were wondering, hippotherapy has nothing to do with hippopotami!). During lessons the wonderful staff and volunteers work with the clients to improve things like balance, coordination and speech and you can tell the clients absolutely love it. They have some of the biggest smiles I've seen and a lot of the time they don't want to get off their horses at the end of the lesson!

My role at the Shea Center is to school some of the horses. I usually do some walk, trot and canter and work on bending, stretching and strengthening. The staff like when the horses are schooled regularly, because they're much happier during their lessons. Over the years I've schooled several of the horses, but recently I've been riding Streaker, a gorgeous chestnut thoroughbred who was a hunter/jumper before he came to the Shea Center. I love riding him because he is so willing and works hard and every week he gets a little better.

Overall it's been very rewarding to be a part of the Shea Center. They're always looking for volunteers, so if you're in the area, check them out! Before my ride last night, I snapped a few pics of Streaker, here is one of my favorites!