Riding academy offers healing help in the saddle

By TOM KANE

TYLER HILL, PA - Art Goldberg and horses go way back, over 45 years ago, to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY.

“I was 12 years old and I became a stable boy in the riding stable near the park and took care of the horses,” Goldberg said. “When I got a little older, I got a job there instructing people how to ride. They paid me $1 a day.”

Years later, when he was working as a union organizer at the New York City Transit Authority, he developed balancing problems when he walked, not knowing that it was the beginnings of multiple sclerosis (MS).

“I’ve had it for 30 years,” he said. “For the first 10 years, I never knew what it was.”

When he discovered it, he began a series of therapies, all of which helped to an extent.

When his son, Ben, who was a riding instructor in a stable on the Upper West Side near Central Park, told him about hippotherapy, Goldberg began riding horses for therapeutic reasons. Hippotherapy is the name given to the unique use of horses to help people with disabilities to improve their movement and balance.

“I found it so helpful that I wanted other MS victims to use it,” he said.

During this time, he and his wife, Michele Sands, bought a summer home in Sullivan County, NY and then Wayne County.

In the back of his mind, Goldberg had a secret desire to own a horse farm and begin practicing horse-centered therapy. When the property they now own on Route 371 in Tyler Hill became available 11 years ago, they bought it. Seven years later, they built a barn for their horses and then last August, built a large exercise arena where he holds his instruction. Now Goldberg was ready to fulfill his dream.

“It took us some time to develop this horse-centered therapy to the point that we could open it to disabled people, but now we’re launched,” he said.

Their farm, called Fair Hill Farm Riding Academy, offers classes for people with MS and any other debility that affects people’s balance and confidence in walking.

“People with other kinds of disabilities or loss of limbs can benefit from riding on horses,” he said. “Something very helpful happens when folks ride on a horse. They get to use muscles that are weak and the rhythm of the horse’s gait helps them develop balance. When they get off the horse, the skill transfers to walking. It also helps them with their confidence and emotional well-being.”

According to the American Hippotherapy Association, the horse's walk provides sensory input through movement, which is variable, rhythmic and repetitive. The resultant movement responses in the rider are similar to human movement patterns of the pelvis while walking. Physically, hippotherapy can improve balance, posture, mobility and function and can affect psychological, cognitive, behavioral and communication functions. Hippotherapy can be a benefit to a variety of diagnoses including cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, developmental delay, traumatic brain injury, stroke, autism and learning or language disabilities.

Multiple Sclerosis Society

The Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society held a workshop at the farm on Sunday, July 1, for some of their patients from Scranton and the local area.

With an instructor?in this instance Ben Goldberg, Art’s son — who is certified by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, a leader of the horses, two side-walkers and three horses, the people rode around the Goldberg’s inner arena, getting used to the horse’s trot and gait.

“It really helps, I can feel it,” said Patricia Del Mauro of Narrowsburg. “In one session, I rode without using my hands, with the side walkers holding me. As the lesson progressed, I held on with no support. I was really great.”

“We want to support what Art is doing,” said Susan Guinter, information and community specialist for the society. “There are good reasons for using this therapy.”

The MS Society offers financial assistance to patients qualifying, she said. The fee is $30 per half hour.

“I was using muscles that are weak,” said June Eutech, another MS patient. “I can see how this can strengthen me and give me better balance and more confidence. It’s great.”

“This is like a religious experience for me,” Goldberg said. “I’m reminded of how Jesus got people up from their pallets to walk. When I see MS people getting up and down from a horse, receiving the benefit from this program, I feel messianic.”

For more information, call Fair Hill Farm Riding Academy at 570/224-0052 or email agoldber@ptd.net.