Equine therapy program nears final ride after four decades in Holyoke

HOLYOKE — Monica Samano, Carrie Berthiaume and Mary Beth Janocha mount their horses while their mothers Marie Berthiaume and Linda Samano take their usual seat by the window in the Therapeutic Equestrian Center office, venting about their week’s victories and frustrations as they have for the past 30 years.

“These three are like the three musketeers,” Marie Berthiaume said about three fellow horseback riders. “They’ve been together a long time.”

The Therapeutic Equestrian Center, operating independently on the Jericho property along Northampton Street (Route 5), is one of the oldest certified equine therapy programs in the country. Through a variety of group classes, school collaborations and summer camps, the nonprofit has helped over a thousand children and adults with a wide range of disabilities build strength, develop confidence and “reach their highest potential.”

Berthiaume first brought Carrie to the nonprofit providing equine-assisted therapy because of their shared love of horses. Janocha joined next, followed by Linda and Monica Samano. Monica, who has a movement disorder called cerebral palsy, said she came to Therapy Equestrian Center at 13 years old to improve her balance and core strength. As the women grew closer, so did their parents.

“I look forward to coming just so I sit with her [Linda],” Berthiaume said. “Because we talk and talk and we do our thing. It’s fun.”

But the “three musketeers” will soon need to find another place to go riding. After more than 40 years — and 10 years prior as a branch of Jericho — Therapeutic Equestrian Center will close the stable doors for good after a farewell party on Sept. 6. The end of the program marks a major loss for the disability community, but the skills, knowledge and friendship gained from over 50 years of riding will remain even after riders dismount for the last time.

“This is the highlight activity that my daughter does,” Linda said. “It’s hard to overstate how sad it is. This program has been here 40 years. You come to just expect that it’s going to be here.”

Tough challenges

Therapeutic Equestrian Center’s Executive Director Geraldine O’Connor Page points to a wide array of challenges that, despite the best efforts of the nonprofit’s board of directors, exhausted the organization’s resources.

“We’re not pointing any fingers,” Page said.

The center closed for a year and a half during the coronavirus pandemic to protect their vulnerable population from the virus, but continued to provide high-quality care for their horses despite the loss of income from lesson fees. Even when the nonprofit began lessons again, the wide variety of insurance payments, facility maintenance, veterinarian visits and staff benefits continued to rise in cost, hitting the nonprofit even harder.

“The sustainability of donations coming in has become a huge challenge,” Page said. “People are hesitant to donate the way they have in the past, or to donate as we start new fundraisers and new ideas that the board was always coming up with. So that’s made it really, really difficult.”

Then, under all this increased financial pressure, the staff and many volunteers at the equine center recognized that the horses had reached retirement. The five horses at the center are pushing 30 years old, and they are all reaching their elderly ages at once. Once the center closes, some of the horses will return to their owners, and the others will leave with Page to her farm at home.

“These guys [the horses] have been doing this and doing it well, and been very well taken care of, but they also deserve the retirement at the ages that they’re at,” Page said. “The majority of our horses are in their late 20s to early 30s.”

Throughout their lifetime, Page witnessed these horses make strides with riders as they strut around the barn. Children who were mostly nonverbal talked to their horses, making sounds for the first time. West Springfield veterans with PTSD found some relief and relaxation when with the large animals. One young girl, Page recalls, built up enough strength in her hips to bypass the surgery she previously needed to walk.

“One of my favorite things is that for a lot of our older guys in the group homes here, a lot of times, this is the highlight of their week,” said instructor Nora Britton. “I hear from staff that every day they pick up their riding helmet and bring it to staff to come riding.”

Not only have the riders benefited from the program, so too have staff members and dozens of volunteers who care for the horses and assist staff during lessons. Britton started volunteering at Therapeutic Equestrian Center at 10 years old before getting her license to teach lessons. She’s been at the nonprofit for 20 years.

Founder of Jericho Father Robert Wagner caught Page riding horses on his property when she was 15 years old, and the deal she made with him to allow the children with disabilities on the property to interact with her horses began her life’s work.

Parents, too, have found a “support group,” as Samano calls it, of like-minded individuals who come across similar challenges in raising their kids. Samano and Berthiaume often meet outside of the riding lessons for dinners and trips to the movie theater. Sometimes, their daughters come with them. Other times, they go alone for another venting session.

“It is definitely a sad day for us,” Page said. “We’re trying to focus on the fact that we have really touched a lot of people’s lives, and we have all been touched by people’s lives, sharing with our volunteers and our rider families and our riders. We’re very fortunate.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.