Molinaro, Pulver tour Hope Rising Farm to celebrate $17,900 grant

MILLERTON — Congratulating Hope Rising Farm Therapeutic Riding Center as a recent recipient of the county’s “Learn, Play, Create: Supporting Our Kids” program, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro and Chairman of the Dutchess County Legislature Gregg Pulver (R-19), of Pine Plains, toured the Millerton therapeutic riding facility on Friday, Dec. 3.

Their goal was to achieve a better understanding of the facility’s offerings and how local youth have benefited from its programs.

In November, the county’s grant program awarded $3 million to fund 147 projects of local nonprofit organizations that directly serve children. The projects aim to enhance and empower opportunities for children to learn, play and create “while filling an educational, financial, social and/or emotional void because of the quarantine and stay-at-home orders necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the county.

Of those recipients, Hope Rising Farm, located at 19 Morse Hill Road in Millerton, received $17,900 to purchase equipment for therapeutic means.

According to its website, www.hoperisingfarm.org, the facility was founded in 2017 “to enhance the physical, sensory, emotional, cognitive and social skills of adults and children with special needs through equine-assisted activities.”

Allison Dunne, a volunteer and soon-to-be certified therapeutic riding instructor at Hope Rising Farm, said the riding facility plans to purchase an equicizer, a SureHands Lift & Care System, an Inky-Dinky therapeutic saddle, a larger therapeutic riding saddle, ladder reins, gait belts, a Hippo Helper and a seat shrinker.

Dunne said the equicizer and the SureHands Lift & Care System will take up the bulk of the grant funding. She explained an equicizer is a mechanical horse used to instill confidence and strength in riders, so that they may practice riding without being on a live animal. The SureHands Life & Care System will be used to help students in wheelchairs get on the back of the horses to ride.

“It meant the world,” Dunne said in regard to receiving the grant. “It kind of signifies the next step for Hope Rising Farm. As a nonprofit, there’s so much you can do and there’s so much we can offer.”

She added that out of all of the grant recipients, Hope Rising Farm was the only one that Molinaro and Pulver actually visited in person.

On Friday afternoon, the two county officials toured the riding facility with Hope Rising Farm Founder and Executive Director Jackie Wikane. They met some of the students and Wikane gave an abbreviated lesson to show Molinaro and Pulver what the riding facility does with those who go there.

Parents also met with the officials to share how the facility’s programs have benefited their children.

“It was one of the most amazing experiences that I’ve had at a farm, quite honestly,” Pulver said, a lifelong farmer himself.

In describing what it was like to watch the programs being demonstrated by the young people who use them, “who don’t normally have an opportunity to ride a horse or the physical ability to get on a horse,” Pulver said seeing the emotional connection between those youth and the horses floored him.

He said he was touched  to see the connections the riders make at the facility with the horses. He said he was quite impressed by how much the students seem to have benefitted from attending the various programs and services offered at Hope Rising Farm.

“We are very fortunate to have them in our community,” Pulver said.

“To me, to have the county executive and chair of the Legislature there was just phenomenal,” Dunne said, likewise impressed. “To see how engaged they were in what we do at the farm really helped us identify potential opportunities down the road to take us to the next level… We put our best foot forward and were rewarded.”

To contact Hope Rising Farm, call 845-797-8365 or go to www.hoperisingfarm.org.