Therapeutic horse clinic in Oregon needs volunteers to expand number of group sessions

OREGON — A group of eight Dixon students with disabilities attended a clinic May 6 at an Oregon nonprofit to learn about horse care and safety.

That nonprofit, Pegasus Special Riders Inc. at 6668 Carthage Road in Oregon, now is asking for volunteers to help it expand the number of such clinics it can offer.

Pegasus Special Riders is a 28-year-old therapeutic riding center serving children and adults with disabilities in Ogle and surrounding counties. At the May 6 clinic, students helped groom the horses, walked them around the arena and learned how to introduce themselves to the animals, among other things.

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Paraprofessional Renae Higley helps Transitions student Maya groom a horse Tuesday, May 6, 2025, at Pegasus Special Riders in Oregon. The organization provides therapeutic equine services to individuals with special challenges. (Alex T. Paschal)

“It’s not just the horse riding,” Pegasus Board President Stacy Seaworth said in an interview with Shaw Local. “Learning about the horse and interacting with the animal is therapeutic.”

The students who attended the clinic are enrolled in the Lee County Special Education Association Transition program, which serves disabled young adults, ages 18 to 22, to help them adjust from student life to adult life, Dixon program teacher Kevin Hendley said.

Hendley said many of his students are interested in animals and thought this clinic would be something they’d enjoy.

For the clinic, Seaworth brought in volunteers and “built the program to fit our classes’ interests and abilities,” Hendley said. “This just seems like a great organization.”

“We always want to tailor them [the clinic] based on a group’s interests and what they want to learn about,” lead clinic instructor Nancy Etnyre said.

Pegasus offers weekly lessons that include riding and learning about the care of the horses. They’re focused on building a relationship between the rider and the horse.

“The purpose of our programs is to improve lives in ways that can only be accomplished with the help of a horse. For riders that aren’t vocal, we see communication; for riders that are immobile, we see movement; for the emotionally reserved, we see bonds created,” Seaworth said.

The center has offered group clinics for about two decades, but the May 6 clinic was the first one they held in a long time, Etnyre said. “It was just a good time to start again.”

“We want to do more of these style clinics going forward,” Seaworth said.

In order to do that, the center needs volunteers – something Etnyre said they’re “in desperate need” of.

Volunteers can do all sorts of different things, from feeding the horses to conducting lessons or facility maintenance, she said, adding that they’ll teach anybody who wants to learn.

For information, visit Pegasus online at pegasusspecialriders.org.