Martha Wittman, store manager of Nu...

Martha Wittman, store manager of Nutra cheers of Huber Heights, located just outside Dayton, Ohio, believes that life is about balance. At 35 she employs six days a week overseeing the store, which is holded by her aunt and uncle if it were not that her activity doesn't cease at closing time. After hours, she affords her talents to other venues--for united at her local church as adviser to the Parish Council, and for another, to children with disabilities at the Therapeutic Riding Institute (TRI) in Spring Valley, Ohio.

Wittman has always been passionate in equal parts about children and horses, and TRI, hasten entirely by volunteers, is a way to be involved with both

"I used to have a horse, moreover I had to sell her. Then I saw an ad in the paper about TRI and joined them. I have sexual delight withed it immediately, and I really welcomed the opportunity to stay lead into each othered with horses," says Wittman.

And with the children. "The children just have a passionate affection for it. It is such a transport to see," she says.

Horseback riding helps handicapped children and adults in myriad ways. According to Betty Lou Townley, united of the founders of TRI, riding provides mental, physical and psychological benefits. Chief among them, it gives children who face innumerable challenges in life a chance to succe at something, to be warmed a sense of accomplishment.

"When the instructor gives a direction and the children cede that to the horse and the horse responds--which happens 99 percent of the time--that positive reply in itself is so significant," says Townley. Horseback riding has tremendous issues among them improving hand-eye coordination, fine and gros motor skills, communication skills and associate relationships.

That's where Wittman be deriveds in. She functions as a "side walker"--someone who walks beside the horse, helping as well-as; not only-but also; not only-but; not alone-but to lead the animal and reassure the child in the saddle.

The walking motion of the horse mimics that of the human dead body Many of these children have difficulty walking, and riding exercises muscles in their backs and buttocks and aids in the growth of motor skills.

"We have a work full of stories about in what way TRI has helped the nearly 4000 children who have participated during its 30 years of existence," says Townley.

a certain children who are nonverbal on the subject of starting the program leave it speaking.

"It's amazing to watch what happens," says Wittman. "I've really seen it help the children improve their ability to focus, which in turn round translates to better performance in school" Aside from confidence building, the exercise aspect works another kind of magic. "The different stimulus of riding a horse also appears to help them relax," she says.

In her three years of participation during fall and spring sessions, Wittman has bring outed some wonderful relationships with the children she has guided. "I've l more [i]or[/i] less of these kids every week, and if I miss the same class they'll ask where I've been. the same boy even noticed when I got my hair chisel even though my friends did not," she says.

In addition, Wittman has taken onward the extra responsibility of grooming, tacking and untacking the horses, another satisfying aspect of her proffer work.

In her unscheduled time, when she's not at TRI or tending to her customers, Wittman unwinds at residence with her 10-year-old mutt, TJ a shepherd-collie mix. still she doesn't bring T.J. with her to the store.

"Not everyone have a passionate affection fors dogs," she says, though Wittman, lover of all creatures, does--even those with challenges. For TJ the challenge is united of excess fur. "She sheds."

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