Riding Above the Obstacles

Mike Knodell teaches riding and in the process helps his students learn to hold their heads a little higher. That’s because Knodell’s riders suffer from paralysis, blindness, brain injuries, mental retardation, or other handicaps.

David Dempster, who is mentally retarded and was afraid of horses when he signed up for Knodell’s classes, now is on top of the world when he rides. He will compete as a rider in the Special Olympics this fall.

“I’m back in the saddle again,” he says with a big grin as he guides a savvy buckskin named Buck around the arena. Last year, Knodell took three riders to the Special Olympics—Danny Travsky, a quadriplegic who rides independently, and two visually impaired riders.

One of these riders, Tom Stafford, who is legally blind, won a silver medal.

“I enjoy riding very much,’’ he says. “I can only see things close up, but I can trot around poles and even run the horse in the arena.”

Knodell started the Wind River Therapeutic Riding Facility in Lander, Wyo., (pop. 6,867) with his son, Mickey, in 1999, using his own savings and his love of working with horses and people with disabilities. The program now serves 75 clients, five days a week. Knodell had broken horses on his father’s ranch as a youngster and then for 20 years supervised crews of developmentally disabled employees at a nonprofit job training and residential service. When he helped set up a therapeutic riding program at the Wyoming State Training School, he knew he’d found his life’s work.

His riders agree.

Spring Holdren says her mentally retarded son, Anthony, 10, gets really excited on riding days. “Riding has given him a skill he can be proud of,’’ she says.

To kick-start his operation, Knodell trained his own horses and leased others, rented the Winter Fair Farm (an arena with grandstand seating), borrowed equipment, and roped in volunteers. Now a board takes care of fund raising.

Son Mickey, 28, is his right-hand man, performing endless horse care chores and helping clients. Ironically, Mickey struggles with his own disability—obsessive-compulsive disorder—in which sufferers get stuck on disturbing thoughts that won’t go away, often performing repetitive tasks such as counting or hand-washing. Medications and therapy can reduce symptoms, but seldom cure it.

Mickey’s anxiety makes keeping a job difficult, but like his dad, he’s found his calling. “Helping others has helped me,” Mickey says.

Mike Knodell echoes his son’s sentiments. “Everyday it warms my heart when they come through that door just beaming,” he says.

Ken Clanton, a volunteer and former board member, says Mike Knodell has infinite patience, energy, and enthusiasm. “He has a smile for every kid, knows their names, what jokes to tell, and what games they like to play,” Clanton says.

But Knodell has more than fun in mind. He teaches games that improve thinking and coordination—tossing rings over cones, balancing a plastic egg in a tablespoon, and weaving through poles at a fast trot.

Bill Scebbi, executive director for the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association, says such drills “teach people how to do things sequentially and problem solve better. Plus, having a relationship with a nonjudgmental animal like a horse improves their self-esteem.”

The arena Knodell leases at the local high school is scheduled for demolition next summer to make room for new school buildings. Knodell trusts his community and faith will find Wind River a new home.

“The Lord has brought me this far,” Knodell says. “He’s not about to let it stop now.”

Karen Karvonen is a regular contributor to American Profile.

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