Horse farm saddles up to help children with special needs
Oct. 6—BURT — A labor of love has turned into a way to provide a therapeutic experience for children with special needs.
The love of horses was something that Packard Meadows owner Ginny O'Malley has carried with her for most of her life. However, she never thought that she would be taking care of a dozen former racing horses on a 7.5 acre farm.
It all started a little more than a decade ago when a fellow horse enthusiast tipped her off to her first "rescue," a thoroughbred named Champ, the grandson of Foolish Pleasure, the horse that won the 1975 Kentucky Derby.
"I was out of horses for 35 years. The horse appeared on Facebook. Everybody was saying 'Oh my God, we have to help him,'" O'Malley said.
With the help of fellow horse owners, O'Malley was able to bring Champ to Newfane from a "kill pen" in New Jersey, where he otherwise would've been slaughtered.
Not long after acquiring Champ, another horse was brought to O'Malley's attention. This time, he was much closer to home.
"Alex came into the fold when I was boarding at a very bad boarding stable in Lockport. He was 13 months old and very ill and totally ignored," O'Malley said.
The two subsequently formed a bond and after a few months, O'Malley acquired the horse from its owner.
After acquiring Champ, Alex and a few other horses, O'Malley and her husband, now deceased, purchased the land that would become Packard Meadows in 2016. Over the next few years they had to rebuild stalls and fencing on the property.
A few years later, O'Malley crossed paths with Colleen McAuley and her son Michael.
Michael, who has autism, started doing therapeutic horse riding at the age of 5.
McAuley said that Michael had been involved with another local therapeutic riding program for several years, and after that program closed, they were looking for a place for Michael to continue riding.
"Horse riding is good for those that have disabilities, because there is that bond that's formed between them and the animal," she said.
McAuley and O'Malley said they have seen Michael develop a significant bond with Alex over the past four years he's been riding at Packard Meadows.
"In all the time he's been here, Alex has never let (Michael) fall. The bond between those two is just incredible," O'Malley said.
That has since prompted O'Malley to open her farm to therapeutic riding by other children who have special needs.
"Michael was the start of us thinking that we could do this," O'Malley said.
O'Malley has brought Alex to several local events, benefits and fundraisers over the past few years. This month she is also hosting students from the special education program at Orleans-Niagara BOCES. She said the experiences of interacting with and riding the horse will teach the students work-related skills with directional methods.
Seeing the kids develop a bond with the horses over time, as Michael and Alex have, is one of the main things that ultimately drives O'Malley to keep Packard Meadows going.
"Watching Michael do this and knowing how happy the two of them are makes me happy," she said.
