(Cushing, Okla.) Leslie Kirkland and the kids and volunteers from Right Path Riding Academy will give a pre-show performance on Friday – weather permitting.
In years past the group has not been able to perform due to too wet weather and weather that was just too hot. Hopefully this year things will be just right for them to demonstrate the things the “differently-abled” students at Right Path learn.
“I don’t like diagnosis,” Kirkland said. “I prefer to call them differently-abled.”
Who are the differently abled? Children with conditions such as Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, speech impairments, Rhett Syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, ADD/ADHD and a variety of brain impairments and other developmental disabilities.
Right Path’s mission is to help these children achieve their highest potential – physically, emotionally and cognitively – through the unique avenue of therapeutic horseback riding, cart driving and other equine-assisted activities.
Right Path Riding Academy was established by Kirkland over 15 years ago as a way to help children and even adults with special needs. “We started out working more with adults, but we had to cut back,” Kirkland said. “It’s harder physically, so now we work primarily with children.” (Kirkland, herself suffers from Multiple Sclerosis)
Since its inception, hundreds of children in Northwest and Central Oklahoma have been served by Right Path Riding Academy.
For more information on Right Path Riding Academy and its dedication to helping special needs children, visit www.rightpathridingacademy.org.
To help Right Path Riding Academy by making a donation of money or even a horse, call 918-352-4110 or email [email protected]
Right Path Riding Academy is located at 16620 Old Shamrock Highway, Drumright, OK 74030.
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