How we labor: Jeanie shares the origin of RideAbility

by Jeanie Michelizzi

God had an idea!

In 1991 we bought a farm, and I talked to God about what I could do there to help people, maybe children.   Ideas whizzed through my mind, school field trips, petting zoo, animal behavior studies … but God had a different idea.    As I prayed, He worked His miracles.   Six years later, after many changes in my life and feeling closer to the Lord than ever before, I got a phone call from a neighbor.  He said, “I think you would like it if we moved RideAbility to your farm.”    He told me about this new therapeutic horseback riding program and how the local Saddle Club didn’t have room in their schedule for the program to continue growing on their property.   Then he told me he would bring over friends and build an arena where we could have children ride horses – children who could benefit from gentle horses and their “random, regular movement”.   Ellen Newman called me and people showed up.  They built an outdoor arena and setup an indoor arena “in case it rains”, so we could still have classes.   I just did what they told me.  People came from my work at IBM, neighbors came, Ellen’s friends came … they all worked together and very quickly, our old calf barn became a facility for horseback riding!

My husband Jim and I still didn’t know what therapeutic horseback riding looked like, and we didn’t understand how it worked.  The very first night we watched as some large men lifted a boy out of his wheelchair and onto a horse.   The boy couldn’t talk, he was “very involved” with some severe physical problems.  But he could make sounds!  He screeched, he screamed, and when he was mounted onto the horse his sounds became SO HAPPY!    He had two large men holding on to him as he rode around the arena – and he laughed and made the happiest sounds we had ever heard!   There were several riders who showed up in wheelchairs that evening.  At the end of the night we closed up the barn, went in to the house, sat on the couch and just stared at each other.    Jim said it all: “We are So Blessed!!”  That is when our hearts began to understand the gift that God had given us.   Little did we know how fulfilled we would be.   We didn’t know that our children and our grandchildren would all have gentle and sensitive hearts because God brought this environment into their lives, and all of the people who came to our farm would greatly affect each of our family.

We also didn’t know how much physical work we would be required to do, but we wanted to serve God, and we loved working with the horses!   We have continued to host RideAbility at our farm for 25 years.  We are not employees of the program (RideAbility is all volunteer, no actual employees).   God has given back to us, to our family, more than we could ever have dreamed.   Our family has to pull together to make the classes work, to help the families that are there, to make events “successful”.  We all need each other and we all know, in our own ways, that we MUST work together, and when God asks us, we MUST put others first.  We have learned that we must depend on other people to complete God’s work, we must listen to other’s hearts … and every human being is loved by God (a lot!)

We have prayed, trying to use RideAbility to spread the word of Jesus. So many miracles!  We have seen unmeasurable growth and love of family after family. We have had more than our fair share of attendance at funerals that are deeply meaningful – our son also has been deeply affected by the children he met at RideAbility.   But I was amazed when God stepped in after my friend, Marisa Bocanegra, said, “I will do anything to help bring Jesus into the program”.  She wanted to pray with me, lay hands on the horses, pray for the riders …and well, “anything.”    So, God put her in a situation where she fell off a horse while helping a client. It was the most serious injury that had ever occurred at RideAbility (she fully recovered, another miracle).  The result was that our board of directors signed an occurrence report requiring our instructors to start each class with a “prayer for safety”.   They couldn’t think of any other action that would truly protect us from a horse “accident!”   God used the mustard-seeds of faith amongst us to record a legal document stating that we will pray for safety!  Since then, I have witnessed many unchurched people with bowed heads praying with me, thanking God, asking to bless the riders, and families (of all faiths) thanking me for praying for their children!  God is so good!!!

I love God’s ideas!!!

Read more about how RideAbility started or how to become a volunteer! www.rideability.org

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Jeanie Michelizzi is a retired software engineer, owner of a hobby farm, horse/animal enthusiast, mother of 3, grandmother of 3, wife of Jim Michelizzi and most of all in love with God the Father who created us, God the Son who saved us and God the Holy Spirit who is always with us!