A Look into Lovelane: A Massachusetts Special Needs Horseback Riding Program
Lovelane Special Needs Horseback Riding Program
By Emma Fraser
The sun graced the trees in a welcome surprise, as it rarely makes an appearance during the cold winter months in Massachusetts. Frost melted on the grass as I drove down the rock-wall-lined street into the woods of Lincoln, Mass. A residential neighborhood started to materialize outside my truck windows, and I couldn’t help but wonder, ‘where is this place?’
Lovelane’s welcome sign in Lincoln, Mass. Photo by Emma Fraser.
A sign appeared, backlit by sunshine: “Lovelane: Special Needs Horseback Riding Program.” The driveway twisted around more trees, and opened into a large indoor riding arena. The red barn and exterior were inviting as I entered the facility to meet Kristin Chisum, the Instructor Development Manager at Lovelane.
Chisum greeted me with a smile, and motioned for me to sit in her office that overlooked the indoor riding arena. Chisum has been at Lovelane since 1994. She started out as a volunteer after she graduated college and was promoted to her current position in 2022. She works to manage and recruit the instructors for Lovelane’s program and has many other responsibilities. Growing up riding, Chisum likes to get in the saddle whenever she can.
Chisum chatted with me about Lovelane, and how the program was born in 1988 in Weston, Mass., originally as a backyard program with “just five riders.” The horses were borrowed and it quickly became a non-profit organization. Lovelane’s story is that of a growing program that demanded more space as it matured. After needing more land and horses for the program's demand, founder Debby Sabin moved the program in 2004 to its current location.
The facility was built and curated especially for the special needs riding program and was sponsored by donors and families who participated in sessions. The facility has an outdoor arena, indoor riding arena and outdoor trails.
Lovelane’s barn is well kept and tidy, with many young volunteers. Spike, a light brown Norwegian Fjord horse, who looked like something out of a winter wonderland magazine, greeted me with perked ears. Spike has the ability to sense when participants are going to have seizures and is one of the most trustworthy members of the program.
Spike is just one horse out of eleven that are used for specific participants depending on physical, emotional and mental conditions. Each horse is paired carefully with their rider for a session, and each has their own personality. But all of them are safe, reliable and kind– the foundational elements needed to be in a program like Lovelane’s.
Tater Tot, a large 18-hand draft horse, like a Budweiser Clydesdale, is another asset to the team. While big and mighty, Tater Tot is careful and aware. He takes care of his riders and ensures that they are safe. All the horses come in different shapes and sizes, often having a background in jumping, eventing, or competitive showing before coming to Lovelane to be therapeutic horses.
Chisum led me around the property, showing me where the horses went outside for a break, their personal stalls, the tack room with adaptive equipment and the indoor ring, which was heated. The property is immaculate and has been updated to meet the needs of its participants, their families and the staff.
Operating year round, Lovelane services 152 students a week and has about 215 volunteers. The volunteers often are side walkers, and help to brush, tack up and bring the horses to the arena for their respective sessions.
Chisum walked us back into her office, where a cat strutted across the table while her large dog watched on. Lovelane is about choice, and staff can “alter to each student's age, interests, needs and goals,” Chisum said. Their speech and occupational therapists, along with staff members who earned degrees in psychology, can work with each other and a participant's personal therapist to establish goals. Lovelane is often used as an additional resource for people that goes in tandem with their more conventional form of therapy.
“Adaptive Riding,” as Chisum calls it, is aimed to help a rider with a handful of things. It depends on the participant and horse in a session, but it can help with focus, mobility, independence, confidence, emotional and mental support, along with many others. Chisum describes it as “riding with therapeutic goals in mind.”
Chisum also discussed how generous donors and those who helped build the facility provide scholarships for participants. She notes that “almost all participants are on scholarships, which is really great.” Riding can be extremely expensive, so making the sessions accessible for all is not only important, but crucial. Scholarships and financial aid can often be used to offset the costs. Lovelane is eager to help its families and friends, Chisum said, and wants them to know the space is for everyone and anyone.
Tater Tot had worked with a participant that morning. The rider turned him through a circle of cones placed in the middle of the indoor arena. This exercise helps with steering, balance, focus and building muscles. The “turning, posting to the trot and controlling of Tater Tot on their own helps them develop skills,” Chisum noted. The riding skills learned in the program not only provide results in terms of riding experience, but also in relation to a participant’s life outside of Lovelane.
The focus on body control, independence with the horse and physical movement all can be transferred into life outside of the barn. Participants often leave their sessions feeling happy, confident and accomplished. Lovelane is a space for them to be themselves and feel safe. Participants who come to Lovelane “feel no judgment,” Chisum said. Having a space to explore their own body and minds, and to be encouraged to be themselves, is not always easy to find.
Whether it is the horses, the people or the facility itself, Lovelane is a place of care and attention to personal needs. Tater Tot and Spike are just two horses who make Lovelane so special. Chisum and the other staff members work tirelessly to ensure the best experience for everyone involved, and feel the joy that comes from being around the people and the horses.