Giving Back --
All Paths Lead to the Southwest
Georgia Therapeutic Riding Center

Tara Okon has been in love since she was four years old. As a four year old she fell in love with a horse and has never gotten over it. As a youngster, she began riding barn ponies and slowly progressed to her own ponies. Showing at local shows, she gradually improved her riding skills as she was competing against riders who would eventually make up the U.S. Equestrian Team-riders such as Greg Best, Jeffrey Wells and the Leone brothers. In the mid 70’s Christina Schlusemeyer became her trainer and guide. Christina was not only able to bring out the best in Tara’s riding ability, but was able to teach her the guidelines for selecting excellent horses. Through Christina’s ability to select horses and teach her riders, Tara was able to become the AHSA Green Pony Champion in 1977.

Following this she started showing jumpers and was very successful in this while in high school. From the time Tara was in middle school, she worked in her father’s orthopedic office --taking x-rays, helping with casts and removing sutures. She was able to see the injuries and congenital defects that required prolonged rehabilitation. Spurred by this, she decided to become a physical therapist before she ever went to college. After she finished college, she completed physical therapy school at the Medical College of Georgia. While her husband, Stan, was in the submarine service, Tara worked in physical therapy in such diverse places as Groton, CT, and Tuskegee, AL. In other words she had to deal with the extremes of wealth and poverty. While in Groton, she was exposed to High Hopes Farm in East Lyme where therapeutic riding was started in the United States following the techniques developed in Austria and Germany. The Ingals of the ship building fortune underwrote the facility and have made it the pinnacle of this type of center in the U.S.

Once Stan left the submarine service, he and Tara relocated to Leesburg, Ga., where he gained employment with Proctor & Gamble as an engineer. Though trained as a nuclear engineer, Stan wanted to live in the South rather than going to an area where his nuclear engineering talents would be utilized. Tara initially started as a physical therapist at one of the local hospitals. She realized that there was not an adequate therapeutic riding program in Southwest Georgia. Dreaming of this, she and Stan were able to find an abandoned horse farm where she could visualize her dream of a center taking place. The lawyers took an extended amount of time in setting up a nonprofit organization, but this was finally accomplished. Stan, Tara, and some of Stan’s colleagues from P & G began to try to clear land, clean and rebuild stables, and construct fencing.
In the meantime Tara was applying for aid from multiple foundations. With these funds and their own money, the two were able to construct a classroom and other required surroundings for a therapeutic riding center. She received funds from people and foundations located in Thomasville, GA. With some of these funds she was able to find materials for a covered arena which was constructed by Stan and the volunteers from P & G. This facility enables Tara to treat patients regardless of weather.

Tara has used her contacts throughout the equine world to get contributions of apparel, tack and horses for these children to use. In addition, Tara and Stan have contributed their own financial resources as well as an extraordinary amount of time and effort. For example, one child requires three walkers on the ground at all times when mounted. A grant is necessary to enable Tara to hire qualified help, giving her more time with the children who so desperately need her.

Equitherapy is a form of physical therapy which is beneficial to disabled patients because the rhythmic muscle contractions of the horse are transferred to the rider. It is a form of therapy that has been utilized throughout the country, but very few people are truly qualified to administer it. Most areas have someone who loves horses but knows very little physical therapy or they have a therapist who knows little about using horses for therapy. It is rare for an area such as Leesburg to have someone who is not only an outstanding physical therapist but also an equestrian expert.