Ready Set Ride Therapeutic Recreation Facility

Dear Ready Set Ride family,
    On behalf of our entire Board of Directors, thank you for your generous support of Ready Set Ride.  This year amongst COVID we have learned to adapt in a moment’s notice. We are reaching out to you today, to provide you with updates on what has been happening along with asking for your continued support through “Giving Tuesday”.  

   Many of you know we closed on the property February 28th.  After years of struggles, we now have a permanent home!  Due to COVID-19, we celebrated in our hearts the immense support RSR can count on in times of need.  Thank you everyone, “It takes a village!” has never been truer.

   While COVID-19 changed our plans for two weeks, then a month, then cancelled our entire Spring, our small brave skeleton crew took matters into our own hands.  With safety always our first priority, we came up with a plan that met CDC guidelines, and allowed us to serve the children whose lives were being most directly affected by the lock down.  With a fraction of our number of riders and volunteers for sessions, and a fraction of our normal level of morning barn volunteers, we can proudly say, “We survived.”

   Andy Hellermann was one of those who stepped up and oversaw house renovations for our new RSR office.  Andy Sybert of Sybert Landscaping Group, used all of his equipment to clear, beautify and rejuvenate the grounds.  Fence post holes and fencing were next thanks to Steve Yates. The Taj Mahal of chicken coops is home to our flock of egg layers, thanks to John Francis and Rich Kucera.  Our minis have their own mini barn, the fencing has been upgraded, the sensory trail has new life, and life in general is a lot easier with a Kubota tractor, because of the generous support of volunteer Jim Corradetti.  We have added above ground vegetable gardens to incorporate reading and math skills into planting and harvesting.  Lastly, by joining forces with E*Volve Therapeutic Center, Ready Set Ride has expanded the services it provides to the community and now offers a Mental Health program through our volunteer Becca Burr, a mental health therapist.  As you can see, we are planning bigger and better ways to serve the community,  we are incredibly thankful for those people being a part of our volunteer family, making sacrifices and dedicating time so that when we pull through these times, our riders, families, volunteers, and friends can all come back to celebrate what we’ve created together!

   All of these improvements, along with the countless hours our other volunteers put into making our barn a safe space for a small amount to riders to return during COVID-19, means the world to us.  But missing our Spring sessions, fundraising events like our annual auction that normally funds ½ of our operating expenses, dine to donate, birthday parties and more, we continue to struggle to afford the everyday.  While we know we have asked a great deal from you over the years, we hope you can see the bright future for RSR ahead, the value it provides the community at large and specifically the special needs community.

   We are so excited to begin the 24 Days of Christmas @ Ready Set Ride.  You can follow the fun on our Facebook page or web site.  Please be a part of our winter and stay in touch to see what an amazing year we have planned for 2021.

We were introduced to Ready Set Ride back in 2008 as a different form of therapy for our son Jimmy. Jimmy does not walk or crawl on his own and had very low muscle tone. When Jimmy first started riding he would sit slouched over on the horse (pictured above)and just 8 weeks later he was sitting upright on the horse. The results were amazing we were convinced then that as special needs parents, we would do whatever it took to ensure that Jimmy was able to continue this form of therapy.
We ride every Sunday morning April thru October and we never miss a day.
When the economy started to decline a few years ago the costs for hay and the care of the horses started to sky rocket. The owner started to struggle to come up with the money to keep the doors open and when she shared this with us the realization that we could lose this form of therapy for our son. We decided at that point we would do what we could to try and help raise awareness and funds for the barn.
Ready Set Ride is a non-profit organization who operates solely by the donations of family and supporters and as is run by volunteers. All monies raised goes toward helping cover the costs of operating the barn and the upkeep of the horses.
Please visit www.readysetride.org for more information regarding the facility or www.all4jimmy.com for more information about our son Jimmy.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your donation