A local family is taking on the behemoth task of offering a non-traditional rodeo in an unconventional way to all members of the community.
Sisters Lynn Faubert and Susan McGonigle, along with their mother Joy Cole, are preparing to launch the Special Cowboy Rodeo Association – a program out of Trigaire Inc. farm in Guelph-Eramosa Township. The association plans to offer monthly rodeos for people with special needs free of charge on the third Saturday of each month.
“We want to make sure that everybody feels like they have their own spot here,” Faubert said. “So there will be different levels of events.”
The Special Cowboy Rodeo Association will take place the third Saturday of each month and the number of participants will depend on who registers by the deadline and their individual needs. There are no age restrictions for those who would like to participate.
“The special needs rodeo will have the barrel races, the pole races … some side-by-side races,” Faubert said.
McGonigle added, “And if the kids want to rope they will rope. Depending on their level … some might be at the skill level where you could let the calf out and then they could try to rope it or some might be at the skill level where we stake the calf to the ground (or hold the calf at the end) … and they try and rope it.”
But the key factor is that everyone has fun.
“We know what the traditional rodeo events are but we will tailor those events to what the athlete needs,” McGonigle explained. “So that special cowboy will get whatever they need to make them feel like they’re a cowboy and (if) that’s the event they like we’re going to make that work as long as it’s safe.”
Safety is number one for the sisters and their blooming business.
They will have a Kevlar safety vest for each participant in the Special Cowboy Rodeo Association as well as back braces, special saddles, helmets and other equipment to keep the participant safe.
Faubert explained that Trigaire purchased eight miniature horses for a variety of reasons.
First they’re not very threatening in appearance.
“If you’re a child who has a disability or anything else first of all they’re very unassuming at this size. Secondly if you’re in a wheelchair perfect height,” Faubert said. “You don’t feel like you’re going to get stepped on or anything else.”
The sisters are working to have a special chariot designed for the miniature horses to pull.
“If you’re in a wheelchair you can come up into the chariot, the wheelchair will be locked in and you can drive them,” Faubert explained.
Also for those who are capable, the miniatures will be able to perform in mini-chuck wagon races.
Each special needs rodeo will be accompanied by free food.
The idea is to give individuals with special needs and their families a fun day of extracurricular activities, Faubert said.
“I’m a mother who has special needs boys and I know that you’re paying for speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, you’re paying for behaviourist,” Faubert said.
“There’s so many things, so many costs out there that you’re pouring all of this money in to support your kids and you don’t always have time or money and everything else for the extracurricular.”
The free Special Cowboy Rodeo Association will give those families and riders the opportunity to be involved in something other than their everyday responsibilities and to spend a day on the farm.
In addition to the Special Cowboy Rodeo Association rodeo, Trigaire will also offer lessons for riders with special needs in both the western and English disciplines for a fee and all of the necessary safety equipment will be provided.
At Trigaire the focus is on making the environment and facility inclusive and accessible to all members of the community
There are two different options Faubert and McGonigle have been considering to offer employment to people with special needs.
“One would be a training stream so if for example the people who have disabilities or special needs would come for a year and live on site and we would train them … on stable management to the extent of their abilities,” Faubert said.
“We would teach them basic herd health, equine health, you know to the best of their abilities, and try to prepare them so that they can have … a service to go out and market.”
The second stream would be to hire individuals with special needs to work on the farm but not live on site.
“Say they weren’t comfortable around the horses but they don’t mind sweeping, they could come and they could sweep or they could clean the tack, we’d teach them to properly clean all the tack and then that would (be) okay for them or they could wash the buckets in the wash stall … there are lots of jobs that they could do,” McGonigle said.
“That’s empowering too and … empowerment, it also motivates them to keep going to other jobs that maybe they didn’t think they could do.”
The sisters said they’d work to find each individual’s forte on the farm.
However, in order to fund the special needs program at Trigaire the farm also has to offer services for a fee.
On the first Saturday of each month there will be an able-bodied rodeo that can be entered for a fee.
“They’ll include all of the typical rodeos except for they will not include bull riding and they will not include the bronc riding,” Faubert said. “I don’t want anybody hurt.
“We’re here to have a really good time and I’ve been to a lot of rodeos that don’t include those two events and they still are, they’re fun to have.”
The farm will also offer horse soccer on Monday nights where riders can bring their own horse or rent one from Trigaire and bring their own team or join one.
“It’s a 40-inch ball … maximum of five people per team and the horses kick the ball,” Faubert said. The sport is an excellent way to keep a horse fit.
In addition the facility will offer both English and western riding lessons, boarding options and the rental of the facility for community or private events.
The farm is currently offering lessons and has a few boarded horses on site but the rodeos and soccer matches have not begun, as the arenas are not yet complete.
However, as soon as they are the sisters are ready to hit the ground running and begin their programs.
In addition to the 100-by- 200 foot outdoor western arena and 80-by-160 foot outdoor English ring the site will have a 80-by-200 foot indoor arena so the events and lessons can be offered year round, rain or shine.
The sisters said the organization is open to taking donations of any sort, whether it be monetary, equipment or supplies and a portion of all the for-profit events will go into running the special needs program.
“What we’ve done is try to figure out a way where we can sustain the farm and every single time a chunk … will go to help turn on the lights, pay the electricity and then that other chunk is going to the special needs,” Faubert said.
For more information about Trigaire and to learn how to register for rodeos and lessons and how to donate visit www.trigaire.com, email info@trigaire.com or call 519-856-8228.
