November 23, 2009
Dear Friend of INTRA,
Even though we will be in touch with you soon with our end of the year letter, I couldn’t wait to share this exciting experience that I just had with Anita and Giora Shkedi while they were here in the United States to attend the NARHA conference in Fort Worth, Texas. NARHA -The North American Riding for the Handicapped Association- is the internationally recognized professional organization for therapeutic riding centers worldwide.
Anita was invited to be part of a panel that included U.S. therapeutic riding instructors who have begun Horses for Heroes programs to heal wounded veterans at their riding centers. Anita and Giora have been at the forefront of this profound effort working with wounded Israeli soldiers. In 2006 they established their program called “Project Shleymut: Healing Wounded Israeli Soldier Heroes”. In keeping with the NARHA recommendation to all centers, they will be re-naming their program INTRA’s Horses for Heroes. Anita is recognized as one of the foremost authorities in this specialized work. She has trained and consulted with other therapeutic riding instructors in the United States, including one of her fellow panelists, Mary Vardi from Tuscon, Arizona.
Anita is currently engaged in an action research project on her work on PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and the positive impact that therapeutic riding has on soldiers suffering from this disorder. It was thrilling for me to watch her present the outlines of this project to therapeutic riding instructors from all across the U.S. and to watch her engage the U.S. army veterans who also were in attendance at this conference. Several of the U.S. veterans are stationed at Fort Hood and recently experienced a second level of trauma because of the shooting incident there. They came up to Anita and Giora immediately after Anita’s workshop to continue the conversation with them about their healing experiences with therapeutic riding. Anita and Giora have invited these soldiers to come to visit INTRA so that they can experience INTRA’s program first hand.
All of us who care about and support INTRA, should feel very proud that our support enables Anita and Giora, and their amazing staff and horses, to not only heal Israel’s soldiers, but also enables them to share their knowledge and expertise beyond Israel’s borders, to assist returning American soldiers who can benefit through the U.S. Horses for Heroes programs.
INTRA’s Horses for Heroes program, as well as its other programs for children and adults could not continue without your support, for which we are deeply grateful.
We hope that we can count on you to continue your support as INTRA moves forward in its healing work!
Sincerely,
Minna H. Heilpern Barbara S. Goldberg Gail Gilcher
President Treasurer Secretar