For Carrie Capes, disabilities hits close to home. Her 13-year-old son, Max, has a mitochondrial disorder and developmental disabilities. At the age of 8, Max began taking therapeutic riding lessons.

“It was by far the best therapy we’d ever done with him and had a huge impact on his core muscle strength, coordination, communication skills and most of all his confidence,” Capes said.

Shortly after, the Capes family bought a horse and Carrie became a certified therapeutic riding instructor. In 2012, Fox Chase Farms invited Capes into a partnership to start a therapeutic riding program. HorsePower Therapeutic Riding has been growing ever since.

“We have grown from three students to 34 in just a year and a half,” Capes said.

HorsePower Therapeutic Riding provides riding lessons to children and adults with disabilities. The program is always looking for volunteers. Students with two years of horse experience are needed to assist in lessons.There are also support roles for those without horse experience.

Junior Julia Lennon volunteers at HorsePower TR. She is a side walker, which means she walks next to the rider to make sure that if something goes wrong, someone is there to get the rider off safely.

“The most rewarding part for me is to know that I am helping out and making a difference. The best part is getting to see the kids smile and laugh and enjoy it, because then it makes it fun for me,” Lennon said.