Therapeutic Riding of Tryon (TROT), the seven-year-old horseback riding program at FENCE for special needs adults and children, is preparing for spring classes scheduled to begin on Saturday, March 12, and continuing three days a week until late May.

“We’re looking forward to getting all our riders back in the saddle,” said program coordinator Norm Powers. TROT will be serving nineteen riders from Polk, Rutherford and Henderson counties in North Carolina, and Spartanburg and Greenville counties in South Carolina.

TROT is also calling for volunteers to assist riders during their lesson times.

“Volunteers are crucial to our program and the need for adequate numbers of volunteers to staff the program three days a week is constant,” Powers said.

Potential volunteers must attend a training session scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 26 at 9 a.m. Powers said that further information about the training can be found at www.fence.org/trot.

“We’re also always on the lookout for potential lesson horses for our program,” Powers added. TROT is unique among NARHA-certified programs in that its lesson horses are privately owned, with horses traveling to FENCE on their assigned lesson days after undergoing evaluation by program personnel.

Potential candidates should be between 14 and 16 hands, of quiet disposition and sound at the walk and trot.

Owners who are interested in offering their horses for TROT lessons may contact therapeuticriding@fence.org.