The History of Therapeion TRC
Libby Marks-Shepard
THERAPEION THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER
I've frequently been asked how and why I started a therapeutic riding center. And how did I pick such a strange name! God has set me on this path and I know that He continues to guide our growth. If you'd like to find out how this happened, just keep reading. :-))
In the winter of 2003-2004 I belonged to a women's Bible study group. We were a small and self-led group that would pick a study guide and dutifully work our way through it to completion before moving on to the next. The guide we were slugging through at that time was about hearing the voice of God. We were to buy a journal, do our daily Bible study lesson, wait for the voice of God, and then record what we heard.
I heard grocery lists and jobs to be done and birds outside and anything but the voice of God. Being a moderate, middle of the road Christian, I wasn't surprised that God didn't talk to me. After all, that was the stuff of Moses and Elijah and all of those long dead prophets. Middle aged pharmacist did not hear the voice of God.
But still I read and studied and journaled. And the only voices I heard were those that were telling me I was delusional to every have hoped for more.
On 1/19/04 I decide that I was going to "do better". I sat down with my journal and my Upper Room and really READ it. And I journaled. And then, after about half an hour, I listened.
Almost immediately I heard, loud and clear as if someone were right next to me speaking in my good ear, "Train horses for God", quickly followed by "horses for children", "Agape", "for abused children", "horses, ponies, and minis that need homes", and "kids learn about recovery from abuse by taking care of small horses who have been rescued".
That was it, at least for then. I passed it off as being my wishful thinking, wanting to be able to work with horses.
But, the next day, it was still on my mind. And God told me to "trust in Him, but get the ball rolling because it was going to take several years for this to grow and blossom". And I heard "In three years God will give me a farm to begin...the barns will be good, the house will need lots of work, and it will come with our first little therapy horse.".
The next day was Wednesday, our Bible study day. When I said we were self directed that was because Wednesday was our pastor's day off, so we NEVER saw him. That day, for some reason, he stopped into the church and came to see us in the library. I told him what had happened. He told me there was a therapeutic riding center named Agape just north of Indianapolis, where I lived at the time. I figured I'd heard about it and my subconscious had latched onto that hidden memory and pushed it to front. Bill gave me the Agape phone number. I wrote it in my journal and blew it off.
On 1/22/04 I called to see what Agape was and got info on volunteer training, then sat down with my journal. I heard "the heart and hands for horses", "Angel", and some other stuff.
On 1/24/04 I heard "white horse" and "Angel".
On Sunday, 1/25/04, I heard "Angel, a horse named Angel", and "I have given you my word very clearly.....Agape, a white horse named Angel.".
I called Agape the next day on my cell phone while my daughter was in Blockbuster. They had 10 horses. Yes, they had a white horse. Why yes, her name was Angel. My hands were shaking when I put down the phone. I visited the next day and became a volunteer, meeting the white horse named Angel on my first visit. And God said "Don't worry. I have things planned and you'll be shown what you're to do. I'm with you!".
So I volunteered, and loved working with the physically and developmently challenged kids that comprised most of Agape's clients. Then I had the opportunity to take special training to work with several classes of youth at risk and was smitten with the program.
When I decide the time was right to start the journey to becoming an instructor, it wasn't because I was so darned sure I could do it, but it was because God was there to push me forward when I needed it.
Every time I have faltered, God has been there to encourage me. I have sometimes gone down this path kicking and screaming, with protests that it's too hard and that I can't do it! When I began to wonder if I was making a difference at Agape, God pushed me forward with words like"Don't worry, I'll be there. I'll show you what to do. You're there because I want you there and because I told you to be there. OBEY my word and don't falter--I'm with you if you stay on my path. My spirit is with you. Listen to Him speaking to you and you won't go wrong.".
When God first told me that I would start a center to serve abused and neglected children and youth at risk and would be using rescue horses to do it I was SURE that was impossible. But, all things are possible with God.
Almost three years to the day God told me that he would give me a farm, Shep and I walked through a place that had been in foreclosure for almost three years and was in much need of love and attention. Infact, it was in so much need of love and attention that it was overwhelming. But, we both felt it was right and we made an offer. We were told there was another offer made hours before ours that had been accepted. Three months later the farm was still on the market and we contacted the bank that owned it. The bank president thought the farm had been sold and reopened it for offers when we told him differently.
We immediately made an offer and now we live there. We will be doing fix ups and repairs for many years. The cosmetic things will have to wait until the repairs are done. We need barn siding and an indoor arena so our therapy kids can ride in bad weather. We need insulation and a restroom for our riders. We need a classroom. We need sand in the outdoor arena and round pen and land for turnouts for our therapy horses. We need fencing. We need a tractor and spreader. We need gravel for the parking lot and the cement mountain removed. We need the drainage fixed around the horse barn so the stalls don't flood.
The house needs power blasted, caulked, and refinished. The sliding doors and windows need replaced. And that's just the outside! God was right about the house...it does need lots of work, but it is dry and safe.
And I didn't realize the significance of the timing of the first walk through until after looking back through my old journals for encouragement. Three years and one day to the day of God's promise.
Therapeion is a Greek word that means' "healing of body and spirit". When I first heard that word and wrote it in my journal I really botched the spelling! A Purdue Greek professor set me straight and gave me the definition. Yes, it is a strange name and hard to figure out how to pronounce. But God said this is the name and if there is one thing I've learned over the last three and 1/2 years it's don't question God! So Therapeion we are.
So, this middle aged pharmacist is doing what appeared to be the impossible.... I'm a NARHA therapeutic riding instructor and running a center that serves abused and neglected children, riders with disabilities, and youth at risk. And we're doing it with horses no one else wanted: who have their own stories of abuse and neglect. I gained the experience needed to run this program from volunteering at Agape and working as an instructor at the CHAPS Therapeutic Riding Center.
This week the days were cold and sometimes overcast. It was our next to last week of classes for this term. Twenty three riders participated in our ten week program. As I was watching our riders in the outdoor arena it occurred to me that both our riders and our horses have been victims of abuse and neglect, and yet there they were, in harmony. A person driving up to the farm and seeing these kids on horses for the first time would never guess what they have all been through. And that is our goal...to facilitate healing of body and spirit. Kids on horses, healing together.
Soon we hope to have the indoor arena that will make year round programing possible. And the land to support more therapy horses so we can expand our programing. And an additional instructor, because one of our volunteer mentors is now in the process of becoming NARHA instructor!
This isn't the end of the story...God has assured me that there is much more to come. And I know it won't be easy but that God will be there with me, or behind me pushing, if necessary!
In His love.
Libby
November 3, 2007
Libby and Phoebe
" I can do all things
through Christ"
Philippians 4:13
