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NARHA: 25 Years of People Turning Dreams Into Reality <br /> Testimony to the therapeutic value of horseback riding spans the ages. But the origin of <br /> organized therapeutic riding is relatively recent. The achievements in the 1950's of one <br /> woman - Liz Bartel of Denmark - are generally regarded as the impetus for the formation <br /> of therapeutic riding centers in Europe. PoUo impaired Madame Hartel's mobility but not <br /> her spirit. She rehabilitated herself from wheelchair to horseback and in 1952 she won the <br /> silver medal for Grand Pris Dressage at the Helsinki Olympics. Medical and equine <br /> professionals took notice and soon centers for therapeutic riding sprang up in Europe. It <br /> didn't take long for therapeutic riding to reach the shores of the North American <br /> continent. Canadians and Americans studied what was happening in England and quickly <br /> made plans to start centers. Two of the first were the Community Association of Riding <br /> for the Disabled (CARD) in Toronto. ON, which was organized by J.J. Bauer and Dr. <br /> R.E. Renaud; and the Cheff Center for the Handicapped in Augusta, MI, with Lida <br /> McCowan as executive director. Almost as quickly these and other individuals <br /> recognized the need for an organization that could be a clearinghouse for information on <br /> therapeutic riding. Hence, on Nov.2, 1969, 23 like-minded individuals gathered at the <br /> Red Fox Inn in Middleburg, VA, and laid the groundwork for an organization named <br /> North American Riding for the Handicapped Association. <br /> • <br />