Volunteer of the Year 2010

Hello Readers!!

We would like to take the time to congratulate Marc Clark for receiving the 2010 Volunteer of the Year award at CTRC. Earlier this year CTRC held its annual volunteer party to show their appreciation to their volunteers. All of the staff, board members, volunteers of the month and volunteer supporters were all in attendance at the party.    

This year’s winner, Marc, is a horse leader and side walker in the hippotherapy sessions with Justine, who is a conductive therapist, and Jill, who is a physical therapist. He has two barn buddies that he works with every week, Doc and Gigi. He also helps with turn in and out when he is on the facility grounds and he is on the Training Team. He helps train new volunteers as they come in and helps make them feel welcome. Marc is extremely helpful and a very dedicated volunteer at CTRC. He is always looking out for everyone at CTRC and helps out where ever it is needed. He is always giving a little extra effort, at the end of every session he had a gift for each of his riders. As you can tell he is a very caring and generous person and he always has a smile on his face. To top it off, he is approaching giving 2000 volunteer hours!

It was not hard for the staff to agree that Marc deserved this year’s award because he has been so helpful around CTRC. Besides all of his work that he does at the facility, he puts in a lot of time outside of the organization as well. Marc brings in many new volunteers and gets many people to donate to the Paint the Pony event each year. He also cooks up all sorts of treats every week for the CTRC staff and volunteers. One of the therapists he works with, Jill, had many reasons for Marc to receive this award, “his reliability, helpfulness to other volunteers, willingness to pitch in, and the food! He definitely just goes above and beyond his role as a volunteer and truly enjoys his relationships with his riders. He is always positive no matter what the situation.” Whenever Melissa, the volunteer coordinator, something needs done around the facility he is always the first to step in and help out.

 

Along with the recognition, Marc was presented with a horse statue with an engraved plaque and a license plate cover that declares him "VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR 2010" for his new truck. He is very deserving of this honor at CTRC. Marc’s dedication and efforts are appreciated and noticed by the staff, other volunteers, riders and families, and even the horses. Congratulations to Marc Clark and thank you for reading! If you have a nice story of Marc, please share it below. 

Trompo

Trompo with his polo Mohawk!

• Breed: Argentine Criollo/ Quarter Horse/ Thoroughbred
• Color: Chestnut
• DOB: 01/01/1991
• Sex: Gelding
• Size: 15.2 hands

This past weekend I had the privilege to go out to the CTRC facility to meet one of the horses, Trompo, and his barn buddy Deborah. Over a month ago Deborah was paired with Trompo to be his barn buddy, but she already has a feel for his personality and optimism for their future. She describes him as complacent, calm, and content, which is a little surprising considering his competitive background. 

[Trompo, Deborah (Barn Buddy), Amanda (Caregiver)]

Before coming to CTRC Trompo had a very athletic and challenging career, he was a polo pony. Polo ponies are very skilled and disciplined equestrians. According to the SportPOLO website, “the equestrian sport of polo demands the quick burst of speed seen in Thoroughbred horses. And the rapid turn of play in pursuit of the ball necessitates the agility of Quarter horses.” Trompo has all of these genetics and them some. He is also part Argentina Criollo, the native horse of Argentina. They are known for their hardiness and endurance. All of these characteristics make for a great polo pony. Perhaps he excelled at the rapid turns and spins because Trompo in Spanish means “spinning top; spin.” The polo ponies have a big role in the potential and success of the polo team and Trompo has dedicated most of his life competing in Polo Sport.

[Polo match picture from http://www.sportpolo.com/Sport/default.htm]

In October Trompo joined the CTRC equestrian therapy team. He has made a great adjustment to the team and the riders. It is hard to tell that he is new because he does so well in the sessions and with the volunteers. Getting to know him is easy, Deborah already knows the way he likes his carrots, mixed in with his mash. She goes to CTRC as often as she can to clean out his stall, brush him down (which is a big job when he is losing his winter coat), pick his hooves, and give him treats. She has found that working with the horses is a very calming experience and she looks forward to the hours spent caring for Trompo. Also she is bilingual; speaking Spanish to an Argentinean horse will help with their communication. I think that their barn buddy relationship is off to a great start!

[Deborah doing her barn buddy duty]

When I was visiting on Saturday morning, Trompo was quite a busy guy. He had a visit from Deborah and some breakfast. Then Amanda, a care giver, came to take him to the tack area to get him ready for his session. After she got him all saddled up and ready to go a horse leader came and took him into the arena to warm up. Shortly after, he started his hour therapy session with one of the riders. Finally around noon he would back to enjoying the warm Saturday afternoon. 

[Trompo working in a therapy session.]

Meeting Trompo was a great experience. He is a very calm, sweet, and gentle equestrian therapist. He sure didn’t mind all the extra attention and pets he received when I was there. And I swear he posed for the camera. Right before I took this picture, he gladly turned his head my direction and waited for me to snap a photo. He’s had quite a career so far and will continue it helping enrich lives at CTRC. If you have any memories with Trompo share them below!