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  rev 02/26/2008

Louisiana Therapeutic Riding Association Annual Meeting – 2008

The Louisiana Therapeutic Riding Association presented an interesting slate of speakers and workshops for their annual meeting January 26 and 27, 2008 at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in Baton Rouge.  Anita Hefler and the staff at LSU were gracious hosts as always.

Saturday Sessions

• Susan Hymel with Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO) spoke about   “The Funding Pie,” pointing out the importance of understanding your community’s philanthropic trends when looking to fund your therapeutic riding center.
• Dixie Bunton-Ferrata discussed Temple Grandin’s bestselling book, “Animals in Translation,”   which describes understanding animals from an autistic person’s point of view.
• After a fabulous lunch featuring delicious Louisiana specialties all the attendees broke into small groups to learn to be better equipped at evaluating potential therapy horses.  It was very interesting to learn from each other along with following well-planned guidelines.
• Stephen Hefler demonstrated interesting and helpful facts about making certain your horse trailer is in good repair and you are in compliance with state and federal regulations concerning the transportation of livestock.
• Rebecca Bombet, representing EFMHA, made a presentation on the benefits of equine facilitated mental health therapy that was very insightful.

Sunday Session

• Dr. Timm Gudehusen from the LSU medical staff made an outstanding presentation on degenerative joint disease and navicular disease in therapy horses. He then took our group on an interesting tour of the LSU Veterinary School facilities.

If you are looking for a fun trip that also gives you the opportunity to get continued education hours for NARHA instructor compliance make the trip next year to the Louisiana State Meeting.  You’ll have a great time!