Holly Reslink, DPT, Program Director at Centaur Stride, left, and Alison Mitchener, new instructor, are made possible by grants from both the Chautauqua Region and Northern Chautauqua Community Foundations, with our Equicizer, Strider.

Grants from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation and Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation have helped Centaur Stride hire and train Alison Mitchener as a new instructor.

Adding an instructor will help Centaur Stride expand its outreach for more days open, more services and more programs. Centaur Stride had been looking for a new employee for more than a year, with the grant funding helping to hire locally and provide Certified Horseman Association training, initial onboarding and training at Centaur Stride.

Mitchener has been a volunteer at Centaur Stride for more than 6 years, including horse care, leading and side-walking, barn maintenance, constructing and painting a new sign and rebuilding www.centaurstride.org. She has years of horse experience.

Holly Reslink, Doctor of Physical Therapy, has filled the role of program director for the past year. She has also taken the lead on several of the administrative tasks, helping to build the infrastructure for strategic planning for long-term sustainability. We still have no paid administrative staff.

Centaur Stride is a therapeutic and recreational facility that is inclusive, integrated for people with and without disabilities, and founded on the healing power of horses and nature. For more information, follow Centaur Stride Therapeutic Riding Center on Facebook or email info@centaurstride.org.