When doctors suggested swimming therapy or riding to Jean Baum after telling her that her then 9-month old daughter might not walk, Jean decided to investigate therapeutic riding.
She went to her friend Marge Allen, who had invited Lida McGowan to lecture on therapeutic riding. Lida who learned about therapeutic riding in England founded the Cheff Center for therapeutic riding in Minnesota. After hearing Lida speak, Jean was convinced that Kansas City needed a therapeutic riding program. However, even in her wide circle of friends, who were horsemen, nobody was willing to take on the project. They were unnerved by the prospect of having children with disabilities on their property, much less riding horses.
Jean who had never intended to run a program herself, finally decided that "Someone's got to do it; I'll do it." She went to the Cheff Center and observed and learned from Lida's teaching. She went to England to study two programs there. Back home in Johnson County, she combined what she thought were the best elements of each of these programs to form Heartland.
Jean's friend Sandy Longan, who now owns Kirin Farm in Stilwell, was running the old White Fox Manor. She agreed to make some facility modifications to help Jean start the riding program at White Fox. They used plywood to section off a portion of the arena, and the program began. In 1979, Jean moved the program to Manwara, at what is now 119th Street and Alternate 69 Highway, where, as Jean said, "We had a trailer for an office and an accessible port-a-potty." Heartland's first volunteers were personal friends of Jean; both teenagers and parents from Stanley Buccaneer 4-H Club, in which Jean's daughter was active.
In 1981, Heartland purchased about 27 acres of land at 133rd and Antioch, where the program grew under the leadership of Jean and later Patti Kortkamp, who was asked by Jean to run things when Jean moved from Kansas to Virginia. Sandy Rose and Joni Roeseler, who are current members of Heartland's Board of Directors, were both involved in these early years as volunteer coordinators.
In the mid-1990's, real estate developers became interested in Heartland's property on Antioch. Eventually, the bids became so high that the Board determined they should sell the property and mover farther south. The sale enabled Heartland to buy 78 acres of land at 19655 Antioch Road. Patti and the Board worked with Morton Buildings to construct a facility designed specifically for therapeutic riding, and the new barn was formally dedicated in 1998.
Heartland is now recognized as a NARHA Premiere Accredited Center for therapeutic riding. They have 75 riders and 120 volunteers each week they are in session. In late 2004, Heartland played a major role in hosting the national meeting of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) in Kansas City.
Back in the 1970's, a friend of Jean's suggested that the idea of having children with disabilities ride horses was ridiculous. Heartland was one of the first of the now more than 660 accredited therapeutic riding centers across the United States. And, as Jean recently said, "Heartland has become ever so much more than I ever dreamed it would be."
A Brief History of Heartland Therapeutic Riding |
19655 Antioch