Attention Chautauqua County teens, ages 13-18, who want to learn to ride a horse and also help to develop a summer program for peers with disabilities, Centaur Stride is offering a training camp this summer.

Full scholarships are available to teens without disabilities who are siblings of children with disabilities (identified by having established school IEP’s or IFSP’s), teens with enlisted military parent(s) who are actively serving in war zones, and teens of veterans with disabilities.

This 2014 summer program is a pilot project for development of a summer curriculum for the 2015 year, which will then be targeted for teens with disabilities. This summer, starting Monday, the target population of non-disabled teens will help design and then train for implementing the activities, while problem solving for potential obstacles for their peers with disabilities.

The program will be held at Centaur Stride and will consist of horseback riding and horsemanship, dog obedience, training and handling, in collaboration with the Chautauqua County 4H, and volunteer and job readiness skills, as well as learning to adapt activities for people with varying degrees of challenge.

Upon satisfactory completion of this training camp, this specific certification will be valid for future discount camperships at Centaur Stride as CIT’s (helpers). Actual cost of camp is $100 per day, but full scholarships are available for those in the target population. The training program is one day per week for 6 weeks, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Although the program runs Monday through Friday, participants will only attend one day per week for a total of six training sessions. Transportation is available to and from Centaur Stride, but is limited to particular routes. These routes will be established with a geographic focus based on early registration.

There is also a limit to eight participants per day, allowing up to 40 participants to become certified. Pre-teens, 12 years old, will be accepted pending availability of non-filled rosters, or fill-ins if there are drop-outs. A behavioral code of conduct is mandatory. Parent permission is required.

For an application to register, or for more information, call Claudia at 269-4386. Visit our website at www.centaurstride.org.

This summer “pilot” certification program was made possible by the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation and the Children’s Guild Foundation of Buffalo.