Ride with pride — South Jordan program assists students through equine activity

SOUTH JORDAN — A South Jordan woman believes everybody is born ordinary but they don't have to stay that way.

And Sharon McArtor uses her belief, along with her keen horse sense and her assembly of equine animals, to enrich the lives of area youths and help them discover that they can become extraordinary.

"Everyone is unique," McArtor said. "You can bring your uniqueness out by working with our horses."

McArtor runs the Ride With Pride Horses 4 the Heart program in South Jordan with the help of instructor Jay Brunson of West Valley City.

Many of the students who participate in the program come to the stables with special challenges, both physical or mental, they are trying to conquer while working with the horses.

The horses are all rescue horses that McArtor said know what it feels like to be misused, abused and mistreated. That, she added, allows them to relate to the program's students.

"No matter how people look on the outside, everyone has their little burdens that they carry around," McArtor said.

But the program teaches the riders to break down those burdens by working with the animals, she said.

Young rider Callie Brewster of West Jordan has been working in the program since May 2005 to improve her motor functions. Callie, who is now 7, was born premature and has dealt with weak core muscles and lack of leg strength throughout her life. Her mother, Michele, called several horse-riding places before finding a program that would work with Callie's weaknesses.

All of the program's students are taught how to ride bareback. When Callie started riding she could only sit on a horse bareback for about 10 minutes, now she can not only ride longer but she has learned how to trot.

"She has come a very, very long way," Brunson said.

Callie has also seen benefits while off the horse. Now she can stand on one foot.

"She loves horses," Michele Brewster said. "She saw them in pictures and on TV and we finally found this place and it's great."

The horses have affected 8-year-old Ethan Smith's attitude.

Brunson said when Ethan started the program he had a lot of anger, but the horses have taught him patience.

"If I scream at it, it will just start going really fast, so that's why I don't yell at it and stuff," said Ethan, from Riverton.