A mule and its owner have received a prestigious award for patiently providing therapeutic rides to physically and/or mentally challenged residents of Mountain View County and Innisfail for years.
Rudy the mule has been named the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association’s (CanTRA) Therapy Equine of the Year for 2019.
The award, which includes a trophy and horse blanket, was presented to Rudy and his owner, Linda Leggette of rural Innisfail, during the Mount View Special Riding Association (MVSRA) spring session windup and awards night June 24 at the Calouri Pavilion in Olds.
The MVSRA has been providing a therapeutic riding program to physically and/or mentally challenged residents of Mountain View County and Innisfail since the late 1980s.
"The program has been immensely successful at instilling understanding, confidence, empowerment, exercise — and of course riding expertise — by way of the dozens of horses, mules and donkeys that have been involved in the program over some 30 years," a MVSRA news release says.
CanTRA is the governing body for therapy riding in Canada. The award, which goes to only one therapy animal in all of Canada, is provided by Manning Equine Vet Services.
It is presented annually to an equine that is or has been of exceptional value to the program and to those that ride on or behind it.
"Rudy is about 30 years old and has been a mainstay in the MVSRA program since 2005," the news release says.
Leggette bought him at auction when he was two years old.
"She subsequently trained him to pack, ride and drive in both single and double harness. Rudy knows both English and western saddles and has spent hundreds of hours on trail rides and pulling various carts, wagons and sleighs," the news release says.
About 15 years ago, MVSRA was given a special cart to enable participants who could not ride a horse the way others could to still enjoy the pleasure and benefits of equine therapy and company.
"Linda offered the well-trained and well-mannered Rudy for the cart job and Rudy has been pulling hundreds of beaming riders around the Caluori Pavilion every Monday evening through spring and fall since," the news release says.
"Cart riders are provided an alternate set of reins. Those that are able to, tell him to 'walk on' and Rudy walks and trots through diagonals, circles and figure 8s. Rudy quietly stops while riders move a hat, drop a ball, or deliver a parcel.
"Rudy isn’t off-duty once the cart class is finished. Rudy is over 15 hands high so offers the perfect saddle ride for some of the larger, more nervous riders.
"True to his style, Rudy stands solid(ly) for mounting and riding but quickly senses and stops if a rider goes off balance.
"He dutifully pulls and walks for up to four hours through the soft sand of the Caluori Pavilion and only after yet another Monday of hard work does he get his roll in the sand — to even more squeals of delight from onlooking riders."
