“A therapeutic horse is like a service dog,” said Melchiors. “They are still a working horse.”
PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemen) accredits therapeutic riding horses and Region 10 serves Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming. It is reportedly the global authority on setting standards for therapeutic riding centers. Horses with Heart is a PATH International Premier Accredited Therapeutic Center, and its instructors are credentialed through PATH.
The regional award also qualifies Melchiors for the national award.
Melchiors is a full-time veterinarian at a mixed-animal clinic in Kingman, but she makes the drive to Horses with Heart two to six times a month to work on the horses. She feels a special kinship to Horses with Heart because she started riding horses there when she was 8 years old and later became a junior volunteer.
Born in Flagstaff, Melchiors was raised in Dewey and graduated from The Orme School in 2010. She credits Trudy Chapman-Radley, one of the longtime leaders at Horses with Heart who taught her how to ride, with serving as her mentor.
Chapman-Radley attended Melchiors’ graduation “hooding” ceremony at Colorado State University. At the hooding ceremony, mentors of veterinary school graduates ceremoniously place the hood on the head of the mentee.
“I was a horse-crazy little girl when I started with Horses with Heart,” she said. “Horses with Heart gave me easy access to horses, the volunteers and special needs children. I loved it. I would spend every day of my summer with them.”
Melchiors remembers her mom taking her to the petting zoo at Young’s Farm, which closed in 2007 and is now the property of Mortimer Farms. One of the horses bit her foot.
“It was love at first bite,” she said.
Melchiors’ primary goal as a child was to touch horses. She wanted to become a veterinarian. “These volunteers helped raise me, so it was like I had 15 grandpas and grandmas.”
After completing her veterinarian degree, Melchiors returned to Horses with Heart in 2018, to give back to the organization that gave so much to her. She now serves on the Board of Directors.
“I needed to use my skills to help with the human-animal bond,” said Melchiors, who is also trained in acupuncture and chiropractic treatment for animals. “I wanted to help with that connection,” she said. “I also want to help them make wise decisions on herd health.”
Veterinarians from Prescott Animal Hospital also help with the horses’ health needs.
“A therapeutic horse is like a service dog,” said Melchiors. “They are still a working horse. They are not retired and it’s a lot of hard work. It is satisfying to help them because they have an impact on the community.”
Melchiors is one of fewer than five veterinarians in the state who work with cattle and is part of the Arizona Livestock Incident Response Team that investigates widespread health problems with livestock.
Through the years, she has watched Horses with Heart grow significantly with the number staff and volunteers and the people they serve. She says the organization encourages young people to work with the horses as junior volunteers.
“Youth volunteers learn so much from the horses, volunteers and instructors,” she said. “The kids just need to keep an open mind, learn and have fun.” QCBN
By Stan Bindell, QCBN
For more information about Horses with Heart, call 928-308-1353.
Photo by Stan Bindell: After completing her veterinarian degree, Madelyn Melchiors returned to Horses with Heart, where she first learned to ride, to give back to the organization that gave so much to her. She now serves on the Board of Directors.
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