Certified therapeutic riding instructors join SDTR

Southern Delaware Therapeutic Riding recently welcomed two new certified therapeutic riding instructors to its team in Milton.

Ashley Westmore began taking riding lessons when she was 28 years old, but she always had a love for horses. She began volunteering for SDTR during summer 2016 and assisted with the therapeutic riding lessons. “I volunteered as a sidewalker and ensured our participants had a fun and safe experience,” said Westmore. “Then I joined the horse care team and eventually became a horse leader.” She started the CTRI process in January and successfully passed her exam in August. Westmore has been a registered nurse for 20 years and has worked at Beebe Healthcare for nine years, assisting surgeons in the operating room. She is married with two children.

For Tracey Condon-Kniefl, becoming a certified therapeutic riding instructor is the completion of a dream that began 20 years ago in college. Condon-Kniefl rode and worked with horses for more than 25 years, which included volunteering with SDTR when she came home during college breaks. She obtained her bachelor’s degrees in equine/equestrian studies and equine facilitated therapeutics in 2005 from Wilson College. While living in Kansas, she started the process of working toward her CTRI but discontinued it when she and her family relocated to accept a job opportunity.

In 2018, Condon-Kniefl’s son began riding with SDTR, and in late 2020 she started volunteering for the organization. Her daughter had recently been diagnosed with leukemia.

“Volunteering gave me something bigger than our world to think about for a few hours once a month,” she said. “In 2022, I helped SDTR navigate the administrative process to become a PATH Premier Accredited facility.” PATH is the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship.

In 2023, she was hired as SDTR's part-time administrative assistant. This year, Condon-Kniefl passed her certification exam and has come full circle to be recognized as a CTRI. “My son continues to take lessons with SDTR, and I am constantly amazed at the growth I see not only from him, but all of our participants. I became a CTRI because I want to make a difference and create connections in the lives of the families and the individuals that we serve at SDTR.”

Southern Delaware Therapeutic Riding is a volunteer-driven, nonprofit organization that was established in 1988. Its mission is to improve the physical and emotional well-being of children and adults living with disabilities through equine-assisted services in a supportive environment for riders and their families. For more information, go to sdtrhr.com.