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OKLAHOMA CITY – Wearing a dusty cowboy hat and sporting a wide grin, the son of an Oklahoma National Guard Soldier rides alongside other Guard children during the 3rd Annual Horseback Heroes. Ranch life, horses, and being around real cowboys and cowgirls at Covey Creek Ranch in Oklahoma City was a real life dream come true for many military kids on Saturday.
Tyson Wright, 6, of Lawton, Oklahoma, was at the event for the first time but looked like a seasoned cowboy. With a black hat, black pearl-snap shirt, bolo tie, jeans and cowboy boots, Tyson sits atop a white horse named Awesome and is led around Covey Creek’s arena by one of the more than 130 volunteers who came together to donate their time to these sons and daughters of America’s heroes. Tyson, whose father is deployed to Afghanistan, was one of the more than 125 military children who attended the chilly, one-day camp.
The event gives the Guard an opportunity to do more than say thanks to the families behind the Soldiers and Airmen who fill formations across the state, said Maj. Gen. Myles Deering, the adjutant general for Oklahoma. It allows the Guard to show the children they are appreciated as much as their parents.
“The relationship between families and the Guard over the past 12 years has been a tremendous success story,” Deering said. “The roles families played before 9/11 was very limited and it was limited by our vision of what we could be. We don’t just recruit Soldiers and Airmen. We recruit Soldiers, Airmen and families. Those families include these children and their contribution cannot be minimalized.”
The children attending this year’s experience saw the largest event yet, thanks to contributions from several sponsors including Silver Wind Stables, which provided 36 horses for children to ride. The military kids also were able to take roping lessons, buggy rides, learn about horseshoeing, ride bucking dummies and see many other animals up close at the petting zoo, operated by the Oklahoma State University (OSU) 4-H program.
The camp focuses on hands on learning, said Pat McNally an OSU volunteer.
“The kids are not being talked at or lectured to,” she said. “They are touching. They are feeling…. and they are engaged and that is a powerful learning experience.”
The idea for the camp came from conversation between Deering and Gerry Shepherd, owner of Covey Creek Ranch located just south of Will Rogers World Airport.
“The general had an idea, he wanted to do something for the kids,” Shepherd said. “I thought all kids like horses, and I have horses – I’ve got friends with horses. We could help put something together and it’s grown from there.”
Part of Deering’s idea was to teach military children the benefit of connecting with each other and building strong relationships while experiencing ranch life, many of them sitting on the back of a horse for the first time in their lives. He wanted to provide kids with an experience that would not only teach them about animals but leave them more confident in themselves.
“The children in this world need to know there is something out there besides an iPad,” Deering said. “Technology needs to enhance our lifestyles, not become an obsession.”
The plan Deering and Shepherd originally put together was to host an event for the children of deployed Soldiers. Shepherd wanted to go further and ensure no military child was turned away, a decision that would set the standard of giving and volunteer spirit, said Pam Reeds, the lead Child and Youth Programs Coordinator to the Oklahoma National Guard.
“Every meeting got bigger and everyone got more excited,” said Reeds, who has been the programs coordinator for four years. “There is a calm organized feeling here even though there are a lot of people here and that is thanks to great planning. Everyone is willing to pitch in where they are needed.”
Reeds, who worked in youth marketing before joining the Oklahoma National Guard Family Programs office, said working with National Guard families has been the most rewarding job she has had and commended the hard work the volunteers were putting into the Horseback Heroes project.
“I’ve never seen volunteers like this,” she said. “Military volunteers, this is how they serve. Whether it is country, community or family it is 150 percent. People want to know how much more they can give."
Both Deering and Shepherd hope the program grows. Shepherd said he wants the program to grow to the point they have to start planning a second day.
“I don’t ever want to turn anyone away,” he said, echoing his words when the camp started. “If we have to do this two days in a row, we will. We’re very fortunate with our volunteers and I think they’ll step up.”
For Horseback Heroes to happen every year, months of preparation has to happen, with the first meeting for next year’s event already scheduled, said Shepherd.
“We’ll meet next month and everybody will put a list together of what we can improve, what needs to be changed,” Shepherd said. “We already know we need more flashlights to park cars in the morning.”
Deering believes the Horseback Heroes program shows an opportunity to build the state’s family programs office into a more engaging and strong program for family members to turn to and he hopes other states can follow Oklahoma’s example in creating similar programs.
“If we are going to remain a strong guard and maintain a strong presence in our communities, we must continue to take care of our families,” Deering said. "Once those families are involved and they know we appreciate them for the sacrifices they make, we can become stronger Guard.”
The opportunities Oklahoma has made available to families can be made available to any state, Deering added.
“Each one would have its nuances and its challenges,” Deering said. “But the fact we could bring this many kids of our military families together and provide them an opportunity like this speaks volumes of the potential for other states to carry the tradition on.”
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.06.2014 11:36 |
| Story ID: | 147181 |
| Location: | OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, US |
| Web Views: | 92 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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