September 2022: Jen Rybak
Jen Rybak
At one time Jen had a career as an animal behaviorist but shifted to working full time with kids with special needs and eventually transitioning to executive level administration. She missed working with animals so she began searching for volunteer opportunities and found Stride Ahead which is down the road from where she lives.
She felt like it was a perfect fit considering her love of animals and people with special needs.
In addition to volunteering every week Jen can often be seen helping with horse health checks, rainy day horse walking, new volunteer orientation and just about anything else that needs doing for Stride Ahead. Thank you Jen!
We like to ask our volunteers about their most memorable experiences. Jen remembers working with a new rider who was initially afraid of riding. After encouraging and working with her for several weeks the rider was able to move past her fears through an entire session. Jen has worked with all the Stride Ahead horses and has learned and appreciates their varied personalities.
Jen feels that Stride Ahead makes a positive impact on people’s lives. Both riders and volunteers. Seeing riders gain confidence, improve skills and create connections is beautiful. It is amazing to see what our riders are capable of achieving when given the chance . Jen believes it is important to let each rider get the most out of every lesson and it is part of the volunteer’s responsibility to help make that happen whether it means a more hands on approach or letting the rider do more things independently when appropriate.
Spending time with the horses tops the list of the best part of volunteering at Stride Ahead which is healing for her. Whenever she’s there she says she always leaves in a better mood and more grounded. There’s a sense of community at Stride Ahead and it’s been good for to get to know other volunteers and the team who are a great group of really special people.
In the short time she’s been working with Stride Ahead Jen feels like it has helped her with her work/life balance helping to compensate for some heavy work stress. People see her light up when she talked about the horses and her experiences at Stride Ahead. She says it’s so nice to have her spark back.
Thank you Jen for your service to Stride Ahead!
Thank you, Jen!
If you would like to make a donation in honor of Jen and all of our wonderful volunteers who make Stride happen, thank you.
