Pulling Itself Back From Ruins, Charitable Equestrian Center Reopens Two and a Half Years After Horrific Tragedy

Strength isn’t shining in your good days but in bouncing back from your bad ones. This equestrian center is showing sheer resilience by bouncing back from a significant loss it endured two and a half years ago. The facility had completely lost its barn to a natural calamity and had to shut down for two good years. However, the stakeholders and the people connected to them joined their forces and helped the famous equestrian center to get back on its feet.

A terrible winter storm hit the Exceptional Equestrians Limited. The incident occurred back in February 2021. The equestrian center, situated in Hobart, Indiana, suffered a significant loss when the snow made the roofs collapse. However, the center is now celebrating a grand reopening after bouncing back from its tragic state. The center offers horse riding lessons to people with special needs.

Horse got trapped under the collapsed roof

Lisa Way, the barn manager and a long-time instructor at the equestrian center, walked inside the barn after the incident. Unaware of what had happened when she was away, she was in for an unpleasant surprise. “It was surreal. I came in, and I thought someone had left the lights on, but of course, the roof had collapsed,” said Way to NBC. The barn was housing eight horses at the time, and one of them got trapped under the rubble. 

While none of the horses got seriously injured, they had to be relocated to three separate facilities. The barn recently reopened after the disaster and had a ribbon-cutting ceremony along with an open house. Speaking about the reopening of the equestrian center, Lisa Way said, “It’s very exciting to get back.” The barn has been optimized and refurbished and can now house almost double the amount of horses. The barn can now shelter 15 horses at once.

The rebuilding process of the equestrian center

The historic equestrian center has been training children and adults with special needs since 1979. The barn faced a lot of delays in rebuilding because of supply shocks due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the bright side of things, the building is a lot sturdier after the renovation. The center also has a new welcome center with a viewing booth for the parents of the pupils. The stalls of the horses have also been moved away from the area used for riding. Speaking about the equestrian center’s students, Treasurer Jeff Perz said, “When you see the progress you get from some of the students, that’s a pretty strong motivator.” 

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Perz also revealed that he is serving the center to pay it back. He said that his son rode horses at the center 20 years ago. “He has autism. It was a very big help to him. He had a lot of communication issues, to the point it was very frustrating to try to communicate, but what he found, he liked to talk to the horses,” said Perz. Perz revealed that the insurance covered half of the costs for rebuilding, and the other half was paid for via hard-earned donations.

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