Schools: Bowling Green State University’s College of Education

Today’s interview was with Christina Savitsky- owner of Buckaroo Balance.

1.       What is your degree and what are you currently doing in your career?

My degree is from Bowling Green State University’s College of Education.  I majored in recreation for special populations with a minor in Psychology.  I took the entire special education cirriculum, along with many classes required for athletic trainers, OT’s & PT’s (kinesiology, anatomy, etc.) and the recreation core classes which covered small business management, philosophy of recreation etc.

I currently own my own business, Buckaroo Balance.  I instruct private lessons,  clinics & yoga & horsemanship retreats in the state of New Mexcio.  Before this I used my NARHA therapeutic riding instructor certification as, equine manager, head instructor & program director for multiple NARHA centers.

2.       How did your school prepare you for a career in an equine assisted activity or therapy field?

I was VERY lucky to have an AWESOME advisor at BGSU who I still keep in touch with.  Dr. Julie Lengfelder helped me choose a cirriculum that would cover the broad spectrum of information that I would need to be a therapeutic riding instructor.  BGSU required multiple internships & on-the-job training that was incredibly beneficial to my career.  Because of the dynamic knowledge base in this field it’s VERY demanding.  You can spend your entire life learning more about horses & never be finished!  On the other hand the medical fields are constantly changing, and a 4 year degree barely covers either the physical OR psychological aspects of therapy let alone the other!  Then add in non-profit knowledge, fundraising, managing a board of directors, evaluating equines, managing volunteers, basic computer skills, horse & stable management, etc. and you’ve chosen yourself one of the most challenging jobs in the world!  No one can prepare you for that!

3.       What was your favorite part of your college program?

the people!  Oh & doing a semester at Walt Disney World.  They don’t have a therapeutic riding program there, but I did get to work with kids with special needs & shadow workers in all aspects of the horse staffing in the parks AND get a real good feel of the ‘real’ world everyone kept talking about!  It was a TON of fun & really helped me come back to school, buckle down & get my degree!

4.       Did your college program make you aware of the variety of careers in the equine assisted activities or therapy field?  Did they make you aware of the differences and educational requirements for these fields?

BGSU is not a school that offered a major in one of these specific fields (I originally chose the school when I was thinking of majoring in Athletic Training), so no.  I did ALOT of research on my own, did internships & volunteered.  Talking to other instructors in the field helped quite a bit!  I do wish however that someone gave me the sit-down chat about being a professional in a relatively ‘new’ field.  I had very high hopes & expectations, and found myself a college-educated professional working alongside un-trained ‘volunteers’  It was hard to grasp that a non-profit would allow them to do a crappy job when I was right there ready to be hired & paid to do much better work, but free = good enough in much of the non-profit world & I will not work for free.  I did however end up working for much less than I think I’m worth, which is why I have moved into the private sector.

5.       What advice would you give to other students looking to begin a career in equine assisted activities or equine assisted therapy?

Certify!  When I was working full-time at a NARHA facility I often wished I had become a registered therapist in addition to a NARHA certified riding instructor.  There were many days that I wanted to better understand what the OT’s & PT’s were doing & other days that I felt I totally got it & was offering my students what an OT or PT could…without being able to charge their medicare/insurance so I was getting paid half of what the therapists were getting!!  And YES they have more required paperwork, but I wrote lesson plans, evaluations & reviews also!  If I did it all again I would go that route.

I also hope that there are more professionals trained in this field and that we do not ‘accept’ that we are underpaid for our wealth of knowledge, and armed with our knowledge that EAT with become a more widely accepted form of treatment & therapy.  Which will hopefully create a need for more professionals like us who will get paid what we deserve.