Dream Riders started as a dream of the Dyer family in 1980 when they were blessed with a special needs child. They began to see the benefits of horseback riding for people with special needs when he started riding the Dyer's personal horses at the age of four. Jennifer Dyer Stoudemire, the daughter of the Dyer's, was a senior in college majoring in Sociology and wanting to work with people who had
special needs through horses, the dream of offering horseback riding to other individuals with special needs became a reality. In 1998 The Dyer family founded Dream Riders. Start up funds from Central Carolina Community Foundation in partnership with South Carolina Special Olympics brought this dream to a reality. Riding lessons began in October of 1998 with 8 special needs riders and 2 leased horses. The initial target was adults over 21 for Special Olympics felt this population needed activities to be involved in. In 1999 Dream Riders became a 501-C-3 organization and a NARHA operating center. Jennifer Dyer Stoudemire and "Corky" Dyer became NARHA certified registered instructors. As Dream Riders became known in the community more parents with special needs children inquired about the program. In 1999 we started serving children along with adults with mental and/ or physical disabilities. By October 1999 Dream Riders increased to 30 riders. In 2000 Lexington High Schools' Service Learning class became involved with volunteering which enable Dream Riders to offer morning classes. Epworth Children's Home inquired about coming to ride and we started one time rides with them which included a ride, snack and craft. Dream Riders held its first family day in 2000 also, inviting the families of riders, volunteers and donors. It was a fun day of riding, crafts, games and snacks. In 2001 Jennifer Dyer Stoudemire and Corky Dyer became certified instructors with the Horsemanship Safety Association. Dream Riders and SC Special Olympics hosted the first annual Equestrian Invitational Competition for both Special Olympics riders and non-Special Olympics riders with special needs. Programs from around SC along with Dream Riders' riders came and participated in this event, which got too big for the Dream Riders facility. It was moved to a horse show facility in Lexington County. In 2002 Dream Riders implemented session rotations to help address the growing waiting list. We were able to address 50% of the waiting list. The instructors of Dream Riders developed and conducted a summer day camp for Epworth Children's Home through grants from the Sisters of Charities Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Columbia, and Gilbert High Junior Achievement Grant. The summer day camp continues to be offered to Epworth Children's Home, in 2006 we also offered the day camp to Nancy K. In 2003 Dream Riders held its first Rider's Recital for families and friends, our riders loved showing everyone what they could do on horseback. Dream Riders went through the accreditation process required by NARHA and became a premier accredited NARHA riding center in2003. Also in 2003, the designing of the web site www.dreamrider.org was set up. From 2004 to 2012 Dream Riders continued to hold summer day camps for Nancy K. Perry Children's Shelter and Epworth Children's Home, weekly therapeutic riding lessons, the annual Riders Recital, the annual SC Special Olympics and Therapeutic Riding horse show with programs from around SC participating, an Open Horse Show in May and a Dressage show in August and October to help raise funds for the program. In 2013 we moved from the annual recital and Special Olympics Horse Show to participating in local open horse shows that provide appropriate classes for the riders. This gives the riders an opportunity to mainstream into the local horse world. We continue to hold our May Benefit Open Horse Show along with a Dressage schooling show in March and September. The two organizations that funded our summer camps over the years changed their funding strategies and no longer provide funding. In 2013 Bowman & Brooke Law Firm provided funding for eight girls from Epworth Children's home to attend a week of camp. Due to the loss of our summer camp funding, we restructured our summer months of July and August by offering lessons to our special needs riders that could ride independent in a one on one setting along with one week of summer camp for Epworth Children's Home. We would like to add weekly riding lessons for foster children to Dream Riders year round schedule. Dream Riders is in transition with its herd of horses, which has limited what we can add to the schedule. We lost one of our old faithful mounts to a fractured pelvis and have one on rest for a torn tendon that isn't looking like it is healing well. Two horses are on trial and hopefully will join the team in a few months. Dream Riders continues to follow its mission to provide an opportunity for people with special needs to benefit from equine assisted activities in a safe environment and is still a Premier Accredited Center of PATH Intl., Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International formerly known as NARHA.
