Our Featured Volunteer for March is Sarah Hainsworth

So many people talk about entering Lancers and immediately seeing and feeling magic and a sense of peace. While the horses contribute the lion’s share of this, it is people like Sarah who help Lancers make the magic happen. We appreciate all the time, energy, passion, and expertise that Sarah shares with us, especially for our Therapeutic riding program. 

Sarah began riding as a child. Although she grew up in downtown Toronto, she used to save up her pocket money to take riding lessons at Sunnybrook which was the nearest stable near her. In the summers, she went to horse camp and dreamed of being a jockey riding in the Kentucky Derby.  When Sarah moved to Halifax 30 years ago, she  spent many years riding other people’s horses and taking lessons. She had the joy of owning two horses in her life but sadly her horse died suddenly in summer 2020. At a loss to figure out how to fill the hole that was left with having no horse to take care of, she heard about the Therapeutic riding program at Lancers and signed up to volunteer. Sarah noted, “it seemed like a wonderful way to combine all that I have learned about horses with a desire to help people benefit from the rewards of simply being near horses”. 

Sarah has been volunteering with the therapeutic riding lesson as a sidewalker, groom and horse leader. She loves to watch the riders gain confidence from being around these large, patient animals, and it gives her the chance to spend time in the barn and be around horses.  Even listening to them munch their hay makes her happy! 

 Compared to other volunteering opportunities, Sarah says that “volunteering at Lancers is a great way for me to use the knowledge and experience I have gained from a lifetime of riding and being with horses with the other experiences I have had in my life like teaching and working with children. It’s a positive way to spend time with happy children and it helps me to stay positive and well. It was particularly good to have somewhere to go during the pandemic and to remind me of life beyond covid”.

 We are so happy that Sarah has joined the Lancer community and we’re excited to see her continue to support our missions to build better lives through horses.