What Dana Mase could do with a quarter-million dollars …
She could treat emotional trauma, connect the unconnected with their surroundings, offer scholarships and, if not exactly bring hearing to the deaf and sight to the blind, she could go a long, long way toward, as she puts it, “leveling the playing field” by allowing horses to do the hearing, seeing and moving.
Mase seeks to tap corporations who would like to be associated with a good cause: assisting disabled veterans, for example, via a nascent Horses for Heroes program, which she hopes to have operating by fall. Other corporate largesse would be most welcome, as well, for what is essentially a one-woman show.
Her registered nonprofit, Montebello-based Ride Kind Therapeutic Riding, founded in 2008, is already helping a hundred individuals per month with challenges embracing the physical, cognitive, emotional and social spectrums. Her client catchment area is east and west of the Hudson River into Connecticut.
“Every family is affected in some way,” Mase said. “I don”™t think anyone gets a free ride regarding disabilities.”
Her interview dovetailed with national data on autism, which now cite 1 percent of the population affected to some degree, according to a pair of recent federal studies.
If the need is vast, Mase said, “I am the company. I bring on other people as needed, but, basically, I”™m it.”
But she does not work alone. Mase currently has enlisted 20 volunteers, ranging in age from 14 to 72. She heaped credit upon Minetto”™s Stonehedge Farm ”“ and particularly owner Scott Minetto ”“ where she keeps eight horses across several breeds that serve as Ride Kind”™s horsepower. Minetto could not be reached for comment, although Mase left nothing to chance regarding his efforts: “Scott has been incredibly supportive,” she said. “He”™s really pushed this concept. He”™s been amazingly generous and he”™s been a good friend. Everyone here is supportive. It”™s a great farm.”
Danielle Hirsch is one helper. She is a Vassar chemistry student who has worked with Mase in the past and who said of those who come to ride, “It really calms them. They learn from the experience and gain self-confidence.”
Mase said some volunteers collect college credits or community-service hours.
Mase said the therapeutic benefits “sneak up on you” like a kind of stealth therapy. Her husband, Barry, said via email that she conducts 80 classes per month herself. The couple also have five children.
“It affects everyone a little differently,” Mase said of the riding experience. “The horses have an intuitive sense about the rider. If the rider has, say, cerebral palsy with a tightening of the muscles, the horse works to loosen the muscles. This intuition works on a whole range of disabilities.”
She ticked off examples that benefit from the cross-species link including autism, learning disabilities, ADHD, sensory disorders, blindness, hearing impairment and speech difficulties.
“It”™s amazing what happens,” Mase said. “All of a sudden, with the horse, the playing field is even. We see it again and again. There is a self-confidence that comes with weaving and stopping a 1,000-pound animal.
“The horses are like saints,” she said. “They react to the individual rider. They take care of their rides.”
Mase grew up riding as a child in Ohio and began therapy training in her teens. With corporate sponsorships, she would like to target, for example, veterans who have been blinded.
“More funds equal more people we can help. With $250,000, we could do amazing things. That”™s what I want to do. The experience is wholesome, healthy and therapeutic. And they”™re not even aware they”™re being helped ”“ it”™s not like ocupational therapy or physical therapy.” Corporate sponsorships would be welcome, she said.
Mase is also a successful professional recording artist whose songs have appeared on shows including “Dawson”™s Creek” and “Joan of Arcadia.” Her lastest album is “Thread of Blue.” Her video of the song “She Never Knew, She never knew,” about a woman wrongly diagnosed as mentally ill who was institutionalized her entire life, is a YouTube hit. Her website is danamase.com.
