Chithra Rogers, following her combined passion for horses
and children, is bringing awareness to kids with special needs in her home
country of Singapore, and the Equicizer is being used as a main component in
the development of this ground breaking project. We're excited to feature
Chithra and tell her story as she continues to help children and forge new
pathways in Singapore, inspiring people on a now global level.
Chithra was born in her native Singapore, but fueled by an
interest in horse racing, she flew to Brisbane, Australia in 2002 to "attain holistic
knowledge about race horses in both theoretical and practical aspects
at the Australian Racing Institute." She returned to Singapore and joined the racing industry as a Trainee
Apprentice Jockey following the completion of her apprenticeship. After realizing more of the risks involved in riding
racehorses through personal experience, she changed course and left for
Melbourne, Australia in 2006 to pursue a career in training. While there, she
became a stable manager and volunteered at the RDA (Riding for the Disabled
Association).
As time went by, in 2008, after moving back to Singapore and
working as an assistant trainer, she made the tough decision to leave the
racing industry for good. Her passion for horses was as strong as it had ever
been, and through her volunteering at various therapeutic riding programs over
the years, she had discovered a second passion which was equally as strong –
raising awareness for children with special needs.
Dedicated to educating herself as much as possible, Chithra completed
her academic qualifications in Learning Disorders Management and Child
Psychology as well as Special Education. She noted that she also,
"worked closely with mild to severe cases of Autistic Children at a reputable
special needs school in Singapore" while pursuing her studies. She is currently an international member
of PATH and is waiting to pursue her Masters in Special Education. Working with
her Mentor, she stays informed on the latest interventions, allowing her to
continue to polish her skills and knowledge.
About 4 years ago, Chithra started a quest to purchase land
for a therapeutic riding center of her own. This has proved to be a very
difficult task, due to the shortage of land available in Singapore. In Chithra’s
own words, “That is when I came across
this beautiful hand-crafted wooden horse the Equicizer from the USA. It made my
dream come alive again! I was happy to meet the director of Wooden Horse Corporation
– Mr. Frankie Lovato - a wonderful human being. He explained all about the
Equicizer and also made me watch the start-up videos which are available in
Youtube.”
In the meantime, Chithra approached many existing riding
schools, sharing her vision and hoping to lease space to start her program.
Surprisingly, this has proved to be another difficult task and after finding
one such temporary place and holding lessons under the organization she
founded, “Healing Horses Singapore”, things went south and others began trying
to implement her ideas on their own.
So what did Chithra do? Carry on, of course.
"I developed a highly innovative indoor therapeutic horse riding school centered around the Equicizer, using a holistic approach incorporating medical, emotional and financial needs of the family and children involved. I want to make sure the training is accessible to a wider community and give children the help they truly deserve."
by Kayla Jarvinen
Healing Horses Singapore, a privately owned not-for-profit
organization mainly focusing on early intervention for young children, is now
Singapore’s first indoor therapeutic horse riding training organization
catering to children with special needs up to teenagers, using the Equicizer as
the primary tool.
“My students love the
Equicizer as it looks exactly like a life size horse with a realistic feeling
mane and tail. Some of the kids enjoy grooming it after their session. I create
little tasks for those kids who have just begun to take their first few strides
with the Equicizer. I have kids flying over to Singapore for their sessions.
It's amazing.” 
Looking to the future, Chithra says, “I would love to branch out Healing Horses throughout Asia as we've
been approached by many neighboring countries to start up branches there. When
time permits, we would definitely love to so.”
