As just one of seven young children growing up on a farm in Coshocton, Charles “Chuck” Ridenbaugh beloved horses. Horses had been applied on his family’s farm, and which is where by his enjoy of horses started. At a very younger age, Ridenbaugh began breeding horses and breaking wild horses.
It bothered him when individuals utilised force to split a horse, Ridenbaugh mentioned. He was a cowboy in his coronary heart. He put in time permitting the horse to get to know him. He uncovered what the horse’s fears were and how to help do the job by means of people fears. For him, tolerance was the most crucial element of training.
As an adult, he labored for 35 a long time at Republic Metal in Massillon.
Even though he did not come to be a expert cowboy, he has numerous tales of his adventures with horses. He traveled in the course of the United States, attended exhibits and rode horseback on quite a few trails. He even rode on horseback from Colorado to West Virginia. He ongoing to coach and ride horses into his late 80s, but he stopped due to the fact of his declining vision.
He is retired and now life in Orrville.
Thanks to the care team at Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, Ridenbaugh, a individual was equipped to fulfill his dream of driving a horse once more. When Marsha Potts, professional medical social employee, and Paula Barnes, RN treatment manager, realized about Ridenbaugh’s enjoy of using, they labored with the treatment workforce and volunteers to enable him fulfill his purpose of driving a horse all over again.
“When I asked Chuck if there was something in the globe he would want to do, his 1st remedy was to ride once again,” Barnes mentioned. “Every week when I stop by him, he is usually telling me about an journey on his horses.”
Potts also enjoys talking with Ridenbaugh about his ordeals teaching horses.
“Chuck has an amazing light spirit about him,” she claimed. “I generally connect with him the horse whisperer.”
Sharon Pooler, a volunteer and a board member at Ohio’s Hospice LifeCare, has a buddy, Claudia Kuntz, who has a farm with a horse arena. She has organized for a couple of other clients in the earlier to pay a visit to her friend’s farm. When Pooler contacted Kuntz, she was much more than satisfied to aid fulfill the request.
Kuntz appreciated Ridenbaugh’s daily life was loaded with associations with horses.
“I needed to share our horses so he could have that horse experience all over again,” she claimed.
Pooler arranged for Ridenbaugh to visit her friend’s farm and see the horses.
“Chuck started out his stop by by brushing and grooming the horse who is named Charlie,” Pooler explained. “Then, we aided him up on the horse. He was so elated. For him, it was like using a bicycle.”
As shortly as Kuntz introduced Ridenbaugh to Charlie the horse, she could see Ridenbaugh experienced a deep really like and admiration for horses.
“I felt very touched by his apparent lifelong romance with horses as I also share that similar adore of horses,” she explained. “It was so touching as he touched his head to Charlie’s head and stroked his neck.”
“He believed he would hardly ever be ready to get on the again of a horse once again,” explained Breanna Fadenholz, cell care professional with Hospice LifeCare. “It was an remarkable expertise. The horse was so mild with him. It was like the horse realized he experienced treasured cargo!”
After Ridenbaugh’s trip, Fadenholz, started to generate him back again to his dwelling. He informed her he experienced not felt like this in a extensive time.
“He told me he ordinarily would be definitely worn out by this point. But nowadays he felt great, and he by no means thought he would truly feel like that all over again,” Fadenholz reported. “He was so sweet and so grateful to all people who produced this possible.”
She questioned if there was nearly anything else he desired to do and irrespective of whether he was hungry. His confront lit up and he instructed Dravenstott’s Cafe, his beloved cafe in Orrville. He employed to go to the cafe often with a good friend, but that friend’s automobile had broken down, and he had not been equipped to go for a though.
“When he walked in, absolutely everyone was thrilled to see him,” she explained. “He talked about his everyday living and schooling horses. He expressed how delighted he was that he was capable to ride the horse.”
Ridenbaugh simply cannot end talking about the encounter. Barnes, who is Ridenbaugh’s nurse, explained how he experienced tears in his eyes just speaking about it.
“He gave me a substantial hug and cried, thanking us for the working experience,” she explained.
