Buddy Systems is a non-profit organization here in the valley that helps physically and mentally challenged children strengthen their bodies through horseback riding therapy.
Joan and Herb Falk founded the program informally in 1994 and then formally as a non-profit agency in 1996. Mrs. Falk says the program was informally started just after her son died in a car accident. Her son's death prompted her to give back to the community and they've been doing so ever since then.
Mr. Falk has worked with horses his whole life and his wife had worked as a teacher. They had the resources available to them, a polo ranch and possessed the passion to help others. Mrs. Falk took it into her own hands to research other therapy programs throughout the state to see what kind of program she and her husband could develop. Mrs. Falk observed that many of the riding programs throughout the state were one-on-one therapy programs, but she wanted her program to be a class of several students so that the kids could enjoy social benefits.
Fifteen years later the program has developed into something more then the Falks could ever have imagined. Classes meet two days a week, and twice a day during the temperate seasons and have 16 to 20 kids in them. "I would have never anticipated we would have had this kind of program going, " said Mrs. Falk, "and with every child we help I think of my son Josh who isn't with us anymore, and I tell him that this is all for him."
Buddy Systems now has an on board physical therapist, along with two class instructors and a slew of volunteers.
Students enrolled in Buddy Systems usually hear about the program by word of mouth through other medical and therapy organizations. Some of the kids enrolled in Buddy's have been in major accidents and are doing physical therapy; others were born with mental dysfunctions such as Autism, ADD, Cerebral Palsy and more. The motion of the horse helps the students regain muscle tone. The therapy also helps the students learn mental discipline, and train their brain through activities that will motivate them.
Students who are in the classes are all at different levels and learning different things. One students' goal at the end of the class semester is to hold the reins; another students' is to tell the horse to "walk on".
Daughter-in-law to the Falk's, Chrissy Falk is an instructor for the program and one child really sticks out in her mind. Frankie came to Buddy Systems when he was just 7 years old. He suffered from a serious disease that crippled him from the everyday things most kids his age enjoy, Frankie couldn't even separate his legs.
"When Frankie first came to us he didn't have any motor skills, the only thing we could do with him was sling him over the horse and walk him around the arena," said Chrissy, "the most beautiful thing is how our program transformed him physically and mentally. After four years not only was Frankie strong enough to sit up on his own in the saddle, but he was holding the reins, and had a smile on his face that stretched from ear to ear."
Joan Falk says that the kids in the program aren't the only ones getting the positive results; it's all the participants in Buddy Systems who are affected. The volunteers who spend time working with the Buddy's kids start to look at their lives differently and really value the relationships that they make through the program.
Many Fresno State students receive credit for volunteering at programs like Buddy Systems, but Lauren Howard says it is so much more then school credit to her. "I did this for some units in school, but it became so much more then that. I grew close with these kids and I'm back here volunteering for the second year not for school related reasons, but because you couldn't keep me away."
Many parents continue bringing back their children to Buddy Systems because of the popular results they continue to see in them. But even though Buddy Systems is a non-profit organization it comes at a quite a cost, one that is not covered by insurance. Fortunately fundraisers such as Polo Fest, also thrown by the Falks, help out in terms of scholarships for Buddy Systems programs.
It goes without saying, says Joan Falk, that Buddy Systems is just getting started and is evolving ever more into something that can change young lives in the valley.
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