By Dawn Burleigh

The Orange Leader

 

An organization known for helping those with special needs is holding a benefit to help raise funds.

Cajun Comic Relief benefiting Stable-Spirit is set for Saturday, August 25 at VFW Post 2775 at 5303 North 16^th Street in Orange.

Doors will open at 5:45 p.m. for Sponsor Cocktail Hour.

The Outlaws will perform from 6 p.m. and the laughter will begin at 7 p.m. with the comic show featuring AJ Smith, Maw Maw Thibodeaux and Steve Shaw.

A.J. Smith has been entertaining audiences for over 30 years in comedy clubs, on cruise ships, and at festivals throughout the country. Smith is also a past winner of the International Cajun Joke Telling Contest, according to myneworleans.com.

Steve Shaw is an award-winning comedian and Cajun humorist who has performed with such talents as Dave Petitjean, Don Friessen, Murray Conque, Johnny Hoffman, John Morgan, Carlos Mencia, and comedian-actor Ken Jeong. Starting in 1993, Steve worked in numerous casinos and comedy clubs around the southern United States, and did some writing and TV work, including a two-year stint as a regular on the children’s television program, “The Dr. Magic Show”, according to his official website.

Sponsorships are still available and begin at $200, which includes a listing on the sponsor banner, two tickets for the Sponsor Cocktail Hour, and four reserved seats to the Comedy Show. Sponsorships range from $200 – $2,500.

Stable-Spirit, is utilizing these wonderful animals in a variety of other ways to provide beneficial experiences and treatment for many youth in Orange County and across the region through Hippotherapy.

Hippotherapy, according to the American Hippotherapy Association, is a physical, occupational, and speech-language therapy treatment strategy that utilizes equine movement as part of an integrated intervention program to achieve functional outcomes.

Physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech and language pathologists to provide treatment in an environment that is child friendly and caters to the individuals’ needs use this therapeutic tool.

Stable-Spirit is a nonprofit organization providing Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) to youth and adults with a special interest in providing mental health services to people experiencing the affects of crime, crisis, trauma, and other issues that may put them at risk. Stable-Spirit also works with families and groups to best support the needs of the clients.

Children can experience 30 minutes per week on a horse, reaching their treatment goals faster. Depending upon what a child needs is how it is determined what horse the child gets, such as in the horse’s gait.  Horses are interactive with kids, as in a child brushing a horse fits in a sequencing order.

According to its official website, Stable-Spirit is a nonprofit organization providing EAP to youth and adults with a special interest in providing mental health services to people experiencing the affects of crime, crisis, trauma, and other issues that may put them at risk. Stable-Spirit also works with families and groups to best support the needs of the clients.

In EAP, an equine professional and licensed therapist, involve horses in experiential activities on the ground in a non-threatening way – no riding. This technique is highly effective because horses have a keen awareness of body language and will mirror the feelings and intentions of others in their environment.

In the Equine Experimental Development (EED) programs, an equine professional and success coach involve horses in experiential activities on the ground with a focus toward relating interactions with the horses to interactions in the organization, or in life. It is amazing how the horses’ response to clients reveals their strengths and weaknesses, offering a powerful experiential opportunity to determine what is needed to effect positive change.

Through quality of life and therapeutic development programs, organization workshops and physical therapy, Stable-Spirit is becoming a popular means to assisting children and adults with a variety of issues and disabilities. This also explains why the program is growing and more people are needed to assist in the programs.

Tickets for Cajun Comic relief are available at The Eye Place at 1502 Strickland Drive in Orange or 824 S. Twin City Hwy in Nederland, Farmers Mercantile, 702 West Division Ave. in Orange and at Stable-Spirit.

For more information on the Stable-Spirit program, call 409-365-5277 or e-mail info@stable-spirit.org or visit the website at www.stable-spirit.org.