THERAPY IN MOTION
ABOUT
Therapy In Motion opened its doors in 2015 to continue the work of Bob and Timi Burmood, who ran S.A.M.S. Riders for over 25 years. (Please see more about them under our "History" page.) The focus was initially on continuing the beneficial therapeutic horseback riding services that were already being provided, but quickly expanded to include clinic-based occupational therapy, occupational therapy incorporating a horse's movement, and most recently, certified lactation counseling. With an eclectic range of services to offer, we are dedicated to supporting development throughout the lifespan.
TEAM
Here you can get to know a little bit about our wonderful staff and volunteers, both two- and four-legged! We could not provide these amazing services without our dedicated team of volunteers and equine staff. Horses in general have a special place in our hearts, but therapy horses take it to a whole different level...they have something extra special! They must be solid citizens, good riders, have a heart of gold, patience in spades, and fight their natural instinct to spook when frightened. Therapy horses are exposed to strange therapy tools, unbalanced riders, emotional outbursts, and much more. Not only do they expertly handle all of these issues, they do it with a sense of acceptance, understanding, and love that cannot be taught. Our horses have the most incredible and unique personalities. Please read a bit about each one below.
If you would like to see your smiling face on this page, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are always looking for dedicated volunteers!
LYNNETTE HOLMES
MS, OTR/L, CLC
TRISH "MADDIE" PAJAK
ANGEL
OWNER
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST
Lynnette is an Occupational Therapist (OT), who specializes in integrating the use of equine movement into treatment (hippotherapy). She is also a Certified Lactation Counselor (CLC). She was born and raised in Bozeman, Montana and grew up with an avid interest in horses. She moved to California to attend San Jose State University, specifically for their exceptional occupational therapy program. During her time there, she volunteered with a program in Woodside, CA that had adaptive riding, OT/PT/SLP and mental health services incorporating horses. There she gained further experience in how to combine the use of a horse with traditional therapy services. In 2013, she returned to Montana after receiving her Master of Science degree in occupational therapy. Immediately, she began volunteering for S.A.M.S. and fell in love with it. The owners, Bob and Timi Burmood, had been hoping to retire, and after getting to know Lynnette, decided that she was the right fit to fill their shoes. Lynnette is now running Therapy In Motion, which allows Bob and Timi’s legacy to live on. Prior to opening her own practice, Lynnette worked at Whitefish Therapy and North Valley Hospital and has experience with individuals of all ages with a wide variety of challenges.
PHOENIX
EQUINE STAFF
Phoenix is the epitome of a gentle giant. He is a 15 year old Clydesdale/Paint cross who gave trail rides on a dude ranch prior to us seeing a picture of him and falling in love at first sight. When he first arrived, he was quite anxious not having another horse leading him. Our trainer, Maddie, worked her magic and got him feeling safe and secure and ready for his new job. He definitely found his calling with our program. He is quite large and can hold our heavier clients with no problem. He is tremendously sweet and mellow. He loves to give clients big deep breaths to help them calm their bodies and minds.
MINDY
FORMER EQUINE STAFF
We call her our "Queen of Hearts" because she handled our most challenging sessions with unparallelled grace and understanding and seemed to have an unprecedented intuition when a client needed her. She is now 24 years old, has retired and is enjoying all the snuggles, brushing, braiding, and other forms of adoration that a queen such as herself deserves.
EQUINE MANAGER/TRAINER,
PATH INTL. CERTIFIED EQUINE SPECIALIST IN MENTAL HEALTH AND LEARNING
Maddie has had an interest in horses since she was little. She was born and raised in Montana, but moved to New Jersey during her teenage years. While in NJ, she ended up working at Rocking Horse Rehab, wearing many hats (equine trainer/handler, office manager, and instructor, just to name a few). This is where she developed a love and understanding for equine assisted therapies and activities. As much as she loved this job, the mountains kept calling her name. She eventually returned home, immersing herself in all that nature had to offer. She is an avid outdoorswoman and feels most at peace in nature and when working with horses. She began to miss being able to help people heal through the power of horses. She began volunteering with Therapy In Motion and quickly became an integral part of the team, donating more time and expertise than humanly possible. She became exactly what the program needed and has since been hired on as a full-time equine specialist. She has a deep love and compassion for horses and her training style reflects this. She uses primarily positive reinforcement and liberty work, which has brought out the very best in our horses. She ensures that our horses are happy, healthy, and enjoy their job. She also provides adaptive riding lessons in collaboration with our OT to give our clients the best possible experience.
WILLOW
Willow is a 9 year old Gypsy/Haflinger cross. We bought her at a Midwest auction along with her sister (Aspen). She is trained to ride as well as to pull a cart as a team. Her beauty is only matched by her silly personality. She loves to play with tools, splash in the water, spray people with the hose, and squeak her lips when she drinks. She even tries to steal sips of coffee if we forget and leave our mug unattended. She is sweet and kind as well, loves giving hugs and snuggles to our clients and handlers. She has lovely movement for our OT clients and does well for our adaptive riding clients too! She enjoys going on trail rides with her friends in her free time.
EQUINE STAFF
Angel is a 21 year old Haflinger. She is short and curvaceous and has a tremendous amount of multidirectional movement, which has proven incredibly beneficial to our clients with sensory issues. She is quite inquisitive about everything in her surroundings and took to the lifestyle of a therapy horse very quickly. She has been our "rockstar" therapy horse for the past 8 years now and consistently takes on the most challenging clients with the grace and understanding of her namesake, an angel. She has carried our program single-handedly at times, but we are happy to announce that she's got some friends who have joined the ranks and a couple more who are in their final phases of training.
OAKLEY
EQUINE STAFF IN TRAINING
Oakley is almost 3 years old and has been such a joy to raise. He has been with us since birth and because of that, he has already been exposed to all of the eclectic therapy tools and toys we use during sessions. He isn't afraid of anything, instead wants to check it all out and see if it is either fun or edible. He is so tremendously sweet and just loves attention. He is incredibly smart, already knowing and happily completing several tricks: smile, shake, give a hug, give a kiss, kick a ball, and push a ball with his nose. He loves learning new things, is eager to please for nothing more than to get some extra love. He has just started to learn what it feels like to have a rider on his back and is taking to it very well. He should be a stellar member of our therapy team in no time!
MALONE
SNICKERS
FORMER EQUINE STAFF
We leased her from the lovely Brooke Walker! Snickers wasn't bothered in the least by the different positions we had kiddos on her. Maybe it was because she was used to having goats climbing all over her.
FORMER EQUINE STAFF
We leased "Private Andrew Malone" from the nice folks over at Ashley Creek Stables! He was such a strong and steady helper. Our adaptive riding clients loved his calm, cool demeanor and he was happy to have a job helping people.