Wendy Schonfeld, DC shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Wendy, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Who are you learning from right now?
If you spend just one day with us at RideAbility, the answer to “Who am I learning from?” becomes very clear.
At RideAbility, our mission is to serve children and young adults with diverse disabilities — including Autism, Down syndrome, ADHD, intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, and many others. But it is truly our students who teach us every day about the kind of people we are meant to be.
Spend a day with us and you’ll see the beauty in the world — pure happiness, acceptance without judgment, forgiveness, kindness, love, and genuine friendship. Our students remind us daily what it means to be patient, compassionate, and unconditionally loving. Even when a student struggles, the opportunity to teach with patience and kindness, and to help them succeed, is one of life’s greatest honors and gifts.
We are also incredibly blessed with our therapeutic horses, who teach us lessons of trust, respect, unconditional love, and the importance of finding peace within ourselves.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Wendy Schonfeld, and I am the Executive Director and Owner of RideAbility Therapeutic Riding Center and Equine-Assisted Learning Program. For over 13 years, we have been proud to serve children and young adults with diverse disabilities, as well as our honored veterans**.
Our program supports approximately 100 students each week and is made possible by our 50 incredible volunteers whose dedication ensures our success. Without our amazing team, none of this would be possible.
Each lesson at RideAbility is individually designed to meet every student’s unique abilities and goals. With the help of our 14 wonderful therapeutic horses, we focus on building horsemanship skills, strength, core stability, balance, gross motor development, executive functioning, academic skills, and social growth
We are also proud to be a Special Olympics Equestrian Training Center, preparing athletes for State Competitions in both South Carolina and North Carolina.
In addition, our Work-Study Program provides young adults with valuable job training and life skills. Participants learn how to work with supervisors, collaborate with peers and colleagues, and complete workplace responsibilities — skills that extend far beyond the barn into their daily lives.
At RideAbility, our mission is simple but powerful: to empower individuals through connection, confidence, and compassion — one horse and one lesson at a time.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
The people in our own country we’re living in now is breaking the bond.
We’re living in a country filled with anger and division — a place where differences of opinion seem to separate us more than ever, and where expressing yourself can feel unsafe. But I truly believe that most people can sit down and have an honest, beautiful conversation, even when they disagree.
When we actually talk and listen to one another, we often find we agree on more than we ever imagined. What’s broken our bond isn’t each other — it’s the constant noise of the media and news outlets, showing only the loudest voices from the far right and far left.
When I sit with friends over lunch and we talk openly, we listen, we hear, and most of the time, we nod in understanding. That’s what will restore us — listening with open hearts and recognizing how biased and extreme much of the news has become.
We need to sit together again and have real conversations.
As I said to my husband tonight, I wish we could all see the world through the eyes of our students. They don’t see color, gender, tattoos or no tattoos, short or tall, heavy or thin, political views or differences.
They just see people.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
A Message to My Younger Self
As a child raised by an incredible single mom alongside my sister, the one kind thing I would tell my younger self is this:
You’re going to be okay.
You will take the pain you feel throughout your childhood and teenage years — the hurt of having a father who was toxic and harmful — and turn it into strength.
Watch your mom. Watch how she grows stronger and stronger, and know that her resilience will live in you too.
You will learn to take every painful moment and transform it into a life lesson. You will discover that you are not a victim — you are worthy.
You will use your story, your scars, and your strength to help another child find theirs.
And one day, you’ll realize that everything you went through shaped you into someone who makes a difference in the world.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
It is my commitment to our students with disabilities — to give them a place to shine.
A place where they know they matter.
A place they can call their own and feel safe.
A place where the possibilities are endless.
It is also my commitment to our program — that it will continue to succeed, thrive, and grow.
My hope is that long after I’m gone (when I’m well past 90!), this program will be so deeply rooted in the community that it will continue to live on — strong, vibrant, and full of purpose.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
Most people never get the opportunity to truly spend time with individuals who have diverse disabilities. They don’t get to experience the pure love, the laughter, and the tight, genuine hugs our students give so freely.
I wish our society did a better job teaching inclusion — teaching that we are all different in our own unique ways, and that different does not mean wrong or bad.
I wish young people were taught more empathy and compassion for those who may look, act, or learn differently. I wish more understood how deeply bullying wounds — that its scars reach far beyond what the eye can see.
And I wish adults realized the power of their example. When children witness bullying — especially from grown-ups — they learn that it’s acceptable. But it’s not.
We can, and must, do better.
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