Summer camp experiences let kids make friends, learn new skills and have fun. And the sessions at Cloverleaf Equine Center in Clifton, Virginia, this summer are providing those experiences in a special setting for kids with a range of disabilities.

On Tuesday, Operations Director Christina Germinario stood at the center of an indoor riding ring, where fans whirring overhead provided an extra breeze.

She called out to the young campers, who range in age from 5 to 14 years old, encouraging them to connect with the movement of the horses.

Each rider follows along as a group of volunteers lead the horses while others walk along on each side, to make sure each rider is secure in the saddle.

Germinario called out to each rider, “Nice balance!” or “Good voice!” as a rider told their horse, “Walk on!”

At the end of the riding session, Germinario explained that each part of the lesson — from having riders drop their reins to flapping their arms like birds, or leaning into a forward crouch in a jumping position — has a purpose. The riders develop core strength, improve their balance or develop verbal communication skills — all while enjoying the company of the horse they ride.

Roger Messersmith has been volunteering with the organization for about three years, but has a connection to Cloverleaf that goes back decades.

When his son, who has cerebral palsy, was younger, he was a client at the center, just like the child Messersmith currently helps in this summer camp. Messersmith seems to sense when a rider needs more physical help and when a word of encouragement is needed.

Messersmith said his son, Mike, had a brother who was into rowing, but for Mike, “Riding was his special thing and it was something that was important to him.”

Mike rode at the center for nearly 16 years.

Messersmith said the therapeutic riding gave his son confidence and improved his muscle tone: “It provided him with core strength, the ability to ultimately stand.”

A slogan on Cloverleaf’s webpage reads, “Horses Helping Humans Thrive.” That extends to a range of clients, from the children in the Ponies and Paintbrushes Summer Camp to adults in a recovering service member and veterans program. Services for the different groups include physical therapy, psychotherapy and social and emotional learning.

When asked to describe the best thing about her job, Germinario said with a broad smile, “Probably the joy on their faces when they get something … even as simple as someone just looking at me and giving me a smile after I tell them ‘good job’ makes it all worth it.”

Germinario said the horses “absolutely” enjoy the sessions. She called the horses at Cloverleaf “unicorns,” chosen for the work because of their empathetic natures.

“They’re people horses. They want to be around the people, they want to be pet, they want to be loved on,” she said.

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We’re almost a month away from Virginia Tech’s season opener at Vanderbilt. Virginia Tech was one of the teams that addressed the media on Tuesday at the 2024 ACC Media Days ahead of their season. Dorian Strong should have a huge impact on the season, and the reporters and media know that.

Here’s everything that Dorian Strong had to say:

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Dorian.

Q. You were the second FBS cornerback since 2014 with 300-plus coverage snaps. What led to such an improvement in your game coming back from an injury?

DORIAN STRONG: That’s a great question.

Just my rehab process, talking to the coaches once going into spring ball and just making sure that I had a great off-season training-wise, putting more mass onto my body, getting stronger. Just talking to the coaches going into the season. They had a great plan. Just believing in them and believing in myself.

Q. You got to hear your teammates answer this, but what has it been like to have an off-season where everybody is loving on you? How do you tackle those expectations, make sure you live up to them?

DORIAN STRONG: It’s been good hearing everybody come give us great congratulations on our accomplishments last year. At the end of the day we know that we can be better. We know, shoot, we still have work to do going through all four phases this year, winter, spring, summer, now we’re going into fall camp. We still know we have a lot of work to do.

It’s a great thing to get the pats on the back, feels good, boost your ego, gives you confidence. I feel like my job in my corner back room is just trying to push confidence onto the guys, push competitive edge onto them. I feel like I’ve been doing a great job at that.

Regardless of the love or hate, which way it comes from, you take it and you just got to move past it. Can’t let it dwell on you.

Q. You played in all 11 games as a true freshman. That was the COVID season. That must feel like forever ago. What is it that you’ve learned about yourself through all of these experiences in the last four years?

DORIAN STRONG: That’s a great question.

What I learned about myself is how competitive I am. That’s always been in me, always been instilled in me. Just the coaches since they’ve gotten here, Coach Pry, Coach Jones, I’ve just grown into being a man, better football player.

Just from COVID, was a very interesting time. Wouldn’t change it. I loved the experience, the empty stadiums. Felt like high school. I was able to just, like, get my feet under me and calm down, gain my confidence back.

Q. We’re going to have a conversation that a lot of people are not going to understand. I’m from Peachy County, you’re from Peachy County, went to Wise High School. A lot of talent. What was it like growing up in Peachy up there? Talk about some of the talent that a lot of people don’t know about.

DORIAN STRONG: Yeah, man, definitely was an interesting time growing up. I feel like going to Wise, I played JV for two years, a lot of guys play JV, go straight to varsity. I played JV for two years. Broke my thumb my freshman year. My sophomore year I went crazy at receiver. All my life I thought I was going to be an offensive guy. My coach, he sat me down and had a conversation. I think you should be going to quarterback, doing seven-on-seven. I grinded through my high school years. I feel like I was a diamond in the rough type of player. Didn’t get a lot of recognition till my junior year.

Went to a spotlight camp, the O staff at Tech offered me. I feel grateful because I was talking to a lot of Power Five schools. They wasn’t trying to shoot their shot. When Virginia Tech shot their shot, I believe they believed in me, trusted me. Never looked back.

There is a lot of talent in Maryland. You’ve got me and you’ve got my man Mansoor. A lot of hidden talent in Maryland.

Q. You’ve had a lot of success throughout your entire time at Virginia Tech. Is there a personal accomplishment for what could be your final here at VT that you haven’t accomplished yet that you really want to accomplish?

DORIAN STRONG: Yes, I want to pick-six in Lane Stadium. I’ve been fortunate enough to catch a couple of picks in my career. I only thing I got, what, one in Lane Stadium. I felt that roar that first time when I was running. Now just to do that, to catch multiple pick-sixes in Lane Stadium.

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President Joe Biden’s decision to no longer seek reelection may have a big impact at the polls this fall in Virginia.

Karen Hult, professor of political science at Virginia Tech, said many Democrats “breathed a real sigh of relief,” while others were disappointed that their primary ballots were “no longer relevant.”

“I do think there may be an impact on the down ballot races,” she said.

Hult said that anything can change, especially if this is a wave election — landslide votes where a political party makes major gains.

“That is if the Republicans win big, which is not out of the question, or if the Democrats do better than expected, that can make differences that the other races as well,” she said.

She said the U.S. Senate seat held by Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine could be one of the most impacted races, “as well as all 11 U.S. House districts (has) candidates from both parties competing.”

“Most of the other races in the state are probably along predictable lines,” she added.

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When it comes to the shift of focus for the Republican Party, Hult said that happened right away.

She said she believes that the campaign for former President Donald Trump was ready for Biden’s decision.

“The attacks started almost immediately,” she said. “Those had been prepared at the end of the Republican convention, they’re on TV airwaves in many parts of the country.”

And with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance speaking in Virginia on Monday, and more campaign events to come from both parties across the state, Hult said Virginia voters have a lot of say in this election.

“Virginia is in play for the presidential race,” Hult said. “And that can make a difference with the congressional races as well.”

In terms of history, she said the U.S. is seeing something that just doesn’t happen: “We’ve never had a presidential candidate withdraw this late in the election season. … And we’ve not had an incumbent president withdraw from a reelection bid since 1968, when Lyndon Baines Johnson withdrew in March of 1968.”

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