In October of 2000, Brock’s mom enrolled him in therapeutic riding at CARD (Community Association for Riding for the Disabled). Brock was quite convinced he was not going to like this pastime at all, but his mother declared firmly that he was going anyway, so Brock mounted up. During that first hour on horseback, an abiding passion was born. At the end of the lesson, a very upset Brock had to be persuaded to dismount, and reassured that it would only be one week before he could do it all again. Brock hasn’t looked back since then.
After riding for five years, Brock made the decision to share his enjoyment of riding by volunteering at CARD so that others could experience it too. He continues to this day to volunteer his time and growing expertise at the CARD facility.
Brock’s dedicated pursuit of excellence in horsemanship has led to his receiving several awards to date. The first came in 2008 when he was given the Spirit of CARD Award in recognition of his dedication and commitment. Also in 2008, he received the Ontario Equestrian Federation’s (OEF) Cassie Bonnar Junior Achievement Award (PDF link: see page 12). A busy year for Brock, 2008 saw him achieving finalist standing for the ParaSport Male Athlete of the Year Award (PDF link: see page 11) and the Ontario Sport Alliance Male Athlete with a Disability Award.
Perhaps the greatest achievement for Brock to date was being the second person with a disability ever to be awarded the prestigious OEF Youth Bursary, which will help him a little in his further pursuit of his equestrian dreams.