Every year, CTRC honors a child, youth, and adult rider of the year at our annual gala. Meet our 2025 Child Rider of the Year, Inez. Inez is a gentle yet spirited, bright rider whose journey with CTRC has brought transformative growth. Living with multi-level anxiety and on the spectrum, Inez had spent much of her early life in various therapies—but it wasn’t until she began equine-assisted therapy at CTRC that her confidence truly began to bloom. “Almost immediately, I watched Inez go from a tiny being joggling this way and that atop a horse to becoming a steady, confident and poised person … something that I’ve watched spill over into her everyday life too, since she’s been riding at CTRC,” her mother, Noelle, shares. Riding has not only helped regulate her body and mind—offering what Noelle describes as a “reset button” in her week—but has also sparked joy, calm, and a deep sense of connection. “I never see Inez as calm as I do when she is on horseback,” her parent added. “What matters most is that she and the horse are connecting in a much bigger way, and the horse is guiding Inez to push herself in healthy ways to become her best self.”