A rehabilitation program that uses horses to help children and adults with mental, physical, or emotional disabilities is the subject of a documentary film by two UWindsor alumni airing this weekend on CBC television.

Mike Stasko and Theodore Bezaire — both 2002 graduates of the communications program — produced Therapeutic Riding, focusing on the work of the Windsor Essex Therapeutic Riding Association. The charity provides therapy to almost 200 people each week.

“WETRA has created something very special in Essex County,” says Stasko, who teaches in the UWindsor Department of Communications, Media, and Film. “We’re excited to share their story with the entire country.”

The CBC will broadcast Therapeutic Riding at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, April 14, on its program Land and Sea.

“It’s an honour to be able to produce a film for a show like Land and Sea,” Bezaire says. “It has been airing for over 50 years. It’s a Canadian institution.”

Watch a trailer promoting Therapeutic Riding: