Left Hand Laurel – Taz Chaudry

Taz Chaudry is full of life, full to the brim and then some. Chaudry's passion for helping others is undeniable in all that she does. Owing to her outpouring of positive energy, Niwotian Chaudry was selected as this month's Left Hand Laurel recipient, coming to the forefront in particular for her volunteering at the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center (CTRC).

"I believe we're all here to help each other and my purpose of being...why I'm here, is to remind people of joyful being," Chaudry said. "What I love about it [CTRC], I would have to say is the mission - to empower other people and to see that growth."

Volunteer coordinator Aslin Camille wrote, "Taz takes on every new role and challenge at CTRC with such enthusiasm and gratitude that it is infectious to all around."

CTRC's goal is improving and supporting the wellbeing of people with disabilities physically, emotionally, and socially. Through equine activities, CTRC serves people with such special needs as cerebral palsy, developmental delays, autism, sensory integration disorder, Down Syndrome, traumatic brain injuries, paraplegia, learning disabilities, multiple sclerosis, mental health issues, and strokes.

Started in 1980, CTRC is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Riders from 2 to 90 years old have participated in riding sessions and in the process, have gained strength, balance, confidence, and trust, improved their verbal skills, and overcome fears.

Volunteers work side-by-side with CTRC's instructors who have earned a globally acknowledged equine assisted certification through the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH).

Hippo therapy and equine assisted therapy (physical and emotional therapy using horses) came into Chaudry's life when she was working for Voyant in 2017 where she'd launched a company-sponsored employee volunteer program. While working for other companies offering similar community outreach programs, she'd volunteered painting houses, improving open space, and working at food share organizations.

For her part in the Voyant volunteer program, she signed up with the riding center at first as a side walker, the person who focuses on the horse rider. Now she's also a horse leader, where she is honed in on the horse. No slacker, she also mucks stalls, does horse turn in/out, helps with feeding the horses, and whatever else is needed to care for the horses.

In 2018 she was given the One Voyant Gives award for the impact she had in creating and running the volunteer program.

Chaudry grew up in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. She left home at 17 to attend college in Oklahoma where she earned a BA in English from OU. She earned her master's degree in computer systems management at Creighton University in Omaha. A job as a software test engineer in Boulder brought her to Colorado in 1992, and in 1998 she purchased her present home in Niwot.

Chaudry spent 20 years in a corporate environment in an assortment of roles: project manager, ScrumMaster, and Jack-of-all-trades in large and small companies. She retired three years ago "from the b.s.", but for her, retirement doesn't mean no more working. It means finding what she's passionate about. During COVID Chaudry has taken many online courses to up her game in areas such as search engine optimization, marketing, and copy writing.

She's now looking for work in which to use her plethora of technical skills, in addition to her strong communication abilities.

A lifelong learner, Chaudry took a deep dive into the teachings of Tony Robbins, cranial sacral therapy, polarity therapy, quantum healing, and hypnotism. Holistic Coaching is her passion, where she shifts her clients' perspective and helps them gain insight. She wants to assist and heal others through her many modalities of energy work. (TazChaudry@gmail.com).

She was drawn to volunteering with horses because, as a child, she'd ridden horses several times and it became a vision of hers "to really get to know a horse." Now she occasionally takes riding lessons with the dream of riding Icelandic and Mongolian horses.

For the last three years, she has worked with one particular young man at CTRC who needs a wheelchair. With the assistance of a lift, he's seated on a horse and Chaudry walks alongside with the instructor.

"It's more than just riding a horse," Chaudry said. "It's about getting tangible physical, cognitive, social, and emotional benefits, helping them feel empowered, capable and connected and welcome." She said "it's just beautiful" to see the progress of the young man she's been assisting.

Over this past summer she was on hand most days at the riding center taking on a variety of tasks and recently, she's volunteering once a week.

Camille wrote, "Having her shine her light on our volunteer program during such a tough past year-and-a-half has been a blessing- we are so grateful to have her as a volunteer!"

Volunteers may be as young as 14 and are given training for each role they fill. Positions are as varied as working with horses and/or participants, fundraising, and working in the office. COVID precautions are taken seriously at CTRC and the program has created a very thorough protocol throughout the pandemic.

"I love connecting with people," Chaudry said. "I love that it's a way to give me perspective, a way to give and also to get. I am enriched. What I get from my experience, I grow so much as a person. It's become like family for me. The other volunteers and the staff, they work so hard and there's so much opportunity to be a better person."