Rosewood Horse Ranch recently hosted two young visitors from the Netherlands. Ginger Stam, from Zeeland, and Arnoud Meutstege, from Doetinchem, were accompanied by Ramona Hornbaker, local tour guide, during their central Kansas visit. The two young visitors are spending six weeks in the United States to obtain information for a program an organization wants to start “back home.”
Stam is very interested in starting a therapeutic riding program in the Netherlands, but both she and Meutstege stated a concern that their government makes starting a new venture extremely difficult, although they both feel such a program would be very successful and well-received by those using the program. Eric Hammond, Ranch Manager and Vicki Schmitt, Senior Director at Rosewood, discussed both the therapeutic riding program and the numerous services Rosewood offers to people with developmental disabilities.
Meutstege will pursue studies in Aeronautics and Space Engineering upon his graduation from high school. And because Stam has such a love of horses, she is determined to develop a program similar to that at Rosewood, despite of the roadblocks she foresees with her government. The duo completely enjoyed their visit to Rosewood Horse Ranch and Stam is anxious to begin her riding program as soon as she can jump the hurdles back home. 
Hammond stated “our young guests were extremely interested in everything they saw and had lots of good questions. It was interesting to see a therapeutic riding program through the eyes of visitors from another country and Ginger is excited, and determined, to go home and begin planning a similar program there.” 
This is the first time either student had been in the United States and they had some unique observations. Meutstege stated that at least five countries the size of the Netherlands could fit into the state of Kansas. Because their country is extremely crowded, Stam said she enjoyed” the wide open spaces.” The Netherlands has eight times more people, but is five times smaller in overall land mass. Another observation was that buildings in the US are “new, young.”  Homes in the Netherlands date back centuries and Meutstege once lived in a home built in the 1600’s. And no visit to Kansas would be complete without having steak and hamburgers, which were a huge hit with both young tourists!