Star jockey Jamie Kah throws support behind Equine Pathways, horse therapy charity ‘close to my heart’

The worst experience of Kah’s life, five-month recovery from severe concussion and head injury sustained in a race fall last March, inspired the passion project.

Equine Pathways, a charity based in Melbourne’s outer east, runs clinics Australia-wide for horse-lovers with physical disabilities, from pony clubbers to aspiring Paralympians.

Kah has always found solace in horses, including about 20 of her own, but the experiences this year sharpened the focus.

“I’d be lost if I didn’t have them when I had my time off, completely lost,” Kah said.

“The first day (home after six weeks in hospital) I walked out the house and I went straight to see my Off The Track horse Brax, he’s my favourite horse in the whole world.

“I sat there for two hours and patted him. They (horses) were the only things keeping me sane for so many months.”

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Kah, who celebrated her 28th birthday on Thursday, learned more about the charity last year through Australian Paralympian and fellow VRC ambassador Emma Booth.

“It’s such an amazing set up and I want to try and get a bit more involved in it,” Kah said.

“I want to set up something for even jockeys or people from the industry to help fund and support (Equine Pathways) because they do an amazing job there.”

Existing benefactors include Hall of Fame trainer Gai Waterhouse, Godolphin Lifetime Care, MRC Foundation, Racing SA and ATC Foundation.

Legendary jockey Damien Oliver’s first winning saddle raised $35,000 at auction last month at the Melbourne Cup Call of the Card, with proceeds split equally between Equine Pathways and MRC Foundation’s Life After Racing project.

“I’d like to go and do a few weekends (clinics) there and see if we can try and raise some constant money for them,” Kah said.

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Equine Pathways founder and program executive manager Julia Battams welcomed Kah’s interest and want to help.

“She’s really engaged with what we do,” Battams said.

“She just got it, she knows what we’re up to (and) she has an appreciation for how much horses can help and she seems like she just wants to be involved.

“I’m really happy, it would be great for us but I think it would also be really good for her … when you help other people it brings you such a sense of worth. This is really able to bring her some joy as well, external from just winning races and all the work she does (with ex-racehorses).”

Donations-fuelled Equine Pathways spends $16,000 to $18,000 on each clinic, individually tailored to the recreational, vocational and high performance needs of athlete participants.

Allied health providers, including sports psychologists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, attend every clinic and work directly with the athletes.

“It’s worth every cent, it’s so good,” Battams said.

“Basically we just cover all … the athletes pay $200 for the weekend so they feel like they’ve got buy in, but they get it (back) through their NDIS plan, it’s not coming out of their pocket.

“The rest of the program is funded through donations, so it’s certainly dependent on people’s good will.”

Originally published as Star jockey Jamie Kah throws support behind Equine Pathways, horse therapy charity ‘close to my heart’