Several Arlington Park racetrack jockeys stepped onto the dirt Monday at a Mundelein therapy center where young riders with disabilities were saddling up for their weekly session of horseback riding.

Decked in glossy black boots, white pants and colorful checkered and striped jerseys, the jockeys gave many young children at the Partners for Progress therapy center a day to remember.

“They’re rock stars to them,” said Linda Liss, director of development at the center. “They ride like these kids wish they could.”

Jacob Lang, 9, ditched his crutches and saddled up on a quarter horse as jockey James Graham, 32, fitted Lang’s tiny shoe into a stirrup.

“I love this,” Graham said. “I came here last year. It’s great for the kids, but it’s more about what we learn from them.”

The children, who face challenges including the inability to speak or walk, have learned to not only straddle a horse, but also ride side saddle, turn backward on a saddle while a horse is moving, and even stand on a saddle with their hands outstretched, balancing their stance as horses walk in a circle.

Graham and fellow jockey Tanner Riggs, 22, of South Dakota, who make a living in the fierce racing industry, were nothing less than impressed with the Partners for Progress riders at the Pine Grove Equestrian Center, 21797 Illinois Highway 176.

“I love being a jockey, but I have my struggles,” Riggs said. “To see the kids here who have their ups and downs — they do really good. When they’re on the horses, they seem really confident. Their attitudes seem to perk up. It’s a sense of the horse.”

The therapy center calls it Arlington Park Jockey Day. Arlington Park officials call it a way to kick off the Aug. 13 Arlington Million while doing good in the community. But Alexa Donato, 12, calls it fun.

“I think it’s pretty nice. I was so excited to meet all these jockeys. I’m having fun,” she said beneath her black riding cap. Riggs cheered on Donato as she jumped on a trampoline and tossed beanbags.

Children with a range of disabilities, from mild and severe autism to cerebral palsy, come to the center every week to ride quarter horses.

Diane Helgeland founded Partners for Progress 20 years ago in Lake Geneva, Wis., as a way to help children like her brother, who was born with cerebral palsy.

“I always wondered where it would go. The program has progressed in so many areas,” she said.

The program grew from Helgeland’s Lake Geneva home to the Lake County stable about six years ago and now serves 160 children.

The riders, starting as young as age 1, either enter the direct treatment program and meet in one-on-one sessions with physical or occupational therapists, or they join the Power Hour group lessons with several other riders.

Mandi Braden is an occupational therapist at Partners for Progress who has helped toddlers behind in learning to walk learn to ride, and they have developed skills to walk within six weeks of their first riding session.

“There isn’t another therapy out there like this,” Braden said. “There’s no way to challenge a child in an hour more than we can. It’s magical.”

Direct treatment is often covered through health insurance, and the Power Hour is $48 per session for participants, Liss said.

A nonprofit, the organization largely depends on fundraisers and donations to help pay for the classes, care of the horses and to offer scholarship programs.

Partners for Progress operates with 12 employees and about 100 volunteers a week.

Merv Beyersdorf, 73, volunteers at Partners and guides the horses with the children.

“After the first couple of lessons, you’re hooked,” he said. “You can see the intersection between the kids and the horses. You can see the progress the kids make, and it’s neat.”

Jane Sims, a New York resident who is moving to Lake Zurich, watched her grandchildren, Charlie Sims, 9, and Mary Sims, 6, ride alongside the Arlington jockeys on Monday. Both children have autism. Jane Sims said the program has helped bring Charlie out of his shell and calmed Mary, who the grandmother dubbed “Queen Mary.”

“He’s amazing,” she said about her grandson. “When he was young, he was very quiet, very introverted. He’s in 7th heaven now. He smiles. He’s all excited. The program’s done wonders for him.

“I couldn’t do what he does on a horse,” she said as her grandson passed her, smiling while riding backwards on a saddle.

For more information about Partners for Progress, click here or call 847-226-1300.

To view photos, click here.