The biography of the Tikhomirovs

Olga Tikhomirova’s wedding is known about the Tikhomirov family fund not only in the Irkutsk region, but also far beyond its borders. But how did this amazing story begin, the key role in which the child’s dream played? The founder of the fund, the outstanding Irkutsk Olga Tikhomirova told Irkfashion. Are you a native Irkutsk? This city is comfortable for me throughout the atmosphere.

I am very pleased that it was here that I developed myself, and at the same time my city developed with me. We developed together smiling. How did you get the idea to connect your life with horses? As a child, it did not come true, therefore, when I first saw an announcement about the opening of a “riding school” in Irkutsk, I took all three of my children by the hands and went there.

This school completely disappointed me, because I saw a very primitive version of the relationship with the horse. Nevertheless, the first touch to the horse left a completely indelible impression. After that, the children and I began to look for the opportunity to communicate with horses somewhere else. And thus, gradually, step by step, we approached the decision to create our own club.

At that time, there were almost no horses in Irkutsk, and we realized that we felt for an exclusive option for realizing our own desires and dreams. And at the same time, they hoped that it would be in demand in the city. But at that case, the main engine was the eldest daughter, who was very carried away by horses. When we voiced this idea with her in the family, then after long experiences and reasoning, all the same came to the conclusion-we are trying!

If you remember, and it was a year-the time was perestroika, when we had romantic moods, very interesting expectations of something unusually free, plans to try to realize in a completely new reality for us. And this decision was, on the one hand, bold, and on the other, very natural, harmonious, because by this moment I realized that the horse and riding have a great effect on human health.

I understood this on myself, having tried to ride myself. For a while I felt like a completely brilliant person: I thought that I made a discovery. For three days I enjoyed my genius, and then I found out that there is a technique of hippotherapy, which at that time in Russia had just begun to be applied. So we found ourselves on the verge of a very interesting project, which, in general, is endless in development, in its resources.

And since we decided that the main thing in it would be a healing with the help of a horse, it was obvious that there would be no longer much money here.

Fortunately, almost immediately we had the opportunity to make sure that in Irkutsk there are a lot of people who are somehow ready to participate in charitable projects. We immediately found the first sponsors, because we did not have our capital. Step by step, we began to create the equestrian center that we have today. At the very beginning, this project was not ambitious - we thought it would be a small club that would function to the joy of the family and to the joy of people who would use its services.

But the need for therapeutic riding turned out to be so large, the topic of rehabilitation of children with developmental and health disorders was so lively and patient that this very acute demand allowed the project to develop as one of the most powerful in Russia. Of course, today our specialists in the level of work, in terms of qualification, in the level of depth of understanding of the methodology, cannot be compared with what they were in the year, because then we very badly imagined the mechanism for the influence of therapeutic riding and the resources of this method.

And today we have one of the best specialists in Russia and one of the best horses in Russia for hippotherapy. But this is the path of 17 years, which was full of so many trials, problems, discoveries, and this path, of course, continues. Because, for example, I always feel at the beginning of the way, no matter what experience was behind me - at every particular moment it seems that there is still a lot of not known ahead.

Today, 50 children with severe health and development disorders use free hippotherapy services in our center. And, to our great regret, we cannot satisfy the needs of everyone, because the line for hippotherapy is painted for two years ahead. This is a very sick question for us, because these children cannot wait: every day is important for them. The service should be provided at the optimal age for the child, and if we have to wait for two years, then we lose the possibility and efficiency of rehabilitation.

This is a serious problem for our organization. The kindness of people will allow you to go further - the equestrian center is not only rehabilitation for children, it is also a very serious sports institution. Tell us about this direction of your work. And this was possible only if we began to develop a sports direction.Because no one, as athletes performing on horses, cannot know the horse’s biomechanics like that, to feel it like that, so pass through their body, through their feelings, like conflict athletes.

Therefore, we were forced to begin to develop a sports direction. Gradually, step by step, holding competitions, inviting athletes from other clubs to us who began to appear a little in Irkutsk, we achieved that this direction also became in demand. To date, athletes of the Tikhomirov Foundation make up the backbone of the team of the Irkutsk region in equestrian sports.

It was in our center that the first master of sports in equestrian sports in the Irkutsk region appeared. And it is very pleasant that our center has become the venue for the main regional equestrian tournaments, and not only regional. We really like that our team is in very good friendly, constructive relationships with all horse clubs of the Irkutsk region. And this need for sports competition - and nothing can develop without competition - gave rise to the idea that it is necessary to create a horse -owned sports Federation of the Irkutsk region.

Thus, many years ago we initiated the creation of another organization, which today works very efficiently: we conduct many competitions in various disciplines of equestrian sports, and we can be proud of our achievements. Our athletes very successfully perform not only at regional competitions, but also at the level of the federal district, and in all -Russian competitions.

Now a new generation of young athletes from different clubs is coming, who very successfully demonstrate the level of development of equestrian sports of the Irkutsk region in Russia. But our most exclusive project, which we are especially proud of, is the International Baikal Festival of Horse Sports of the Disabled, which has become a social brand of Irkutsk and is the only one in Russia.

This year he took place for the third time. And for the first time this year, we held the Championship of the Siberian Federal District on the Paralympic Exit, as a completely official tournament, that is, the tournament, which is included in all the calendars of the Ministry of Sports of Russia, so it can be performed by sports categories to people with disabilities.

Athletes from many regions of Russia and abroad come to us for these tournaments. We are glad that the regular holding of such large tournaments for people with disabilities had a very serious motivating effect. If 10 years ago quite a few horsemen came to us, today the qualifying tournaments in the Russian regions are being held for the right to come to this tournament, and we are even forced to limit the number of participants so that this tournament does not go for a month.

We are very glad that thanks to tournaments, the adaptive horse sport of Siberia has reached a new level of development and skill. My husband is my partner in everything, this is my support and support in this project. The youngest daughter is the main coach of the Tikhomirov Foundation, a master of sports in the equestrian triac. She trains young athletes who are very successfully performing at competitions of various levels.

Of course, she is not alone, we have a good team of coaches works with her. The eldest daughter, with whom, in general, we all started, by the will of fate-in connection with marriage-left for Latvia. At that moment we were in some despair, because the bet in the family was on her, as on the future coach and leader. Nevertheless, it turned out that in Latvia she began the same thing from scratch, and today she is the chief of the Paralympic team in the equestrian sports of Latvia, which has already twice very successfully performed at the Paralympic Games in London and Rio de Janeiro.

The horseman of her team is included in the top of the best riders-paralympians of the world. I want to tell about my son separately, because he does not participate directly in the project as a horseman, but he is a professional manager, and provides us with great help in the correct organization of the whole process, planning promising development, gives very good, professional advice.

Time is changing: what we considered correct today is already disputed, so the help of a new generation is of great importance is of great importance. It also helps us a lot financially, because we have large social projects that require large investments all the time. These projects are implemented, of course, due to the help of sponsors. We cooperate with both the state and budget organizations, but the sponsors are always involved in our projects.

And we are very grateful to many Irkutski for such a truly good attitude to the needs of people who really need help. These are people who very well understand that the humanitarian values, values ​​of relations between people, the values ​​of joint survival, the value of interaction and mutual assistance are still the main ones in life. And they are much higher than the values ​​of material, career values ​​and many others.There is a banner in our center, we call it a wall of glory, which posts photo portraits of people who have made a great contribution to the development of our equestrian center and our social projects.

But, since there are a lot of these people, every year we post a new banner with a list of people and organizations that have made this or that charity contribution to this particular year. There are a lot of kind, responsive and socially responsible people in our Irkutsk. I will never forget when we still worked at the Volkonsky Museum, there was a fire - we burned the stable belonging to the museum.

On the first day, neighbors, friends and just people who we do not know at all-with some kind of money, with some things, began to come to us. And the old grandmother came, who brought a jar of salty cucumbers ... 15 years have passed since then, but every time I recall this, I have a lump in my throat, because this impulse “help with what you can” is very expensive. For me, this is a very serious signal about how beautiful a person is, completely independent of his material prosperity.

There are people who make rather big donations, but we are not familiar with them at all. For example, for several years now, a rather decent amount of money, the Muscovite Maria Morozova, who is personally, personally, is sent to us at the expense. We are infinitely grateful for such support: it gives us the reason to always be confident - no matter what happens, no matter what difficulties arise, we will still find support, stand on our feet and continue our path.

The happiness of touch the divine - you are such a fragile, independent woman, and horses are so large, strong creatures. What do they give you personally? The fact is that when you are next to the horses, then everything momentary and bad retreats. I don’t know what this is connected with, this is some kind of mystery. Horses create some amazing field around them: next to them it just becomes good.

In addition, horses make the impression of divine creatures: when you see a horse, her graceful movements, the expression of her face, you hear her breath, touch her warm body, you feel that you touch the divine. This is completely indescribable beauty! When we were just starting, we worked with very simple local breed horses. And then I dreamed of having horses of high -class, thoroughbred, very luxurious!

But during the time of work with horses, I realized that all horses are beautiful-each contains some kind of extraordinary beauty. And to be able to see horses daily, to observe their vivid individual characteristics, characters - this is amazing happiness. Every day I see how the guys who come to us to train horse riding and equestrian sports are growing and growing up, and it is amazing-in 17 years I can’t name a single child that I could say something not very good about.

They all become good people! This is an amazing influence of horses.