With the help of skilled horses, a team of certified instructors and specially trained volunteers, our disabled veterans are taught horseback riding and horsemanship skills appropriate to their level of ability. In addition, veterans are taught the foundations of equine behavior and proper equine care.
Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists are invited to work with our certified instructors and primary caregivers to develop individualized riding plans with recreational and physical goals.
This therapeutic riding program can provide BENEFITS to individuals challenged with:
Amputation- Behavioral Disability
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Emotional Disability
- Hearing Impairment
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Visual Impairment
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
The horse and human bond has been known since antiquity for its healing qualities. With a horse's non-judgmental acceptance and tolerance, disabled veterans are highly motivated to learn and to grow into their full potential.
- For individuals with physical disabilities, the rhythmical walking motion of the horse closely simulates a person's walking gait, and disabled veterans experience improvements in muscle strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination. With greater freedom of movement comes an increase in self-esteem, confidence, personal mobility and independence.
- For individuals with cognitive disabilities, horseback riding offers a motivational opportunity to improve their concentration, attention span, memory, and language skill development.
- For individuals with behavioral and emotional challenges, the positive horse and human interaction experienced through horseback riding can result in a greater sense of teamwork, responsibility and communication. As the bond develops, so does the veterans ability to take risks and deal with both success and failure. The special connection between a horse and its rider increases one's outlook and provides a positive approach to life and future endeavors.
Perhaps the most rewarding of all the activities, and certainly what makes this program unique, is the time spent with the horses. The disabled veterans learn basic riding skills in the arena and on the trails, as well as equine first aid and proper feeding, bedding and grooming techniques. They also learn the hierarchy of pasture mates and discuss how a horse's behavior might mirror human behavior.
One of the primary tenets of riding is that the horse and human relationship can act as a metaphor for the human-to-human relationship. The emotional bond created between horse and rider is invaluable, in that participants may, for the first time in their lives, experience safe and nonjudgmental love and friendship. The hope is that this experience will be translated into positive human relationships in their everyday lives.
