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What Exactly Is Therapeutic Riding & How Does It Work?

admin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Therapeutic riding is the process of teaching children with disabilities to ride specially trained horses as a form of therapy. It is practiced in most areas of the world and can provide benefits to children with a variety of physical, emotional, social, or cognitive disabilities. Therapists work with certified instructors to teach children skills that will improve coordination, muscle control, strength, balance, flexibility, communication, and build self-esteem and self-confidence.
Along with improving motor skills and self-esteem, learning to ride horses helps children form a special bond with the animals they ride. Developing an attachment to horses may also help children learn to build positive relationships with family members and peers.
When taking therapeutic riding into consideration, many parents worry about the safety of their children. While there are risks that go along with horseback riding, the benefit to the children outweighs the risk, and special precautions are taken to ensure safety. Certified instructors are walking next to the children, and the horses are specially trained for therapy purposes.
Therapeutic riding can be an excellent part of therapy for children with disabilities. Learning a new skill will build self-confidence and social skills that cannot be learned as well through traditional therapy.

Could Therapeutic Riding Help My Disabled Child

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Therapeutic Riding is well-known as a therapy method for disabled children. It is especially helpful in enabling children with poor social skills to interact with others. The child develops a bond with an animal much easier than they would with a human. This could be because of the different ways animals and humans respond to social interaction. Humans form bonds through verbal skills, whereas animals form bonds through actions.

Additionally, a disabled child who is introduced to therapeutic riding will learn skills such as companionship, confidence, and leadership. Even though a horse is typically lead by an instructor, children are taight that they must do something, either verbally or with their actions, to signal the horse to keep walking. The child is able to gain a sense of independence from this experience. Parents also start to realize that their child is not as limited in their actions.

Therapeutic riding is a form of therapy that helps disabled children respond in new ways. The skill that these children learn through riding can be extended to others. Riding helps disabled children attain social and physical fitness, and is a step forward in their progress that will impact both them and their parents.

Therapeutic Riding Therapy; Private vs. Company

admin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Children who suffer from a disability can benefit immensely by having Therapeutic riding therapy. A private session means that your child or children will receive one on one care and the personal attention they need as opposed to attending a class that has many students and therefore cannot give proper attention to just one student.
Therapeutic riding therapy with a private tutor or teacher also means that a session can be as needed and not for just a specific length of time. This means that the child(ren) will have the best teacher or tutor available for their specific needs and the time can be as long as needed or when it is needed.
Therapeutic riding therapy can be a great asset in keeping a child active and focused in each session and in their progression. It will also be an asset to their mental as well as their physical well being. This therapy shows the child that no matter what their physical condition may be, they are not limited to watching from the sidelines in life. This therapy may encourage them to help others in the same way they are being helped to overcome negative or discouraging thoughts that sometimes occur.

Volunteer Opportunities Near You

admin — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Leave your husband at home this Sunday to watch direc tv Sunday ticket and get out and help some kids! There are great therapeutic riding facilities near you that need your volunteer man-hourshere are a few of the most worthy:
High Hopes – Located in Connecticut, High Hopes is one of the biggest and best maintained therapeutic facilities in the country. Their website actually has a special section for volunteers so get out and see what you can do for them this weekend.
Pegasus Riding – In Brewster, New York, Pegasus is the place to go with a child who has disabilities. If you’re interested in getting more hands-on with the kids or the animals call them up and see how you can help. It’s a great day drive from the city so it’s convenient for many.
Fieldstone Farm – Located in Ohio, Fieldstone is a very technologically advanced facility. They’ve got a need for people to help with everything from graphic design to facility maintenance and they welcome weekend volunteers so call them up to see what you can do.

What Age Range Can Benefit From Therapeutic Riding

admin — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Anyone from the age of four up to an adult can benefit from therapeutic riding, however, a doctor must sign a release form before the riding can take place. Therapeutic riding helps to address disabilities and a number of different medical issues. These can be paralysis, stroke, Down’s syndrome, autism, emotional disorders and language development to name a few.

Therapeutic riding benefits wheelchair impaired individuals by stimulating those muscles that are not seldom used. The riding helps improve equilibrium. Those who have learning disabilities will have a better self esteem and a more positive attitude for the first time ever. For Down Syndrome individuals, language barriers will be broken and their vocabulary will increase.

There are so many different disabilities that therapeutic riding can help with including physical, mental, social and emotional. Riding will allow individuals to concentrate and develop emotional awareness. For individuals who have random outbursts, riding can be calming. This allows the rider to enforce behavior that is appropriate. Socially, riders will be able to communicate with other riders and reinforce teamwork and turn taking skills.

Therapeutic riding will give the feeling of love and warmth while promoting many benefits to the rider. This is also reassuring to the rider thus giving them a calm and reassuring feeling of accomplishment. The internet is a great source for more information on local therapeutic riding centers and their programs. Alternatively the library is another great source for therapeutic riding resources.

Top Places That Feature Therapeutic Riding

admin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

What is therapeutic riding? It is the use of horses and riding to assist children and adults with many types of disabilities. There are many health benefits associated with horse-back riding, and therapeutic riding is focused on helping disabled persons of all ages.

Riding a horse moves the body in a way that helps improve balance and increase flexibility. Studies and research have proven that disabled children and others who participate in therapeutic riding also experience emotional benefits. Students experience increased self-esteem and confidence.

What type of disability can riding therapy help?

Therapeutic riding can help children and adults with many different types of disabilities. Horseback riding therapy can be beneficial to anyone with emotional or psychological disabilities, spinal cord injuries, Autism, ADD, brain injuries, hearing, visual or speech impairments.

There are many top places that feature therapeutic riding, so take advantage of this wonderful way to help your loved one feel more independent while improving balance, gaining muscle strength, increasing flexibility and more; all while bonding with horses.

Want to learn more, simply research therapeutic riding or hippo-therapy. You will learn about this amazing therapy that uses horses to improve the emotional and physical health of anyone who has suffered from a disability.

Reasons Why Therapeutic Riding Therapy Works

admin — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Therapeutic horse-back riding can be a great way for people with disabilities to improve their strength, balance, muscle control, and even work on skills like speech and sensory development! The movements of the horse require riding students to work to keep themselves upright on the horse, but the lessons are in a safe and environment. This allows people with disabilities to develop strength and increase motor skills, without risk to themselves.

In a therapeutic riding class, there are many methods used to work with riders. The difficulty of the lesson is tailored to the rider, so that the classes are educational but not dangerous or frustrating.Want more? Click here/tag Depending on the rider’s disability, the instructor can use a variety of objects to stimulate the senses of riders or utilize riding techniques to increase muscle strength. Objects include things that make noise, items with various textures, or even interactive toys to increase cognitive thinking skills. For those who have physical limitations, riders can progress from easy riding to more challenging, faster paces and even small jumps as they work on enhancing their physical conditions.

In addition to the mental and physical benefits of therapeutic riding, the emotional connection many riders experience with horses is extremely beneficial. Horses are calm animals and they trust the rider to guide them during a ride. Students can form friendships with the animals, and learn to care for them and treat them with respect. This can serve as an example for interactions with other people, and can also boost the self esteem of the rider, as they are in control.

Therapeutic riding therapy is a creative way to empower those with disabilities and allow them to explore a side of themselves with the help of a loyal and beautiful animal, and caring instructors.

Who Can Benefit From Therapeutic Riding

admin — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Horseback riding is not only a good relaxation activity for people without disabilities, but for people who have disabilities. There are many groups who can benefit from therapeutic horseback riding.
One of the best groups of children and adults who can benefit from riding is those with ADD and ADHD. Riding a horse offers people who have ADD and ADHD a way to concentrate on one thing that they enjoy. It gives them a sense of freedom and control that they don’t have in their normal life. They can be one with the horse while they are riding. This freedom gets their mind centered on something important, which they don’t normally get to do while they are in school or at home.
Those with emotional disabilities can also benefit from riding a horse. They are able to experience a freedom with the horse and push away their emotional disturbances. People with cognitive disorders such as autism and Down’s syndrome can benefit as well. Riding a horse will increase the person’s balance and coordination, allowing them to live a more normal life. They can practice self control skills by letting the horse lead them around a pasture or on a trail. Horses are a good therapeutic avenue for people of many disabilities.