kes them around this big open property. When the horses walk, it forces the kids to loosen their muscles and be flexible, thus stretching them. The older kids sit on the horse by themselves, and the younger kids have riders with them sitting behind them to help them sit up. That's part of the challenge too... to get the kids to have good posture. So I walked along beside the horses to encourage the kids. There were lots of helpers today, so I didn't get to do as much, but we'll be going every week so I'm sure more opportunities will arise! So we start off down a trail, then the lady leading this whole thing stopped us... she has specific stretches she makes the kids do... then we walk a little further, and the helpers hold sticks and make the kids pull the leaves off and count... then we walk back to the starting point. The horses are specifically trained for this... they are therapy horses. I was fascinated by it all, and plan to return!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Therapy and Horses
Combine children with disabilities and horses... and you've got my attention!! So when a guy from the office mentioned this group that takes these kids out on horses, I was completely interested! Today was my first day to go, I just got back in fact! Most of the kids have cerebral palsy, and in this country children with any type of disability are coddled and never given the opportunity to do anything for themselves. So this group separates children from parents, puts the kids on horses, and ta
kes them around this big open property. When the horses walk, it forces the kids to loosen their muscles and be flexible, thus stretching them. The older kids sit on the horse by themselves, and the younger kids have riders with them sitting behind them to help them sit up. That's part of the challenge too... to get the kids to have good posture. So I walked along beside the horses to encourage the kids. There were lots of helpers today, so I didn't get to do as much, but we'll be going every week so I'm sure more opportunities will arise! So we start off down a trail, then the lady leading this whole thing stopped us... she has specific stretches she makes the kids do... then we walk a little further, and the helpers hold sticks and make the kids pull the leaves off and count... then we walk back to the starting point. The horses are specifically trained for this... they are therapy horses. I was fascinated by it all, and plan to return!
kes them around this big open property. When the horses walk, it forces the kids to loosen their muscles and be flexible, thus stretching them. The older kids sit on the horse by themselves, and the younger kids have riders with them sitting behind them to help them sit up. That's part of the challenge too... to get the kids to have good posture. So I walked along beside the horses to encourage the kids. There were lots of helpers today, so I didn't get to do as much, but we'll be going every week so I'm sure more opportunities will arise! So we start off down a trail, then the lady leading this whole thing stopped us... she has specific stretches she makes the kids do... then we walk a little further, and the helpers hold sticks and make the kids pull the leaves off and count... then we walk back to the starting point. The horses are specifically trained for this... they are therapy horses. I was fascinated by it all, and plan to return!
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