Interview with Jenna, a licensed horse lead at Innovative Therapeutic Riding Program in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
Do the clients you work with all have the dame disability or do you see a range of disabilities?
"Oh boy, we see a huge range in disabilities. This therapy can be for anyone with an emotional, cognitive or orthopedic disability. "
Which disability do you work with most often?
"I would say it is about 50% Autism Spectrum Disorder and another 50% is social and emotional deficits."
What range of ages have you worked with?
"Ages 3-80 years old. Basically if they can be lifted or helped onto a horse and stay on there, we will take them."
What does the horse provide for your clients?
"One example that comes to mind is Cody. He has cerebral palsy and it is pretty severe. Every day he comes into the ranch all his muscles are stiff and tense. His parents have to lay the seats down in the car, and lift him into his wheelchair because he is so stiff. But, that all changes once he gets onto the horse. The movement on the horse relaxes all of his muscles and he can move. I would say he only has to do one lap with the horse before his muscles relax."
How does your program get the word out about this kind of therapy?
"We have a great program director, Tammy. She is always going to meetings in the community and giving presentations and really just talking to people about our program and the befits of it. We do flyers as well, but nothing is better than word of mouth."
How do you help clients that may have a fear of horses?
"Most of the time we will simply let the child meet the horse first. Horses are really good at picking up on human emotions and can tell if a client is scared. The horse plays into the social cues we show and can differentiate their behavior to a range of emotions. If the child is still afraid then we let them old onto a stuffed animal or a toy, these can be a little extra comfort to the child. In other cases we will throw the child up there even if they are screaming and after a lap or two they calm down. It bothers the horse, but I think the horses realize the clients are here for a reason."
What is your end goal for clients?
"To ride independently. to start we always have 1 horse lead and 2 side walkers. As the client becomes more and more proficient we slowly take away the immediate help of these people. We never leave the arena or move too far away from the horse, but our end goal is to have the rider ride the horse on their own."
How does certification of a program like this work?
"There are a couple of different companies that you can go through. We go through a program called PATH. All of our horses and instructors have to be certified and licensed through this company by completing a program."
Do the clients you work with all have the dame disability or do you see a range of disabilities?
"Oh boy, we see a huge range in disabilities. This therapy can be for anyone with an emotional, cognitive or orthopedic disability. "
Which disability do you work with most often?
"I would say it is about 50% Autism Spectrum Disorder and another 50% is social and emotional deficits."
What range of ages have you worked with?
"Ages 3-80 years old. Basically if they can be lifted or helped onto a horse and stay on there, we will take them."
What does the horse provide for your clients?
"One example that comes to mind is Cody. He has cerebral palsy and it is pretty severe. Every day he comes into the ranch all his muscles are stiff and tense. His parents have to lay the seats down in the car, and lift him into his wheelchair because he is so stiff. But, that all changes once he gets onto the horse. The movement on the horse relaxes all of his muscles and he can move. I would say he only has to do one lap with the horse before his muscles relax."
How does your program get the word out about this kind of therapy?
"We have a great program director, Tammy. She is always going to meetings in the community and giving presentations and really just talking to people about our program and the befits of it. We do flyers as well, but nothing is better than word of mouth."
How do you help clients that may have a fear of horses?
"Most of the time we will simply let the child meet the horse first. Horses are really good at picking up on human emotions and can tell if a client is scared. The horse plays into the social cues we show and can differentiate their behavior to a range of emotions. If the child is still afraid then we let them old onto a stuffed animal or a toy, these can be a little extra comfort to the child. In other cases we will throw the child up there even if they are screaming and after a lap or two they calm down. It bothers the horse, but I think the horses realize the clients are here for a reason."
What is your end goal for clients?
"To ride independently. to start we always have 1 horse lead and 2 side walkers. As the client becomes more and more proficient we slowly take away the immediate help of these people. We never leave the arena or move too far away from the horse, but our end goal is to have the rider ride the horse on their own."
How does certification of a program like this work?
"There are a couple of different companies that you can go through. We go through a program called PATH. All of our horses and instructors have to be certified and licensed through this company by completing a program."