Interview with Carmen and Val, both are horse leads at the Innovated Therapeutic Riding Program located in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
What is the difference between Hippotherpy and Equestrian Therapy?
"Hippotherapy can only be done by licensed OT, PT and SLP. Whereas Equine-Assisted therapists simply go through a training and can become licensed on their own. Hippotherapy simply uses the horse as a tool throughout the therapy. The horse movement itself is the therapy. Whereas with Equine-Assisted therapy our end goal is to have the client ride the horse independently. We teach equestrian riding skills--these skills are therapeutic by themselves but we don't focus on using the horse as a tool."
How many horses do you have at this center?
"Currently we have 8. All 8 have very distinct personalities and we pair each client up with a specific horse depending on their needs. sometimes we will purposely pair a client up with our more difficult horses, Sassy and Annie, to help those specific clients work through communication and emotional issues."
How long do clients stay clients?
"How longest client is in his fourth year with us. Most of the time, once we gain a client they are with us a for an extended mount of time because the therapy is continually helping."
How much does a lesson cost here?
"Each lesson is $30. Sometimes we loose clients because it is pretty costly, but the horses have to be taken care of."
What is the parent's role during the therapy session?
"Once the child gets into the barn we take over. The parents are not allowed inside the arena while their child is in a session. This may sound harsh but we have good reasoning. Often times when we allow the parent into the arena the child is so focused on pleasing the parent they forget to focus on what they need to do. Do make sure the client is focused on the session we ask parents to stay on the perimeter of the barn. Parents are more than welcome to come volunteer for a different clients session if they are interested."
Who can volunteer?
"Almost anyone! We have to be careful with some of our clients though. Some clients need to be pared with same gender side walkers. This is because some of our abuse victims have emotional triggers. We have found that if boy riders are paired with at least one male side walker they tend to do better, especially if the boy was abused sexually. In other cases some girl clients get distracted by male side walkers, so we pair them with an all female group."
What training is required for volunteers?
"We have training sessions for all our volunteers. Of course we understand that not everyone can make it to these sessions and we are working with volunteers so we can't force anyone to attend. But we have found that those who do attend work better with the clients and the horses. All of our volunteers are given strict instructions not to say anything to the client and to only attend to the horses needs."
How do you get volunteers to stay motivated to come?
"Sometimes our volunteers come for therapeutic reasons as well. Just taking care of the horses is enough for some people to forget about their existing troubles. Also if we have down time where a client cancels an appointment for a day the volunteers are able to hop on a horse and ride for themselves. Our volunteers are really special to us. Without them our program wouldn't run.
What is the difference between Hippotherpy and Equestrian Therapy?
"Hippotherapy can only be done by licensed OT, PT and SLP. Whereas Equine-Assisted therapists simply go through a training and can become licensed on their own. Hippotherapy simply uses the horse as a tool throughout the therapy. The horse movement itself is the therapy. Whereas with Equine-Assisted therapy our end goal is to have the client ride the horse independently. We teach equestrian riding skills--these skills are therapeutic by themselves but we don't focus on using the horse as a tool."
How many horses do you have at this center?
"Currently we have 8. All 8 have very distinct personalities and we pair each client up with a specific horse depending on their needs. sometimes we will purposely pair a client up with our more difficult horses, Sassy and Annie, to help those specific clients work through communication and emotional issues."
How long do clients stay clients?
"How longest client is in his fourth year with us. Most of the time, once we gain a client they are with us a for an extended mount of time because the therapy is continually helping."
How much does a lesson cost here?
"Each lesson is $30. Sometimes we loose clients because it is pretty costly, but the horses have to be taken care of."
What is the parent's role during the therapy session?
"Once the child gets into the barn we take over. The parents are not allowed inside the arena while their child is in a session. This may sound harsh but we have good reasoning. Often times when we allow the parent into the arena the child is so focused on pleasing the parent they forget to focus on what they need to do. Do make sure the client is focused on the session we ask parents to stay on the perimeter of the barn. Parents are more than welcome to come volunteer for a different clients session if they are interested."
Who can volunteer?
"Almost anyone! We have to be careful with some of our clients though. Some clients need to be pared with same gender side walkers. This is because some of our abuse victims have emotional triggers. We have found that if boy riders are paired with at least one male side walker they tend to do better, especially if the boy was abused sexually. In other cases some girl clients get distracted by male side walkers, so we pair them with an all female group."
What training is required for volunteers?
"We have training sessions for all our volunteers. Of course we understand that not everyone can make it to these sessions and we are working with volunteers so we can't force anyone to attend. But we have found that those who do attend work better with the clients and the horses. All of our volunteers are given strict instructions not to say anything to the client and to only attend to the horses needs."
How do you get volunteers to stay motivated to come?
"Sometimes our volunteers come for therapeutic reasons as well. Just taking care of the horses is enough for some people to forget about their existing troubles. Also if we have down time where a client cancels an appointment for a day the volunteers are able to hop on a horse and ride for themselves. Our volunteers are really special to us. Without them our program wouldn't run.