Special Needs, Special Horses: A Guide to the Benefits of Therapeutic Riding

Chapter 7: Procedures for Riding Sessions

47 Chapter Seven Procedures for Riding Sessions INITIATING A RIDING PROGRAM The฀best฀approach฀to฀initiating฀a฀riding฀program฀is฀to฀contact฀NARHA ฀to฀locate฀the฀nearest฀center.฀Call฀the฀center฀and฀have฀a฀preliminary฀ discussion฀with฀an฀instructor฀or฀therapist฀about฀the฀candidate’s฀history .1 NARHA’s฀“Precautions฀&฀Contraindications”฀delineate฀physical฀conditions ฀which฀could฀possibly฀lead฀to฀adverse฀effects฀from฀riding.฀Guidelines ฀ set฀ down฀ specific฀ safeguards฀ to฀ be฀ followed,฀ or฀ stipulate฀ if฀ the฀ candidate฀should฀not฀ride.2 ฀ Upon฀determination฀that฀guidelines฀are฀met,฀the฀new฀client฀or฀family ฀member฀is฀advised฀to฀request฀a฀doctor’s฀release฀to฀ride,฀and,฀if฀hippotherapy ฀is฀indicated,฀a฀prescription฀for฀physical,฀occupational,฀or฀speech฀ therapy.3 ฀There฀is฀possible฀insurance฀coverage,฀for฀which฀the฀individual฀ company฀should฀be฀queried.฀Various฀grants,฀government฀and฀private,฀ are฀ offered.฀ Information฀ about฀ availability,฀ and฀ qualification฀ requirements ,฀can฀be฀obtained฀from฀the฀center฀or฀NARHA. The฀next฀step฀is฀to฀visit฀the฀center.฀The฀instructor฀or฀therapist฀gathers ฀information฀about฀the฀client’s฀capabilities฀and฀limitations,฀utilizing฀ questions฀and฀an฀examination฀based฀on฀knowledge฀of฀human฀anatomy,฀ and฀determines฀which฀match฀of฀horse฀and฀equipment฀will฀provide฀the฀ most฀benefit.฀ The฀ prospective฀ client฀ usually฀ is฀ given฀ an฀ evaluation฀ ride฀ at฀ this฀ time.฀ horse2.indd฀฀฀47 3/11/05฀฀฀2:08:42฀PM THERAPEUTIC RIDING AND ACTIVITIES 48 Carefully฀watching฀the฀rider’s฀motion฀and฀balance฀interact฀with฀the฀ movement฀of฀the฀horse,฀the฀instructor/therapist฀confirms฀the฀initial฀decision ฀or฀fine-tunes฀it฀by฀choosing฀a฀different฀mount฀or฀tack. In฀subsequent฀sessions,฀progress฀is฀noted฀and฀the฀program฀is฀tailored ฀to฀afford฀greater฀benefit,฀such฀as฀changing฀to฀an฀animal฀with฀more฀ vigorous฀motion.4 Here฀are฀some฀examples฀of฀the฀procedures฀I฀have฀seen฀during฀classes .฀There฀are฀variations฀according฀to฀the฀client’s฀need,฀and฀whether฀the฀ session฀is฀recreational฀or฀hippotherapy.฀ Mounting:฀The฀rider฀is฀in฀place฀on฀the฀mounting฀platform฀before฀the฀ horse฀is฀led฀into฀the฀area.฀This฀is฀a฀safeguard฀against฀the฀animal฀spooking ฀at฀movement฀or฀sound฀on฀the฀platform.฀The฀leader฀walks฀backward฀ to฀closely฀observe฀the฀horse’s฀actions฀and฀keep฀him฀under฀firm฀control. Child฀ who฀ does฀ not฀ walk:฀ Usually฀ carried฀ up฀ ramp฀ to฀ mounting฀ platform฀and฀placed฀on฀horse. Someone฀able฀to฀walk฀with฀help:฀Giving฀rider฀appropriate฀support,฀ instructor/therapist฀guides฀him฀up฀ramp;฀asks฀rider฀to฀grip฀saddle฀or฀pad฀ and฀mount฀horse,฀encouraging฀him฀to฀do฀as฀much฀as฀he฀can฀by฀himself.฀ Instructor/therapist฀gives฀what฀help฀is฀needed,฀perhaps฀lifting฀rider’s฀ right฀leg฀over฀horse’s฀rump,฀instructing฀offside฀assistant฀to฀ease฀it฀down฀ along฀other฀side. Older฀ child฀ or฀ adult฀ who฀ cannot฀ stand฀ on฀ his฀ own:฀ Wheeled฀ up฀ ramp,฀lifted฀to฀his฀feet฀by฀instructor/therapist฀(who฀is฀trained฀in฀transferring ฀a฀person฀from฀wheelchair฀to฀horse.)฀Rider฀is฀turned฀and฀guided฀ backward฀a฀step฀or฀two฀to฀edge฀of฀platform,฀next฀to฀horse.฀He฀is฀lowered฀ to฀sitting฀position฀on฀horse,฀and฀offside฀helper฀places฀both฀hands฀on฀ rider’s฀hips฀and฀slides฀him฀farther฀onto฀horse’s฀back.฀While฀supporting ฀rider’s฀upper฀body,฀instructor/therapist฀lifts฀right฀leg฀and,฀aided฀by฀ helper,฀gently฀eases฀it฀over฀front฀of฀pad฀or฀saddle. Independent฀riders:฀Generally฀use฀saddle,฀and฀mount฀from฀two-step฀ block,฀or฀from฀ground฀when฀tall฀enough.฀An฀assistant฀stands฀offside,฀ forming฀a฀“corridor”฀as฀the฀leader฀guides฀horse฀up฀close฀to฀block.฀Instructor ฀stands฀beside฀or฀behind฀rider,฀aiding฀only฀when฀necessary฀while฀ encouraging฀client฀to฀do฀as฀much฀as฀he฀can.฀Offside฀assistant฀helps฀right฀ leg฀over฀horse’s฀rump,฀if฀needed. horse2.indd฀฀฀48 3/11/05฀฀฀2:08:42฀PM PROCEDURES FOR RIDING SESSIONS 49 ADAPTIVE EQUIPMENT There฀are฀many฀types฀of฀adaptive฀equipment.฀Some฀who฀could฀bene fit฀from฀equine฀assisted฀activities฀might฀feel฀that฀their฀particular฀disability ฀would฀preclude฀riding.฀Instructors฀and฀therapists฀are฀very฀innovative฀ in฀developing฀aids฀to฀fit฀the฀requirements฀of฀the฀individual.฀ For฀those฀with฀limited฀or฀no฀use฀of฀their฀legs,฀their฀feet฀are฀secured฀ inside฀the฀stirrups฀with฀wide฀rubber฀bands.5฀ An฀amputee฀can฀sit฀balanced ฀in฀the฀saddle,฀with฀weights฀added฀on฀one฀side.฀To฀make฀reins฀ easier฀to฀hold,฀they฀might฀be฀attached฀to฀a฀single฀small฀oblong฀block,฀ or฀to฀bicycle฀handlebars.฀A฀lightweight฀plastic฀form฀is฀sometimes฀placed฀ across฀the฀horse’s฀withers฀for฀someone฀to฀lean฀against...