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

Chapter 4: Instructors and Therapists

25 Chapter Four Instructors and Therapists— The people who make it work Imagine฀how฀scary฀it฀might฀be฀for฀a฀young฀rider,฀way฀up฀there฀on฀ that฀huge฀horse,฀higher฀off฀the฀ground฀than฀he’s฀ever฀sat฀before,฀feeling฀ motion฀he฀has฀never฀known฀before.฀Then฀think฀how฀the฀parents฀feel.฀ It฀must฀be฀traumatic฀for฀them฀to฀see฀their฀precious฀young฀guy฀or฀gal,฀ of฀whom฀they฀are฀so฀protective,฀helped฀onto฀this฀great฀animal฀and฀led฀ away,฀perhaps฀out฀of฀their฀sight. From฀what฀I฀have฀observed,฀these฀riders฀are฀in฀the฀best฀of฀care. I฀ have฀ personally฀ worked฀ with฀ more฀ than฀ a฀ dozen฀ instructors฀ or฀ therapists฀and฀they฀are฀without฀a฀doubt฀the฀most฀capable,฀caring,฀giving,฀ dedicated฀group฀of฀people฀I’ve฀ever฀known.฀ Watching฀instructors฀from฀various฀NARHA฀centers฀readying฀their฀ charges฀to฀compete฀at฀Special฀Olympics฀one฀day,฀these฀words฀came฀to฀ mind—they฀are฀a฀breed฀apart.฀While฀so฀many฀of฀us฀are฀busy฀“going฀for฀ the฀gold”฀for฀ourselves,฀these฀people฀are฀helping฀others฀“go฀for฀it.”฀They฀ are฀very฀protective฀of฀their฀riders,฀who฀respond฀to฀them฀with฀obvious฀ affection.฀They฀may฀not฀get฀rich฀in฀this฀field.฀Their฀reward฀is฀the฀satisfaction ฀of฀watching฀a฀child฀take฀a฀step,฀or฀speak฀for฀the฀first฀time;฀an฀adult฀ walk฀without฀crutches;฀a฀grateful฀parent฀telling฀of฀new฀things฀a฀rider฀is฀ accomplishing฀at฀home;฀the฀delight฀on฀a฀competitor’s฀face. In฀addition฀to฀supervising฀sessions,฀instructors฀and฀therapists฀work฀ at฀figuring฀out฀ways฀to฀modify฀the฀procedure฀to฀increase฀a฀client’s฀bene fits,฀perhaps฀by฀changing฀horses฀or฀tack,฀altering฀the฀rider’s฀position,฀ horse2.indd฀฀฀25 3/11/05฀฀฀2:08:24฀PM THERAPEUTIC RIDING AND ACTIVITIES 26 the฀horse’s฀pattern฀of฀movement,฀etc.฀They฀also฀work฀at฀thinking฀up฀ unique฀games฀and฀activities฀to฀make฀sessions฀more฀fun,฀often฀buying฀ equipment฀and฀supplies฀at฀their฀own฀expense. INSTRUCTOR TRAINING Many฀ instructors฀ in฀ North฀ Texas฀ receive฀ their฀ training฀ at฀ Equest,฀ a฀ NARHA฀ premier฀ accredited฀ center฀ and฀ accredited฀ teaching฀ facility฀ northeast฀of฀Dallas.฀The฀first฀to฀offer฀therapeutic฀horseback฀riding฀in฀ Texas,฀Equest฀was฀founded฀in฀1981฀with฀five฀clients,฀two฀horses,฀and฀ one฀instructor. The฀program฀enjoyed฀rapid฀success,฀and฀today฀Equest฀is฀one฀of฀the฀ leaders฀in฀the฀country,฀providing฀over฀5,000฀hours฀of฀equine฀assisted฀ activities฀annually.฀More฀than฀200฀clients฀with฀physical,฀mental,฀emotional ,฀and฀learning฀disabilities฀are฀served฀by฀five฀certified฀instructors,฀ two฀therapists,฀thirty-two฀therapy฀horses,฀and฀450฀volunteers฀who฀donate ฀over฀20,000฀hours. “To฀reach฀the฀ever฀growing฀number฀of฀people฀who฀could฀benefit฀ from฀therapeutic฀riding,฀the฀pool฀of฀educated,฀professional฀instructors฀ had฀to฀expand,”฀said฀Lili฀Kellogg,฀Equest฀Program฀Director.฀“With฀that฀ goal฀in฀mind,฀in฀1993฀we฀began฀offering฀a฀five-week฀long฀course฀of฀intensive ฀training.฀More฀than฀138฀students฀have฀become฀certified฀instructors ,฀and฀we฀have฀alumni฀from฀nine฀countries.”1 The฀Equest฀instructor฀course฀is฀designed฀for฀experienced฀horse฀people ฀who฀must฀pass฀proficiency฀exams฀in฀management฀and฀riding฀skills฀ to฀be฀accepted฀into฀the฀program.฀Many฀candidates฀have฀college฀degrees฀ in฀animal฀science฀and฀related฀fields.฀ The฀curriculum฀for฀the฀course฀includes:฀ human฀anatomy฀and฀kinesiology฀ human฀psychology฀ teaching฀methodology฀ mounting฀techniques฀ disabilities฀ equipment฀selection฀and฀adaptations฀ volunteer฀management฀ selection฀and฀management฀of฀the฀therapy฀horse฀ horse2.indd฀฀฀26 3/11/05฀฀฀2:08:24฀PM INSTRUCTORS AND THERAPISTS 27 lunging hippotherapy฀ practice฀teaching therapeutic฀carriage฀driving augmentative฀communication vaulting Candidates฀who฀successfully฀complete฀all฀training฀course฀requirements ,฀and฀pass฀the฀NARHA฀exam,฀receive฀an฀Equest฀Instructor’s฀Certi ficate฀and฀are฀granted฀NARHA฀Registered฀Instructor฀status.฀Those฀at฀ the฀skill฀level฀and฀meet฀the฀prerequisites฀can฀also฀take฀the฀Advanced฀ NARHA฀Instructor฀exam.2 A฀third฀level,฀that฀of฀Master฀Instructor,฀is฀available฀to฀those฀meeting฀ certain฀criteria.3฀ Other฀instructor฀training฀courses฀are฀offered฀across฀the฀ country. THE THERAPIST The฀physical฀and฀occupational฀therapists,฀speech฀pathologists,฀or฀ assistants,฀who฀are฀in฀charge฀of฀hippotherapy,฀strictly฀conduct฀therapy,฀ and฀ do฀ not฀ teach฀ riding฀ skills.฀ However,฀ they฀ still฀ should฀ be฀ experienced ฀in฀horsemanship.฀Like฀instructors,฀they฀ride฀the฀horses,฀and฀ evaluate฀new฀clients฀to฀make฀informed฀decisions฀as฀to฀matching฀rider฀ with฀mount. Therapists฀ must฀ receive฀ training฀ in฀ the฀ Classic฀ Principles฀ of฀ Hippotherapy ,฀equine฀movement,฀and฀equine฀psychology.฀Training฀workshops ฀ are฀ offered฀ at฀ a฀ variety฀ of฀ locations฀ and฀ times฀ throughout฀ the฀ year.4฀ Among...