Next Steps Trail Riders Research Paper

This paper will inform the parents, educators, and American society of the benefits of therapeutic horseback riding for people who have cognitive challenges or loss of limbs and other functions. Therapy can happen on the horse as well as off, depending on the condition of the rider. Not all therapy has to be done on a horse. It can be done on the ground as well, by padding the horse, brushing the horse, leading the horse. Knowing you can conquer being around and taking care of a big horse gives those with challenges a sense of satisfaction and self confidence. Therapeutic horseback riding is wonderful for young people as well as older people with disabilities. Even if they cannot sit up straight, therapy can make it so that any individual can

“The curious incident of the dog in the night time” written by Mark Haddon demonstrates that disabilities also come with advantages, as shown by Christopher Boone.

As of 2011, it has been reported that there are 650 million disabled people in the world (“Disabilities”). Though this number is high, it is greatly underestimated because disabled people are commonly isolated and stigmatized by their community (“Disabilities”). After hearing of this extremely high number of disabled people, I then ultimately decided I would write my research paper on ways to help the disabled. Therapeutic riding has been actively helping individuals with disabilities for decades, and can benefit these unfortunate people physically, mentally, and emotionally. “Therapeutic riding, which originated in Europe, has been actively helping individuals with disabilities since the 1950's” (Shepard). Through equine-orientated

They can help the individual build confidence, trust,and social skills. Horses may also deal with some relating issues so it makes it easier to build a connection with the horse and their handler. Horses only react to the handler's behavior and emotional status. Horses aren't there to judge your appearance or what happened to the you in the past they are just there to help in the present. Most people like this option because some people believe that they will be judged by a human therapist doctor and most of the patients know that the horses won't judge them on what they look like or been through. This helps people build self esteem and self confidence. Through the years children and adults who participate riding programs improve in physical and social function. Studies have shown that therapeutic riding has shown positive outcomes that change people's lives for the better. Some have been able to gain the function to walk and talk better then before or even for the first time. This is because of the socializing, movement, and the need for balance on a horse. Through movement with the horse and the interaction with the people that work there, children and adults also have improved in other things such as physical function, emotional stability and social interactions. Challenging activities help gain more balance and control, and posture as the horses shows the motivation towards the

Horses are trained by Heidi’s interns in basic dressage and jumping, very different from their past of galloping counter clockwise around a racetrack.

According to society, Equestrians are jockeys that race around a track. But to anyone who’s actually ridden or has a passion for horses, you know that there are two distinctive styles of riding - English and Western. There are both similarities and differences between the two types of riding. Regardless of the style of riding people participate in or favor, each world of riding opens up various activities for the rider to enjoy.

Walking into the sunlit barn hallway, the musky scent of hay and horse fur overwhelms my senses. I see a chestnut-colored horse stick his head over the wooden stall door to greet me. As I look around, I notice other volunteers getting horses saddled up and ready for the next lesson. Turning around I smile at a young student entering with her mom, ecstatic at the prospect of being able to ride a horse despite being in a wheelchair. Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy, located in Gretna, makes dreams possible. People of all ages have the opportunity to learn how to ride a horse despite their physical or mental disabilities. After volunteering at HETRA for five years, the organization has made significant impacts on my personality, interests, and maturity.

“It's an important thing in our community. We support it and I'm glad the community supports it,” said Commissioner Rob Ault of the Training Center and services provided by the DD Board. “It's very important to the community. It affects a lot of families. We appreciate everything you do. There's not one of us who doesn't have some sort of disability in our family.”

More than 20 years ago, an ordinary middle-aged man working in the insurance industry, getting ready to retire from his job, was shopping at his local grocery store. In the grocery store parking lot, an unlikely encounter with a girl named Stacy changed his life. Stacy had cerebral palsy, making her unable to talk or hear. That's when Swimmer got the idea, "what might happen if I put her on a horse?" Stacey soon later visited Swimmer at his farm in outside Charlotte, North Carolina, where Stacy was able to ride a pony for the first time. "She lit up like a candle," said Swimmer, and that's when I knew what I wanted to do. Today Swimmer has helped over 800 kids with disabilities through his equine-assisted therapy program from his organization

Lifting the rider’s legs away from the horse’s sides while still keeping them parallel to the horse will help the rider open their hip and relax their seat. Essentially this simple exercise allows the rider to re mold their seat and leg to the shape off the horse’s body allowing for better contact between the rider’s leg and the horse’s barrel and to have a more following seat. This allows for better communication between horse and rider and will help the rider follow the horse’s motion and in turn create a more adjustable

Shoestring City Ranch has a mission that states, “Shoestring City Ranch provides free & low cost rural experiences to city kids while teaching teamwork, respect, and leadership skills in an ecologically friendly green-space working with rescued animals.” The ranch is a place that was made to not only help people, but to also help animals side by side to those who are also in need. While volunteering at the ranch I realized that how they saw the problem was different from other people who interact with the disabled on a daily basis. They did not see these kids disabilities as giant disadvantages, but rather as obstacles that can be overcome by simple practices, tools, and resources that cannot be found anywhere else.

Julie Goodnight was raised on a horse farm in Orlando, Florida, where she was raised riding horses. In her youth, she started taking riding lessons in English riding and started to pursue hunter jumping. She started competing in hunter jumping shows. She began training at competitive facilities to get the training need to start riding in more elite hunter jumping competitions. During her college years in New Mexico, Goodnight got a job exercising Thoroughbreds on a nearby racetrack. After college, she got a job in Colorado, where she was a trail guide in the Rocky Mountains. While in Colorado, she worked at an Arabian training farm, then started to form her own training facility and camp. Through these experiences, she gained experience in many different disciplines such as: cutting, jumping, racing, colt-starting, dressage, reining, and wilderness riding (juliegoodnight.com). Goodnight has commented many times that she believes this is what gives her an advantage in the training industry (YouTube).

think that it is very important aspect of horses that is important to emphasis when studying the

Learning to master the horse increases the rider's self-esteem and confidence. Interacting with and controlling the horse enhances focus, decision-making skills, and effective verbal and nonverbal communication ("Why the Horse?"). Riders may become very satisfied and self-confident after successfully completing a task set by the instructor of the hippotherapy session. This feeling of confidence improves the rider's overall mood and makes them enjoy horseback riding even more.

Cody had been placed in severely handicapped classrooms that consisted of children with severe cognitive and physical disabilities. Cody was provided with a one to one aide through BCRC.