What is Therapeutic Riding
Therapeutic riding is a method of animal assisted treatment, which integrates educational, psychological and rehabilitative elements. It entails contact and touch and riding horses.
The target audience for therapeutic riding includes children, teenagers and adults with various disorders as well as people with special needs.
The idea behind animal assisted therapy, and particularly therapy with horses, is that dealing with and coping with animals allows for a wide range of sensory, emotional, motional, cognitive, social and other experiences, in a supportive and safe environment.
Therapeutic riding lessons are carried out with the close supervision of an instructor trained in therapy. The instructor supervises the patient’s personal program to ensure establishing a connection with the horse, how to get onto it and how to ride, how to take care of it and how to get it do perform certain exercises. During riding, a connection between the patient, the horse and the therapist is formed, which provides the patient with motor-sensory experiences, communication and emotional experiences, The patient is able to experience success, fear and failure and to process these positively in the supportive environment, thus developing self awareness and advancing their personal growth.
The riding itself and the exercises performed on horseback, improve muscle control and posture along with balance and coordination.
The horse riding gives immense pleasure, an additional advantage to this therapy, in a different atmosphere – free in nature at the ranch.
Treatment programs
The following are examples of several treatment programs and therapeutic riding and Dog Training programs tailored to all individuals and groups according to the needs of our patients
Family Treatment
Disabled Veterans
The motion and the rhythm of horse riding, combined with the positive interaction with the animal, are highly beneficial for the veterans’ physical and emotional well being.
Youth at Risk
Riding and learning about horses, offers these young people a possibility to experience success and enhance their faith in themselves.
Post Trauma
Parkinson’s
Adults with head injuries and neurological problems
The rhythm of the horse and the work done with it contributes to improvement of comprehension, memory and motor abilities in these groups.
Children with various disorders
Riding and the activity around the horses, enables children to take participate actively in a social setting and also improves their physical abilities, their communication skills and the mental state.
Vardi on Horseback
Combining therapeutic riding and the Vardi method – for the first time in Israel, the Neurophysiologic method integrates functional faculties on cognitive, motor, and emotional levels during therapeutic riding. See the page on Vardi on Horseback.