Equine Assisted Therapy Photos

[beloitpiper]

Those horses are beautiful! I've seen the Lipizzanners both in Vienna and at a ranch in Illinois that has them. They're spectacular.

[Rogerson785]

I found riding always put my mind at ease and everything bad that happened during the day would magically disappear, wish I still had access to my two horses. Mahto looks like a great horse to ride bareback as does Romeo but the brown Bay in the round pen looks too choppy for me.

[funlvnman]

Yes, Phil, horses have the same kinds of effects on people as dogs have.

My wife works with equine-assisted psychotherapy, which uses horses to help kids and teens who have mental, behavioral, emotional and social problems, and/or who have been abused in various ways, break through some of those problems and become better adapted at dealing with themselves and others. Often a kid (or adult, for that matter) cannot or will not talk to a therapist, but they "come alive" when dealing with a horse, and sometimes will even tell the horse what's bothering them. They find that working with a horse is comforting, and the horse will "listen" to whatever they tell it.
There is a residential treatment center for mentally- and physically-handicapped people near where we live, and it has a horse therapy program, as well. Some of their residents who can't walk find that they can ride a horse, and a couple of the residents, for the first time in their lives, have been able to walk after several sessions of horseback riding. It stimulates the muscles in the legs somehow. It's pretty interesting work, and amazing to see the big smiles on their faces as they gain confidence from rding and grooming the horses.

There is a facility in Tucson called T.R.O.T. Therapeutic Riding Of Tuscon. I have volunteered there a couple of times to do some grunt work. The results of using the horses with the patients/clients is just amazing. I was told that for every hour of EAT you would need 10 hours of regular therapy.

http://www.trotarizona.org/

[funlvnman]

I found riding always put my mind at ease and everything bad that happened during the day would magically disappear, wish I still had access to my two horses. Mahto looks like a great horse to ride bareback as does Romeo but the brown Bay in the round pen looks too choppy for me.

I don't ride so I can't offer any first hand accounts but Allan told me that riding Romeo and Mahto, western saddle, is a very pleasurable experience. The Bay is still young and feisty. It's not Allan's horse. Someone loaned it for the day so there would be enough horses to go around.

[7 miles]

Thanks for those pictures.

[dfmacliam]

I read Monty Roberts book, he is a real interesting person and I learned his techniques works on people too. I had the pleasure of meeting him once in Dallas.

It's good what you are doing and getting the pics are fantastic, thank you.