Horses have long been used in therapy for the disabled. More and more research shows having the disabled work with horses can help them make great gains in communication, strength, balance and bring true joy! Those visiting our corner of the West on guest ranch vacations get to experience the same joy on our guest ranch horses. There is something fulfilling and exciting about bonding with a horse on winding mountain trails! Please read below on how these amazing creatures make a difference in many people’s lives every day with the help of spectacular volunteers:
Manitoba Riding for the Disabled volunteers Marv Ginter and Jette Fowler tend horse Holly.
Time with horses healthful
Personal growth for the disabled
Jette Fowler learned first-hand how difficult horseback riding can be.
After years of paying for lessons for her daughter, the Charleswood resident decided to see what it was all about, taking up the hobby nearly a decade ago. She quickly realized it wasn’t as easy as it looks.
She said riding a horse requires balance, strength and dedication — all reasons why it’s a perfect therapeutic activity for children living with a handicap.
Shortly after she started riding, she learned about Manitoba Riding for the Disabled, and after hearing about what the program did for disabled children, she knew she had to get involved.
A volunteer for the past nine years, Fowler serves as a side-walker, walking alongside the horses to ensure the children don’t fall off. She said she is always amazed to see the changes the 10-week program, which runs twice a year, makes in a child.
“I find it so satisfying to see the benefit these children have from the program,” said Fowler, a retired mechanical technologist, adding she lives with a slight handicap in one of her legs. “Unless you’re really here, you can’t really imagine what it’s like. The development in the child strength-wise and balance-wise is just so satisfying to see.”
She said many of the children are non-verbal, so progress is also made in learning how to communicate. Living with a wide range of disabilities, including cerebral palsy, developmental delays, vision impairment or autism, the kids find unique ways to communicate with the volunteers and the horses.
“Some of the times those children come in and trying to communicate is a challenge. By the end of the session we have a way — by sign language or just facial expressions, we have a way of communicating. These children, although they don’t really know what goes on around them, they know every week, they’re coming to ride the horse. It’s something for them to look forward to. To see the satisfaction in these children’s faces is just totally amazing.”
I am a 60 year old woman who used to ride. I rode from when I was 10 til about 35, when raisng children and going to school took precedence. A few years ago I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease as well as arthritis both osteo and rheumatoid in my hips and lower spine. As soon as we were able to get all my meds stablelized, one of my docs suggested I get back on a horse. Vanity and fear took over. What if I couldn’t ride anymore. What if it hurt, what if it casued injury. The doc said you already have PD, what’s it going to do? I waited a couple of years and then found Tarryall. Now I ride every week. Any sense of power that I lost due to illness and fear I have gained back twofold. I can not suggest a better form of therapy for those needed, And although there are many stables closer to where I live, Kevin makes me feel comfortable and not disabled. It has been a joy to be there and I hope I can continue during the summer, maybe even exercising those horses that don’t get enough.
Thank you everyone at Tarryall for all your help and confidence in me
Thank you for your kind words Shelley! It is our pleasure having you come to ride! You are great and an inspiration for us all!
Tesch Family of Tarryall
Way to go Shelley.
I was 59 when I took my first trip to Tarryall. I had horses as a kid and in my 20′s but had hardly ridden since then except for little nose to tail trail ridesin Florida.
I came to Colorado on my own,as a single woman, worried that I would feel uncomfortable and lonely and that I couldn’t “keep up” with the other riders.
Boy was I wrong. I feel like I gained a new family , hand I had the time of my life (I rode Pancho too). I had such a great time that I came back a year later with two friends and am planning another trip in 2013.
Keep riding and enjoying life. Thanks for sharing your story. You make us all realize how much we have to be grateful for.
Yippee Ki Yay and stay safe.
Shawnee