Animal Assisted Therapy

Comment

Comment by Rose Rynerson on July 29, 2009 at 7:14am

Here is a picture from our June handicapped riders' summer horseback riding camp. I will be suggesting that next year the campers are given more one-on-one time with their horses outside of the riding time. It was a great amount of fun when the campers painted their horses with waterpaints.

Comment by Lelia Canter, LMBT, EBW on July 5, 2009 at 7:35am

We have a 14yo. TB gelding named Merlin at Biltmore Equestrian Center in Asheville, NC. that we have retired from the lesson program. He has a great personality and loves social interaction and has been a lesson horse for the past 4 years. He has good ground skills but can no longer be ridden due to back pain/hock pain...only when ridden. We would love to place him in an Equine assisted therapy program where he would do a wonderful job with groundwork and social interaction. We would be able to transport him to a program that would willing to adopt him at no charge.
Please contact Elizabeth Bush or Melonye Trivett at 828-225-1454 or ebush@biltmore.com or mtrivett@biltmore.com if you would like more information or are interested in our "Merlin".

Comment by Rose Rynerson on June 28, 2009 at 8:28pm

The week of camp flew by!!! In years past, there were campers who laid down below their horse! That did not happen this year. The side walkers had their job cut out for them walking in the sand; they even endured a trail ride through several meadows. My job was to keep a group of six campers together (between the ages of 7 and 12) and moving through the scheduled activities each day. In addition to riding twice a day, campers cleaned their horses' stall once daily and participated in Gym where the exercises were designed for strenghening their backs and improving their balance. Art activities were held twice daily, too. After five days I had made some very good friends with the campers, in addition to their parents and grandparents -- some of whom were able to join in for the entire week.

The bond between human and horse is often made quickly. There is a nice blog by Wendy Kheiry at www.horseadventures.wordpress.com in which she describes how people with difficulty communicating can quickly befriend horses because of their shared need to communicate without words.

I hope to add a few pictures here soon. I am very glad to have participated in the camp and look forward to next summer's!

Comment by Megan Ayrault on June 17, 2009 at 9:35am

So now it's already "next week." I know you must be having some great days!

Comment by Rose Rynerson on June 12, 2009 at 2:52pm

I am looking forward to working with our local area physically and mentally disabled children all next week in a horseback riding camp environment provided by our local 4H organization at our county fair grounds. I have volunteered with this work in the past, and many of the horses will portray a special grace and patience during this rewarding time. I hope to share stories and pictures from the week with this group soon.....