When I first heard of hippotherapy, I was skeptical
of the benefits, but I decided to enroll my three-year-old son, Austin,
and check it out. I figured
he would at the very least gain self-confidence by learning the skills
involved in riding a horse. I
quickly saw that there were many benefits.
Austin was able to modulate his arousal level better on the days he
rode (he was less hyper and fell apart less).
Over time, he has learned to integrate speech and movement.
None of Austin’s accomplishments could have been
achieved without Meredith’s expertise and patience.
She guided Austin supportively and patiently through his fears of
getting on the horse. She is
always challenging him to learn more in a way that enables him to be
successful as well as progress forward.
Hippotherapy has enabled Austin to do work on speech
skills which were much more difficult without the input from the movement
of the horse. With Dude’s
(Starlight Farm’s horse) help Austin has made many therapeutic gains. In addition, he has learned that if he works hard he can
achieve anything.
Prior to working with Dude, Austin was terrified of
horses. Now, he loves horses
and describes Dude as “nice and bumpy.” Austin looks forward to his
weekly session with Meredith and Dude, and that means a lot!
-- Kimberly
Marsden,
Kinnelon, NJ
