Service Learning Project Heather Houston

Equine assisted therapy is the act of using horses in order to elicit a therapeutic response from people with many types of illnesses. WHAT IS EQUINE THERAPY?

Hippocrates was one of the first people to realize the therapeutic benefits of horses. Starting in 460 BC, Hippocrates began sharing the advantages of riding horses with other people. Horse riding for therapy became known to America in the year of 1875 and has continued to grow since then. HISTORY OF EQUINE THERAPY

North American Riding for the Handicapped Association. Founded in Provides accreditation to facilities and certification to instructors. In 2008, there were 782 accredited therapeutic riding centers in North America and 3,610 certified riding and driving instructors. NARHA

cerebral palsy muscular dystrophy spinal and brain injury stroke and amputation. improve vertical and horizontal balance muscle tone and motor coordination self-esteem self-confidence build a feeling of general well- being Trust Communication PhysicalPsychological EQUINE THERAPY BENEFITS

G.R.E.A.T. stands for Great Results Equine Assisted Therapy. They work with all types of children with disabilities and many different schools. One of the most popular organization they work with is Shriners Children's Hospital. The G.R.E.A.T. facility can be found at the address below: 7141 Greenwood-Springridge Road Greenwood, LA FACILITY INFORMATION

The G.R.E.A.T. facility was founded in Their purpose is to promote a healthy and productive life for people with physical, cognitive and multiple disabilities through therapeutic horseback riding, and to provide an opportunity for recreation and leisure for people with disabilities. They are a non-profit organization. They receive funding through individual contributions, civic organizations, annual fundraisers, foundations and corporations that support GREAT. ABOUT THE FACILITY

Day one was an observation day. I was showed how they care for the horses. They told me the proper amount of food to give the horses I was also showed to properly groom them. I watched a class so I would know what I was going to be doing. I was introduced to the horse (Tigger) and the child (Olivia) that I would be working with. WHAT I DID DAY #1

I gave food and water to the horses. I also started to groom Tigger for the first time under instructor supervision. I was showed how to side walk during class time. 1.I was very nervous at first. 2.Olivia wasn’t very excited about riding or interacting with people. 3.She kept taking her hands off the saddle and not paying attention to the instructor Feelings WHAT I DID DAY #2

DAY 2 PICTURES

 I watched them saddle up the horses so I could start learning how to do that on my own as well. 1.Today was also the day Olivia made a lot of progress. 2. She started interacting with me. She gave me high fives an even started hugging me. WHAT I DID DAY #3

o I learned how to lead the horse thru the arena while class was in session. At first I was very nervous because I didn’t want anything bad to happen and I wanted to make sure I was doing my tasks to the best of my ability. Olivia became more familiar with the games we were learning and seemed to be more excited about being able to ride. WHAT I DID DAY #4

Gave the horses feed and water. Groomed them before the lessons. Learned how to prepare them for the kids to ride. Side walked during lessons. Lead the horses during lessons. WHAT I DID DAY

Before my first day of my service project I felt many things. I was not very excited about having extra work to do. I was also very scared and nervous because I had never been around people with disabilities that often, especially kids. After my first day of volunteering my feelings were completely changed. I was excited about going every Monday morning and helping out with the kids. I learned a lot about dealing with disabled children and caring for horses. After a couple of weeks my fiancé started going with me and taking an interest in the facility also. BeforeAfter HOW I FELT

I feel that my expectations were met completely and I gained a lot of knowledge by doing this service project. At first I didn’t really know what to expect from my service project. I just wanted to do something that I would enjoy and be able to have fun doing. At the end of my service hours I felt I had gained a significant amount of knowledge in a little amount of time. I realized I had way more fun than expected, and that I wanted to continue volunteering at this facility whenever possible. I gained a lot of knowledge by researching equine therapy benefits and by doing this service project. EXPECTATIONS

For my research aspect of the project I asked the staff opinions on the program. They all had stories to tell about a particular student that the program changed. The progress depends on the student and how much time they are able to spend at the facility. Overall they seen positive change in all the children. Some of the staff had seen progress in as little as one visit to the program. MY RESEARCH ASPECT

REFERENCES therapy_.html