Service Learning By Amy haines

Tall in the saddle What is it? Who does it serve? Tall in the saddle is in Midland Michigan. It began in the Spring of 1976 through local friends and family for the county. Equipment was purchased through donations and is currently entirely supported through donations. The program is ran by volunteers accommodating 20 students maintaining a waiting list from which substitute riders are called in for. An application process is needed in order to become a student and a state licensed occupational or physical therapist reviews the application along side of the instructor. Students age ranges from 8 years old to 25 years old with disabilities such as mental impairments, emotional and learning impairments, hearing and visual impairment and physical impairment. Once the student is accepted into the program, they can remain as long as they continue to make progress and benefit from the program. The classes are held in the spring and fall for 8 weeks. The class focuses on the ability of the students rather than the disabilities of the students.

Tall in the saddle What does a volunteer do? The volunteers have several different jobs. There are horse leaders that do just that. Lead the horse. The volunteer is educated that the person on the horse steers the horse, the horse leader is there for safety only, not to steer the horse. There is a side walker that’s job is to walk along side of the rider and usually holds their hand on the rider ensuring that they have a safe experience. There may not be a reason to always have a side walker and that decision is made entirely on the instructor. There is a lesson assistant that assists with the learning of the session. One instructor for 20 riders is a lot to deal with and can only be done with assistants. Many students have individual issues and need one on one instruction. The greeter stands at the entrance to the barn, gets the student signed in, ensures proper equipment and gets the student a helmet. Safety is important for this program and the student can only ride if there is the proper equipment.

Tall in the saddle What did I learn? During my time as a volunteer for this program during my service learning experience, I learned a great deal about how much therapy riding a horse does for someone with any sort of issue. Sometimes the student would not get on the horse, or they just wanted to hug the horse. This is encouraged but obviously they needed to get on in order to learn to ride it. I learned that many disabilities give other abilities more focus. Because someone has a scoliosis, that doesn’t stop them from learning to ride, they just learn to over come the obstacle. They strengthen their back and they learn to balance. There are special saddles that they use on the horses for those that need it but usually they are a regular western saddle.

Tall in the saddle Recommendation I highly recommend this service to volunteer for, either for service learning or just to volunteer. It fills your heart and makes you cherish each day. They make you feel special and helping someone is the greatest gift of the experience.

reference Tall in the Saddle. About our program. Retrieved on July 15, 2015 from http://www.tallinthesaddle.info/index1.html