It’s Not Just A Riding Lesson

It’s Not Just A Riding Lesson from Sandra Foyt on Vimeo.

I was trying to explain to my husband why I thought riding lessons were a good idea for our son.  But, I couldn’t express something that I just felt intuitively.

I tried to tell him that equine therapy has a long history of empowering and enabling students, even those with significant disabilities:

…the environment of the horse can provide more than just riding skills. The programs which offer the equine environment to people with disabilities can teach companionship, responsibility, leadership, vocational, educational skills as well as offer competition venues in the different horse disciplines. Riding a horse provides a unique and often profound recreational or leisure activity for many people. There are many sports which people who have disabilities can participate in for enhancing their lives which offer social and physical fitness as addressed in the Special Olympic programs for people with a cognitive disability. There are hundreds of programs around the world as well as many organizations dedicated to the various forms of horse riding or horse care which address many other disabilities and may not have a cognitive disability.

The student who interacts with their horse may extend this to others and to form meaningful relationships with people. Building a relationship with an animal is very rewarding in many aspects; for a person with an emotional, social or psychological disability, the trust and loyalty of an animal demonstrates to the student how important they are and then they may extend these attributes to personal relationships. Horses also help people feel in control of their situation because there is a direct correlation between action and reaction. To learn how to care for and ride a horse, a student must also be able to communicate efficiently with the horse and the instructor. In this way, riding is a very social activity, but is less daunting to people who are uncomfortable in social situations. However, the experience of riding a horse is very different. Riding helps to empower people and enables them to connect on a personal level. The sometimes unpredictable nature of animals and situations also creates a real-life environment in which students will be able to confront fears and make adjustments to situations beyond their control.

I also told him that we’d found an amazing instructor who really understands how to work with a young boy, and who clearly knows how to break down the mechanics of riding.  She is able to keep Alex motivated and working hard.  Both are no mean feats!

In the end, I decided that, instead of explaining, I’d just show him a riding lesson.  He can see for himself why Alex is learning so much more that just how to ride a horse.

Local Connection:

• Ride With Lisa

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