A Tennessee non-profit organization providing rehabilitative riding opportunities for children with disabilities or special needs since 1997.
THERAPEUTIC RIDING ~ HIPPOTHERAPY ~ HORSEMANSHIP
Therapeutic Riding
The Therapeutic horse back riding program is an equine assisted weekly lesson open to children ages 4 to 18, led by a PATH International riding instructor. Lessons are 1 hour long, 1 day a week, for 8 weeks and can include up to four children. It is open to special needs children, including but not limited to, autism, down syndrome, cerebral palsy, attention deficit disorder, and more. Tack and lesson equipment are selected to meet the needs of the child for comfort, fit, and ease of use. Each child is assigned 1 trained horse leader for their horse and 1 or 2 trained sidewalkers as necessary to help with their lesson. Benefits include improvement of mobility, balance and coordination along with social and emotional growth. In addition to learning how to ride a horse, activities may include playing games, trail rides, and grooming.
Hippotherapy
The Hippotherapy program is led by a Certified Physical Therapist and is an equine assisted weekly lesson that is used to treat neurological, physical, cognitive, or communication deficits in which a child sits or lies on the back of a horse for the therapeutic effect of the horse's movement. The child engages in activities on the horse that are challenging but enjoyable to improve core strength, coordination, balance, and posture. These are weekly, one hour long sessions.
Unfortunately at this time, Horse Play is not offering this service. But we are hopeful for it to return in the future.
Horsemanship
The Horsemanship program is design for older childen with emotional challenges. It is a hands-on program where participants learn to work with and around horses to develop a human-horse bond. It is lead by a certified PATH International instructor with activities including horse grooming, tacking, leading, horse handling skills, along with education about horses. The child learns about the horse's behavior, body language, and non-verbal communication. This program is one on one with a mentor, child and horse. These are weekly, one hour long sessions.