A police officer in Norman, Oklahoma, got a very strange
call on Tuesday about a suspicious individual wandering around a local
neighborhood — but not just any individual ... a donkey. The seemingly lost
donkey, nicknamed Squishy, was found along a busy road, and the concerned
police officer didn't want him to get hit by oncoming traffic. So, he gave him a ride....
It's not everyday that you see a donkey in the backseat of a police car!
For
thousands of years the bond between man and animal has proven to be effective
in creating an emotional, healing bond. Horses are used by physical, speech,
and occupational therapists to reach their patients on a personal level through
what is referred to as “hippotherapy”. Children with autism also benefit from equine therapy due to the
motor, emotional, and sensory sensations that come with riding a horse (Autism Spectrum Disorder Foundation).
Creating the
Emotional Bond
Autistic
children have difficulty bonding emotionally to others. As the parent of an
autistic child, you know that it is hard for your child to make eye contact,
communicate what he is feeling, and express himself to those he cares about.
Rather than verbal communication, autistic children experience physical
communication with the horses. They brush them, hug them, and pat them. By
learning to care for the horse, they associate the care they provide with
feelings and an emotional bridge is constructed. This bond can lead to social
and communication skill production with other people in his life as well.
Cognitive and Language Skills Development Autistic
children often have difficulty comprehending normal directions. By engaging in
equine therapy, a child follows directions through a fun activity that makes
taking direction easier to grasp and remember. They will also give the horse
direction, which provides them with more opportunities to communicate. The child is naturally motivated to move; thus, s/he's excited and motivated to
communicate. During therapy cognitive concepts will naturally improve.
For example, equine therapists have children throw colored balls into baskets
while riding, touch their eyes, mouth, and ears during a song, and identify
scenes - all incorporated during riding.
Sensory Benefits Balance
and spatial orientation are experienced through the vestibular sense organs.
These are located inside the inner ear and are stimulated through direction
change, incline, and speed. Riding a horse helps liven these sensory
preceptors, which helps make therapy exciting and motivates the child to
continue to be engaged.
Getting Access to Equine Therapy Equine therapyis highly beneficial
to children with autism. It helps them develop natural, core skills they need
to function in society. But it is expensive. Contact your local RDA centre.
Shumbashaba is not your usual horse programme. It's a nonprofit community organisation that focusses on how horses can positively impact people and help to change lives for the better.
They run projects and programs in which horses are helping people to reach their full potential as spiritual, physical and emotional beings.
Shumbashaba’s Horses Helping People programs reach out and touch the lives of a great many people, the majority of whom come from Diepsloot, a neighbouring township on the northern outskirts of Johannesburg, home to some 250,000 people, where unemployment, poverty and crime are rampant.
People with and without disabilities are welcome to use the services of Shumbashaba. The income earned from private fee-paying clients is an important source of income which contributes towards running our outreach programmes for participants who cannot afford it. The outstanding funds are raised through fundraising events and donations.
In recognising the long and key role horses have played in our history and by harnessing the power horses have to impact meaningfully on humanity Shumbashaba has developed therapeutic programs that involve both riding and non-riding.
The therapeutic riding program offers hippotherapy for people with disabilities with the opportunity for them to progress to riding as a sport & recreation.
The non-riding program offers life skills and counselling using the EAGALA methodology recognised world-wide as being a powerful way of helping people restore a sense of self-worth and purpose, key ingredients necessary to improve lives and help people reach their full potential.
Shumbashaba Horses Helping People programs are recognized locally and internationally. In 2012 Shumbashaba won the FEI’s (International Equestrian Federation) Development Award for its grassroots ground-based equine assisted psychotherapy and counseling programs offered to township youth.
In the same year Shumbashaba won the local Letsema Award given by Murray & Roberts and offered in association with SASCOC (S.A. Sport Confederations & Olympic Committee) for its therapeutic riding programs for people with disabilities from formerly disadvantaged communities.
Shumbashaba has gone from a one-woman operation offering a therapeutic riding service to people with disabilities to a registered non-profit Trust offering a range of Horses Helping People programs, that have touched the lives of well over 1,600 people.
Bodster Equine Assisted Learning is an EAQ® Approved Centre based near Ryde, on the Isle of Wight. Jo and Giles have a herd of horses and ponies who are helping children, young people and adults to learn new skills and take part in accredited courses and qualifications.
The Centre works with anyone from 6 to 90 years including complex needs such as Autism, Asperger's and Downs - in a supervised horse environment.
The
Step-UP Program, in association with the Open College Network, offers equine
facilitated learning and qualifications and is ideal for those who find it hard
to cope with traditional schooling, have been truanting or are at risk of
truanting, struggle with poor literacy and numeracy skills or are being
bullied.
For Example: "Time out for Young Carers through Horse Activities"
Bodster EquineAssisted Learning won the Aviva
Community Care Award to provide funding to offer a free opportunity for 10 young carers on the Isle of Wight to have respite
experiencing fun interactions with ponies (on the ground). £1000 allowed 2 groups of 5 learners to experience 2
afternoons per group with two Bodster staff (total 8 hours per learner)
completely free.
Why this Program? Providing such an on-going caring role to family members can
impact emotionally, physically and socially on such carers. These young carers
and their families often lack the funds to take part in such activities and by creating such a link Centre would hope to be able to offer further
subsidised courses for them in the future.
Each afternoon the children had the
opportunity to meet the ponies in a non-threatening environment where they had
time just ‘being’ with the ponies. They were encouraged to learn how to look
after the ponies through grooming tasks, complete creative tasks such as
drawing and taking photographs and learning how to lead and be with the pony
loose in the round pen.
They had the chance to connect with a pony and choose a pony to walk with them. They were encouraged to choose what
they want to do and the freedom to ‘play’ and devise their own leading games
with the ponies.
The very therapeutic nature of such sessions allowed these young carers to have time to reflect and discuss their feelings. By mixing with other
children of similar age to them they will have real time to socialise and
develop friendships which they could to continue to develop after the course.
The project also offered one-to-one support for each
‘carer’ participating to look at how they could access the service in the
future and the centre is working on how to devise further ongoing sessions of
respite for them in the coming years.
This program enabled young carers to have time to be “just
children having fun”.
There are over 100 million horses, donkeys and mules in
the world today and owners of these animals can be found on almost every
continent and in almost every society.
This online Horse Course covers many
unique aspects of equine ownership and touches upon the science behind many of
today’s management practices.
The Horse Course is intended for a wide audience from
novices interested in learning more about horses, donkeys and mules up to the
experienced owner who is interested in the science behind the many management
techniques practiced today.
Course Syllabus
Week 1: Introduction to the history of
horses and donkeys
Week 2: Basic equine anatomy- coat colors,
markings and hoof care
Week 3: Equine behavior and training
Week 4: Feeding management
Week 5: Maintaining equine health- first
aid, parasites and disease
Coursera is an education platform that partners with top
universities and organizations worldwide, to offer courses online for anyone to
take, for free.