There is something very special about being on a horse. This is true for most people whether they are special needs or not. The horse movement is therapeutic. There is something even sorta "magical" even being around these gentle giants. Horses are special.
My son, Luke, loves being on a horse. It gives him some feedback that he just can't get anywhere else. We started him with horse therapy, known as Hippotherapy, when Luke was about 9 years old. Hippotherapy is therapy strategy that uses the movement of horses to stimulate the rider. These movements are used to reach goals in Physical, Occupational, Speech and Language therapies.
Now that we have a horse at home we can continue this therapy on our own. My daughter loves her horse, Maggie, and enjoys spending that time with her brother as well. Maggie is a very sweet horse, but loves to go fast sometimes so we have to take special care to have someone by her side at all times when Luke is on. She behaves and listens to voice commands really well. Notice in that first picture that Luke is controlling Maggie all on his own. This is very special because when he first started he could barely stay balanced and upright on the horse without assistance.
We look forward to lots of bonding sessions with Maggie and Luke. With Luke's recent regression this is becoming more and more important. I'm very grateful to have a farm where this can be available as recreation for my daughter and therapy for my son.
We also hope to open the farm to the local public as a place to enjoy nature, farm animals, learning about growing food and the option to take horse rides. Thank you for following along with me on this journey here on Steemit! (BTW - Your upvote can help pay for feed for Maggie 😉 )
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such a special and loving post i love animals, and horses are so beautiful. kind regards Amanda
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Very cool
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That's great
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Why not ?
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Great post @daddykirbs, Glad to see Luke being able to control Maggie on his own. Hoping to see more of this. I followed you, feel free to follow back I post about animals too. Cheers
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This is some incredible.grtttt
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That is so cool for your son. Daughter too since she likes horses. I hope it continues to help him adjust to life. 🐓🐓
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@daddykirbs, love the pictures of Luke and Maggie. So glad he can still ride the horse.
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Horses are more than what most people think @daddykirbs When my oldest daughter was just over 2 years old I found that our horses were the best babysitters. My daughter had fallen down in the front yard, was crying, I could see from the window she was not hurt badly but was certainly mad and screaming her head off.
Before I could get out the door and across the yard, our 2 year old filly made her way from a distant field and by the time I got to her the horse was already consoling her by nuzzling her with her nose. The rest of the herd was not far behind. I gained a lot of respect for horses that day. And of course her crying had stopped.
I do love the homesteaders here on Steemit, I think growing our own food is really our only option if we are to get and remain healthy and help others learn how to do it along the way.
Appreciate you, am following.
Let peace be the journey,
@vickiebarker
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Horses are more than what most people think @daddykirbs When my oldest daughter was just over 2 years old I found that our horses were the best babysitters. My daughter had fallen down in the front yard, was crying, I could see from the window she was not hurt badly but was certainly mad and screaming her head off.
Before I could get out the door and across the yard, our 2 year old filly made her way from a distant field and by the time I got to her the horse was already consoling her by nuzzling her with her nose. The rest of the herd was not far behind. I gained a lot of respect for horses that day. And of course her crying had stopped.
I do love the homesteaders here on Steemit, I think growing our own food is really our only option if we are to get and remain healthy and help others learn how to do it along the way.
Appreciate you, am following.
Let peace be the journey,
@vickiebarker
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Indeed, no sure why. Magic is the exact word.
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This is really wonderful! I'm so happy for your son and the rest of you, too! I believe in equine therapy so much that my two best horses were donated to therapeutic riding camps so as many people as possible could benefit from this incredible therapy.
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