Hippotherapy has to be one of the most unheard of therapies around. Unless you know to about it - you don't know about it. A lot of medical professionals have never even heard of it. That said - it is awesome. Zach basically was allowed to 'play' for 30 minutes without ever knowing he was working. I wasn't totally sure what to expect. I thought maybe they had some sort of saddle that would resemble a saddle version of a Bumbo to support the kids enough to ride. Instead they had an Occupational Therapist, the owner and 2 teenage volunteers who lead the horse around and help support the child. It is quite a team effort.
When we got to Mesa Vista Therapeutics I was very happy to see a familiar site - Ali's kid mobile! Yay! It was nice knowing that there would be a familiar face in this new endeavour. Suzie was very very excited to see all the horses. She ran to run to the fence to talk to them right away.
Once we got inside the barn we saw Ali, Emmett and Cole. Cole and Suzie are about the same age, Cole said that he was 3 and Suzie will be 3 in August. Cole has about the same volume control as Suzie. I thought I was shushing Suzie - until I looked over and say that I was shushing Cole - oops. I was worried about scaring the horses - which I guess is something I really shouldn't be concerned about.
Some pics of Ali and Emmett, Cole and Suzie.
Seriously - could Cole and Suzie be any cuter?? Suzie wanted to ride a horse - desperately - we told her that she couldn't ride a horse until she worked up the nerve to pet a horse. By the time we left she was over her fear of horses.
When we got there, Ali's son Dean was having his lesson. He is such a cutie!!
After his lesson Dean wanted to see the other horses. He FLEW down the aisles between the horses. I tried to get more pictures of him using his walker - but he was SO fast!!!
When it was Zach's turn they fitted him with a helmet and then they got him used to being on a horse. They walked him all around the arena several times. With each pass they had him facing different directions on the horse. It was hysterical to see Zach riding a horse backwards. Zach LOVED being able to feel the difference textures of the horse. We are going to do hippo once a week - we may sneak in an additional visit once Zach builds up some more strength - but now once is enough.
One amazing thing is that I can already see some changes. We have been working with Zach putting rings on one of his stacking toys. Yesterday that had him put some horse chew rings onto one of the volunteer's arms. Tonight was playing with his stacking toy and put a ring on all by himself!! Also - he is doing some cutely weird springing up thing when he is sitting. I am not sure what it is - but he wasn't doing it yesterday!!
Here are alllllll the Z pics from yesterday - and a few more of Suz :)
When we got to Mesa Vista Therapeutics I was very happy to see a familiar site - Ali's kid mobile! Yay! It was nice knowing that there would be a familiar face in this new endeavour. Suzie was very very excited to see all the horses. She ran to run to the fence to talk to them right away.
Once we got inside the barn we saw Ali, Emmett and Cole. Cole and Suzie are about the same age, Cole said that he was 3 and Suzie will be 3 in August. Cole has about the same volume control as Suzie. I thought I was shushing Suzie - until I looked over and say that I was shushing Cole - oops. I was worried about scaring the horses - which I guess is something I really shouldn't be concerned about.
Some pics of Ali and Emmett, Cole and Suzie.
When we got there, Ali's son Dean was having his lesson. He is such a cutie!!
When it was Zach's turn they fitted him with a helmet and then they got him used to being on a horse. They walked him all around the arena several times. With each pass they had him facing different directions on the horse. It was hysterical to see Zach riding a horse backwards. Zach LOVED being able to feel the difference textures of the horse. We are going to do hippo once a week - we may sneak in an additional visit once Zach builds up some more strength - but now once is enough.
One amazing thing is that I can already see some changes. We have been working with Zach putting rings on one of his stacking toys. Yesterday that had him put some horse chew rings onto one of the volunteer's arms. Tonight was playing with his stacking toy and put a ring on all by himself!! Also - he is doing some cutely weird springing up thing when he is sitting. I am not sure what it is - but he wasn't doing it yesterday!!
Here are alllllll the Z pics from yesterday - and a few more of Suz :)
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| Zach felt that any chew toy that was good for the horse - was good enough for him! |
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