Today was Austin's first day at hippotherapy and he did so good!! He was a little cranky when we first got there but once he saw the horses he was happy. He didn't even try to take off the helmet! He rides a little pony named Pancho. They start out by taking him riding on a little trail so he gets used to the movement and I get to walk with them. Then they go into an arena and do activities with him and I'm not allowed in there. He has 3 people around him at all times and they do things like blowing bubbles, stacking rings, and tossing balls in buckets and he has to do all those things sitting and keeping his balance. He also has to ride sideways and backwards and laying down. They also work with signs and teaching him go and whoa. He did the go one a few times when they stopped. It's a good motivator since he really really likes riding. And then at the end, he gets off, has to put his helmet away and goes and gets carrots to feed the horse. It's really nice and I'm happy and hope to see some good benefits!! Thanks so much to Thomas over at the GFCF Experience for introducing me to this wonderful type of therapy!
3 comments:
I'm soo jealous. We are on a year+ long wait list for this and it costs $150 per session here. Matthew got to try it once at an open house and loved it...he still talks about Kali the horse (and he was only on her for about 5 minutes)!
Well I'm so jealous of all your ABA and Matthew's school! LOL.. We are finally getting the ABA through ECHO starting in 2-3 weeks but not much of anything else right now. It's been a real struggle with EI here.
That is awesome! I am glad it is working out for you. I hope you have as much success as we had.
THommas
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