BIG HORSIES

I tried last fall to get Jack into an equestrian therapy class but we were put on the wait list.  This spring he got a spot!!  We were so excited!  So, on Tuesday night we drove to Roland, a small town north of Ames, to meet his new therapists and to see the horses at the One Heart Equestrian Therapy stables. 

Jack was so excited to see the horses running outside as we pulled up on the gravel road.  I brought Savannah too, and Chris was golfing that night, so I was a little nervous about how this would go.  We had a tour of the stables, meeting the little ponies too.  I think they were Shetland ponies. Jack squealed, "whittle (little) horsies Mom!!"  He then proclaimed that those would be Savannah's horses and that Jack would ride the big ones!  We met his therapists and one of them conducted a quick motor assessment and asked me a ton of questions about Jack's health.  They had him play with this expandable ball to see how he used his right arm.  Then, we met Buddy, Jack's new friend.  Buddy looks young, but he is a geriatric horse, at the energetic age of 22. That is pretty old for a horse.  He is a nice looking brown horse, and he bent his head down to blow some horse snot all over Jack's small outstretched hand as a gesture of love I am sure.  :o)  Jack thought it was so funny.  They fit him with a riding helmet and then we were done.  He wasn't too disappointed that he didn't get to ride that night. 

Jack climbing up on Buddy, his new riding horse, at his first session.  He had absolutely NO fear.  He just walked right over holding the therapists hand, climbed up those steps, and onto that big horse without even looking back to his mom! (I am working on how to make these photos bigger on the screen, but in the meantime, click on them to enlarge)

He absolutely LOVED being up high on Buddy.  I was worried but he just grinned from ear to ear.

This is the indoor arena they use for cold weather days. Pew, it really smelled in there.  My jacket still smelled when we got into the car.  It is now in the washing machine.

The main therapist and owner is in the white hat, the other two on each side of Jack are trained and licensed equestrian therapists, and the other person is a volunteer, who walks the horse and holds the reins.  Safety is very important, obviously, but I was very reassured by the communication and the safeguards in place to maintain order and calmness with the horses. 

Today they did some occupational therapy exercises with Jack using his right hand to drop balls in buckets on his right side, and to slide rings onto poles.

He had all the therapists laughing and smiling when he said, "whoa baby, good job Jack!" when he put the ring on the pole correctly the first time!!

It was hard to get a good photo since it was pretty dark in there and it took me a few times to figure out the flash and whether or not that would scare the horses.  And, everytime Jack walked by, I put the camera down so he could see my face and I never really got a great picture.

He just smiled the whole time and as he came around close to me in the arena, I had such a hard time not laughing as he yelled, " FUN MOM, BIG HORSIE MOM, MORE MOM!!!" 

I am working on the video of Jack trotting!!  Check back soon!