Bashful Dan

Horseback Riding in Sandpoint, Idaho is extremely popular.   Have your kids every wanted to ride a Hippo?  Have they ever wanted therapy?  How about combining both and calling it Hippotherapy!   Naw, that’s real word that means “therapy using the movement of a horse” to improve the physical abilities of children and adults with special needs.  Now my 8 year old son, Alex the Tigerboy, has a special need to have fun, laugh, and enjoy life to the fullest.  His is a high functioning autistic that has no idea what hippotherapy is but he knows his horse “Buddy”.

I spent an hour at the indoor riding arena today watching him with stick and lead move his friend “Buddy” in different directions walking and then trotting.  Then he removed the lead and rode Buddy round the arena, passing under an obstacle, shooting a ball through a hoop from atop the horse, and even riding by me and shooting at me with a watergun from the saddle.  (He was armed by his riding coach Coralee).   Everytime I go I have to remind myself that this is therapy and focus on what new skills and motor skills he is using because to a Dad it just looks like an 8 year boy being a cowboy.

A tip of my 10 gallon hat to the patience of his coach Coralee and to owner Traci Schmidt for starting Kids in Motion.   Now Traci will tell you that she opened Kids in Motion because there was a growing need for pediatric physical therapy in Bonner and Boundary counties.  She will tell you that this hippotheraphy is a  method of using horses as a primary therapy tool to help people with disabilities learn to balance, walk and experience better movement.         I can tell you that it is a really fun activity for an 8 year old boy to be a real live cowboy.   As for Alex.  You need a crowbar to remove the smile from his face after another successful outing with his horse “Buddy”.

p.s.  Call Kids in Motion at 208 255-6693 to volunteer.  Horse experience is NOT a requirement.  Must be at least 16 years old.  Need horse leaders:  lead and control the horse during the therapy session.  Sidewalkers:  help to support the riders and assist the therapist with the special needs of each rider.   Here’s what I need you to do next.  Close your eyes.  Imagine helping a child or adult in our community as he or she takes her first step, sits up for the first time, or laughs with joy!  Now imagine doing this in the company of horses!   See it?  See yourself in the picture for an hour a week?  Good.  Dial 208-255-6693 and replace the picture in your head with ones that you can pin to your refrigerator.