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Horses used in therapy
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In a barn near the edge of Roland, a group of volunteers and trainers are providing a different style of therapy session.
One Heart Equestrian Therapy recently started its latest series of classes to both youth and adults with disabilities in the area. The 13-year-old organization uses horses to help improve a client’s balance, posture, strength and coordination.
“We offer services to physical, mental, emotional and cognitive disorders, and most of our clients are diagnosed with several,” said Kris Lager, co-founder and executive director of the organization. “This is not pony rides. This is real, true-life therapy. But it’s so amazingly enjoyable.”
Each class is led by a physical therapist or a riding instructor, under the standards of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl). One Heart offers several types of therapy, which can work on both gross and fine motor coordination. Starting at age two, clients have the chance to work with both large and miniature horses either by riding, or through activities like grooming or driving the horse from a carriage.
Clients are signed up for a session one time per week for a six-week class. During a session, each client is helped by three volunteers that help lead and stand on either side of the horse. Lager said for this year’s class, the group is using eight full-size horses, five miniature horses and 200 volunteers.
One volunteer, Jennifer Lamoreux, has been with the group since the end of its first year. While she had previous experience working with horses, Lamoreux did not like the typical attitude she found around horse ranches and camps in the area.
“In other places, it was very competitive, and it wasn’t what I was looking for,” she said. “Everybody here was just into horses, whether they could talk or not. It just took off from there and it’s been my social life and a big part of my life.”
The Roland-based group is also earning both regional and national attention. Lamoreux was named the Region 7 Instructor of the Year in 2011, while one of the group’s large Morgan horses, Rosie, won the 2013 American Morgan Horse Association Therapy Horse of the Year.
Lager said that as one of five therapy centers in the state, One Heart serves clients from nine counties, and the group serves over 35 clients in a 10-hour period. While Lager said her team doesn’t like to “talk in terms of miracles,” she has seen the therapy help clients in ways they never predicted.
“We put a younger client on a pony, and I received a call from the boy’s physical therapist after three weeks,” Lager said, “and shwe reported he was doing things they had not expected him to do without another couple years of work in the clinic.”
Peggy Miller, associate professor in animal science at Iowa State, said similar success stories have helped make the therapy style one of the highest developmental improvement therapies in the country. Miller said one reason horses work so well as therapy animals is because of how similar their movement is to that of a human.
“The horse mimics the way we move. As we move, the hips will move in conjunction with the horse,” she said. “It will work on some of those motion skills, and even improve posture and coordination in youth or adults.”
But the therapy has also been proven to help with social skills. Clients get to work on issues like trust and overcoming fear by working with a large, intimidating horse, as well as responsibility by brushing the horse or helping to lead the horse out to the class area. Miller said the combination of physical and mental activity the therapy can develop has helped the style skyrocket in popularity in the last few decades.
“That develops a relationship and respect for the animals, and builds a relationship with the people that are helping (the client),” she said. “You can really see it in the child or adult’s face as they get on an animal.”
One Heart Equestrian Therapy recently started its latest series of classes to both youth and adults with disabilities in the area. The 13-year-old organization uses horses to help improve a client’s balance, posture, strength and coordination.
“We offer services to physical, mental, emotional and cognitive disorders, and most of our clients are diagnosed with several,” said Kris Lager, co-founder and executive director of the organization. “This is not pony rides. This is real, true-life therapy. But it’s so amazingly enjoyable.”
Each class is led by a physical therapist or a riding instructor, under the standards of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl). One Heart offers several types of therapy, which can work on both gross and fine motor coordination. Starting at age two, clients have the chance to work with both large and miniature horses either by riding, or through activities like grooming or driving the horse from a carriage.
Clients are signed up for a session one time per week for a six-week class. During a session, each client is helped by three volunteers that help lead and stand on either side of the horse. Lager said for this year’s class, the group is using eight full-size horses, five miniature horses and 200 volunteers.
One volunteer, Jennifer Lamoreux, has been with the group since the end of its first year. While she had previous experience working with horses, Lamoreux did not like the typical attitude she found around horse ranches and camps in the area.
“In other places, it was very competitive, and it wasn’t what I was looking for,” she said. “Everybody here was just into horses, whether they could talk or not. It just took off from there and it’s been my social life and a big part of my life.”
The Roland-based group is also earning both regional and national attention. Lamoreux was named the Region 7 Instructor of the Year in 2011, while one of the group’s large Morgan horses, Rosie, won the 2013 American Morgan Horse Association Therapy Horse of the Year.
Lager said that as one of five therapy centers in the state, One Heart serves clients from nine counties, and the group serves over 35 clients in a 10-hour period. While Lager said her team doesn’t like to “talk in terms of miracles,” she has seen the therapy help clients in ways they never predicted.
“We put a younger client on a pony, and I received a call from the boy’s physical therapist after three weeks,” Lager said, “and shwe reported he was doing things they had not expected him to do without another couple years of work in the clinic.”
Peggy Miller, associate professor in animal science at Iowa State, said similar success stories have helped make the therapy style one of the highest developmental improvement therapies in the country. Miller said one reason horses work so well as therapy animals is because of how similar their movement is to that of a human.
“The horse mimics the way we move. As we move, the hips will move in conjunction with the horse,” she said. “It will work on some of those motion skills, and even improve posture and coordination in youth or adults.”
But the therapy has also been proven to help with social skills. Clients get to work on issues like trust and overcoming fear by working with a large, intimidating horse, as well as responsibility by brushing the horse or helping to lead the horse out to the class area. Miller said the combination of physical and mental activity the therapy can develop has helped the style skyrocket in popularity in the last few decades.
“That develops a relationship and respect for the animals, and builds a relationship with the people that are helping (the client),” she said. “You can really see it in the child or adult’s face as they get on an animal.”
Horses used in therapy
Buy Photo
In a barn near the edge of Roland, a group of volunteers and trainers are providing a different style of therapy session.
One Heart Equestrian Therapy recently started its latest series of classes to both youth and adults with disabilities in the area. The 13-year-old organization uses horses to help improve a client’s balance, posture, strength and coordination.
“We offer services to physical, mental, emotional and cognitive disorders, and most of our clients are diagnosed with several,” said Kris Lager, co-founder and executive director of the organization. “This is not pony rides. This is real, true-life therapy. But it’s so amazingly enjoyable.”
Each class is led by a physical therapist or a riding instructor, under the standards of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl). One Heart offers several types of therapy, which can work on both gross and fine motor coordination. Starting at age two, clients have the chance to work with both large and miniature horses either by riding, or through activities like grooming or driving the horse from a carriage.
Clients are signed up for a session one time per week for a six-week class. During a session, each client is helped by three volunteers that help lead and stand on either side of the horse. Lager said for this year’s class, the group is using eight full-size horses, five miniature horses and 200 volunteers.
One volunteer, Jennifer Lamoreux, has been with the group since the end of its first year. While she had previous experience working with horses, Lamoreux did not like the typical attitude she found around horse ranches and camps in the area.
“In other places, it was very competitive, and it wasn’t what I was looking for,” she said. “Everybody here was just into horses, whether they could talk or not. It just took off from there and it’s been my social life and a big part of my life.”
The Roland-based group is also earning both regional and national attention. Lamoreux was named the Region 7 Instructor of the Year in 2011, while one of the group’s large Morgan horses, Rosie, won the 2013 American Morgan Horse Association Therapy Horse of the Year.
Lager said that as one of five therapy centers in the state, One Heart serves clients from nine counties, and the group serves over 35 clients in a 10-hour period. While Lager said her team doesn’t like to “talk in terms of miracles,” she has seen the therapy help clients in ways they never predicted.
“We put a younger client on a pony, and I received a call from the boy’s physical therapist after three weeks,” Lager said, “and shwe reported he was doing things they had not expected him to do without another couple years of work in the clinic.”
Peggy Miller, associate professor in animal science at Iowa State, said similar success stories have helped make the therapy style one of the highest developmental improvement therapies in the country. Miller said one reason horses work so well as therapy animals is because of how similar their movement is to that of a human.
“The horse mimics the way we move. As we move, the hips will move in conjunction with the horse,” she said. “It will work on some of those motion skills, and even improve posture and coordination in youth or adults.”
But the therapy has also been proven to help with social skills. Clients get to work on issues like trust and overcoming fear by working with a large, intimidating horse, as well as responsibility by brushing the horse or helping to lead the horse out to the class area. Miller said the combination of physical and mental activity the therapy can develop has helped the style skyrocket in popularity in the last few decades.
“That develops a relationship and respect for the animals, and builds a relationship with the people that are helping (the client),” she said. “You can really see it in the child or adult’s face as they get on an animal.”
One Heart Equestrian Therapy recently started its latest series of classes to both youth and adults with disabilities in the area. The 13-year-old organization uses horses to help improve a client’s balance, posture, strength and coordination.
“We offer services to physical, mental, emotional and cognitive disorders, and most of our clients are diagnosed with several,” said Kris Lager, co-founder and executive director of the organization. “This is not pony rides. This is real, true-life therapy. But it’s so amazingly enjoyable.”
Each class is led by a physical therapist or a riding instructor, under the standards of the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl). One Heart offers several types of therapy, which can work on both gross and fine motor coordination. Starting at age two, clients have the chance to work with both large and miniature horses either by riding, or through activities like grooming or driving the horse from a carriage.
Clients are signed up for a session one time per week for a six-week class. During a session, each client is helped by three volunteers that help lead and stand on either side of the horse. Lager said for this year’s class, the group is using eight full-size horses, five miniature horses and 200 volunteers.
One volunteer, Jennifer Lamoreux, has been with the group since the end of its first year. While she had previous experience working with horses, Lamoreux did not like the typical attitude she found around horse ranches and camps in the area.
“In other places, it was very competitive, and it wasn’t what I was looking for,” she said. “Everybody here was just into horses, whether they could talk or not. It just took off from there and it’s been my social life and a big part of my life.”
The Roland-based group is also earning both regional and national attention. Lamoreux was named the Region 7 Instructor of the Year in 2011, while one of the group’s large Morgan horses, Rosie, won the 2013 American Morgan Horse Association Therapy Horse of the Year.
Lager said that as one of five therapy centers in the state, One Heart serves clients from nine counties, and the group serves over 35 clients in a 10-hour period. While Lager said her team doesn’t like to “talk in terms of miracles,” she has seen the therapy help clients in ways they never predicted.
“We put a younger client on a pony, and I received a call from the boy’s physical therapist after three weeks,” Lager said, “and shwe reported he was doing things they had not expected him to do without another couple years of work in the clinic.”
Peggy Miller, associate professor in animal science at Iowa State, said similar success stories have helped make the therapy style one of the highest developmental improvement therapies in the country. Miller said one reason horses work so well as therapy animals is because of how similar their movement is to that of a human.
“The horse mimics the way we move. As we move, the hips will move in conjunction with the horse,” she said. “It will work on some of those motion skills, and even improve posture and coordination in youth or adults.”
But the therapy has also been proven to help with social skills. Clients get to work on issues like trust and overcoming fear by working with a large, intimidating horse, as well as responsibility by brushing the horse or helping to lead the horse out to the class area. Miller said the combination of physical and mental activity the therapy can develop has helped the style skyrocket in popularity in the last few decades.
“That develops a relationship and respect for the animals, and builds a relationship with the people that are helping (the client),” she said. “You can really see it in the child or adult’s face as they get on an animal.”
