August 4, 2004
Four-legged therapists
Catch a Reinbow provides therapy through horses
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
A horse named Max has given Brittany Peterson a window into the world.
Riding Max for an hour every Tuesday evening for just three weeks, already her mother, Kristie, notices a difference in her four and a half year old autistic daughter.
"I just notice a change in her as soon as she gets on a horse, she mellows out," said Peterson, who lives with her family in Traverse City. "It's amazing, she'll be running up and down and waving her hands and stuff but when she gets on a horse she's like, 'Ahhhh, cool.'"
Brittany accesses the 'Ahhhh' moments thanks to the Catch a Reinbow Therapeutic Riding Program and a cadre of devoted volunteers who make it happen. Michigan State University Extension-Benzie County directs the program, which this summer is giving eight people with physical, emotional or cognitive disabilities the chance to bond with a horse.
Sheridan Tanner, 5, of Benzonia is living proof of that bond.
"Sheridan was really apprehensive when we first started last year and didn't want to pet the horse, we had hard time coaxing him to get in the saddle," recalled RaeAnn Tanner, his mother. "Now he watches videos all year long and just can't wait to ride. It's really made him warm up to horses and the riding is good for his muscle tone."
Meeting weekly for six weeks at the Interlochen Eagles Club, the volunteers and their horses put the riders through their paces. First, the riders complete basic grooming of their horse and help put on the saddle and bridle. Once in the adaptive saddle and stirrups, these riders walk and trot with the horses around the course. They also complete some tasks while on horseback, such as choosing and picking up items from a platform.
In the process, these riders, who range in age from four to 58, stretch muscles, work on sequencing tasks, improve their posture and balance and interact socially. Able to repeat the course year after year, they also get a big boost in self confidence and self esteem, said riding instructor Jody Bambas.
"Horses have a particular empathy with people who have special needs," said Bambas, a resident of Kaleva. "A lot of these riders would not have the freedoms they gain through therapeutic riding, the horses are their legs, basically."
Bambas came to therapeutic riding after her husband, Tom, had a devastating accident in 1994 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Doctors gave him a five percent chance of ever walking again, but years of therapeutic riding have helped him regain mobility. The couple drove downstate twice a week for three years to ride at the Cheff Therapeutic Riding Center in Augusta, Mich.
Since she was on site so much, Bambas decided to take the riding instructor training at the center. She is also certified by the North American Handicapped Riding Association and the Certified Horsemanship Association. Bambas helped start the Catch A Reinbow program six years ago.
"Tom and I really feel that it is pretty neat to be able to give back some of what we've been blessed to have," Bambas said.
Catch a Reinbow also usually runs one six-week session per summer for adjudicated youth, although this year it did not come together. For these at-risk youth, working with horses is a key to unlock destructive behavior and emotional patterns.
"We start from the ground up with them," noted Bambas of the intensive Stable Management portion of that session. "The majority of them have never been exposed to horses at all, which is one of the really neat things because that way you've taken them out of their comfort zone so they are pretty dependent on what you are saying or doing."
Not every horse is cut out to be a therapeutic riding horse. The volunteers who bring their horses for the program every week have chosen patient, calm and intelligent mounts. The horses wear a distinctive rainbow colored bridle that is not attached to the bit, to protect their mouths from the extra pulling.
"Not all horses make good therapy horses because they get bored going in circles or don't appreciate having their mouths or faces pulled on," Bambas said. "Horses don't hold grudges, don't get angry, they are very straightforward creatures. They will actually catch a rider if they feel the rider going to one side."
Volunteer Mike Michels of Interlochen said the horses act differently when they have a special needs rider.
"If I get on, a horse might have a lot of fire but they just seem to know when these kids are on their backs," he said.
Big hearts is the uniting trait of the volunteers such as Michels, according to Bambas, without whom there would not be a program.
"We're all there for the kids," Bambas noted. "We're all doing it for the kids but the kids are doing more for us than we are for them."
For more information on the Catch a Reinbow Therapeutic Riding Program, call Patty Roth of the MSU Extension-Benzie County at 231-882-0025.