Disabled students learn to ride horses in new program

Chris McParland, right, teaches Tawanda Smith, 13, how to brush her horse, Cookie, on Friday at McCaffrey Middle School in Galt. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Disabled students learn to ride horses in new program

By Jennifer Bonnett
News-Sentinel Staff Writer

Monday, February 23, 2009 6:23 AM PST

Comments (No comments posted.)

Chris McParland served on the board of directors of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association and was one of the creators of the organization's instructor certification process.

Simply put, that means this retired Clements resident knows a lot about therapeutic horseback riding and what it can do for children.

Today, McParland is at the center of GALEP, a horse program that officially launched Friday in the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District.

She started a similar program in Elk Grove in 1978 called Project RIDE. It was located next door to Jessie Baker Elementary School, a school for developmentally disabled children. At the time she was an adaptive physical education teacher, and she got the idea after seeing a documentary called "It's Ability That Counts" while on a field trip to the University of California, Davis, with a group of 4-H students.

McParland, who was a former teacher under school Superintendent Karen Schauer, discussed the benefits of riding horses for all levels of students.

I understand you will help train volunteers for GALEP. What's the first thing someone should know about working with horses?

They just need to know that they want to put in some time to help someone in this world. They don't have to be horse people. They can learn to be a horse walker, so long as they're not terrified of the animals.

Chris McParland at a glance

Age: 65.
Family: Married 43 years, two adult children.
Lives in: Clements.
Animals: Three horses, seven mules.
Recognition: In 2003, she received the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association's top honor for her contribution to the therapeutic riding industry.
Source: Chris McParland

GALEP at a glance

The Galt Joint Union Elementary School District has created a horse-riding program through donations of equipment from local residents.

It was officially launched Friday morning with a Horsemanship Day for special needs students at McCaffrey Middle School. Organizers hope to make it a regular after-school, horse-assisted learning program with cooperation from the city's parks and recreation department, Sierra Health

Foundation, the Galt Historical Society and McFarland Living History Ranch, and Cosumnes River Nature Preserve, according to Schauer.

Community volunteer meetings have been scheduled for next month. Contact the district office at 744-4545 for more information.

Source: Karen Shauer, Chris McParland

You just have to be willing to reap a multitude of rewards.

Tell me what types of things a therapeutic riding program teaches students.

It's so multi-faceted. We can start from physical benefits; it helps an individual work on their balance, flexibility and, of course, strength. It can also help with knowing directions, right from left.

What are the benefits of it?

Physical therapists use a bolster to help with balance. A horse provides that, plus movement.

If you have a person who can't walk, they can experience walking with the steps of a horse.

Also, you're in control. A lot of people with disabilities don't get to feel like they're in control, and when you're riding a horse, you are.

What kinds of skills are especially important for special needs children?

Riding can also help with spatial understanding. When someone has a disability, they are challenged with where they are in space.

When you're in a wheelchair, it's exciting to be up and above other people for once. They get up there and they're a different person.

Emotionally, there is an improvement in the psyche through like the feel of the fur.

How do horses assist with this?

There's something that is carefree with riding, like the wind in your hair. It lets you get away when you might be going through something hard. It's kind of the warm, fuzzy stuff that's hard to describe.

Research indicates that equestrian programs help develop motor and communication skills, as well as strengthen bodies. How?

Some of the most well-received programs are actually ones that provide a multitude of support to the people they serve. In order to improve your balance, you have to be able to work from right to left and learning to ride a horse works on that. I ask the riders to pull the right rein to go to the right.

A lot of the children we teach with cognitive delays, that's hard for them. But the horse gives them immediate feedback if they made the right choice. The horse is such a great teaching tool ... they can even be the teacher.

We also use saddles that really require working on your balance.

Do you have one rewarding moment through your therapeutic experience that stands out?

There's way more than one, of course. But through the years I've had a chance to serve the Sacramento Office of Education programs, and a lot of the times the participants were severely disabled.

Those who were able to ride, we served. Many of those riders were not able to understand some of the skills ... but they really did learn. I had a lot of non-verbal riders who communicated without words, so to say "walk on," sometimes they just put their hands on the horse's neck.

That was hugely rewarding that they understood.

There are children who have never been up close to a horse. What should they be aware of?

In the late 1970s, when we started Project RIDE, it gave us an opportunity to teach the children how to be around animals and be safe. Just think when you are around horses; think about their movement, their space.

You are a life-long horse rider. What do you enjoy most about riding?

I just like the carefree opportunity to get away from the trials and tribulations of everyday life we have as Americans. I like the same thing as my riders. I like being up high and being challenged.

I have arthritis and have had two back surgeries, but all of that disappears when I ride.

What's the best part about retirement?

Getting to make choices like getting back into something like this and being able to have the opportunity to get away and enjoy our family and our horses.

Contact reporter Jennifer Bonnett at jenniferb@lodinews.com.

Reader Feedback

Comments on this story are now closed.

Archives

Story Tools

Indexes