Our Therapy Herd
Our horses are, clearly, the heart of our programs. They do not only provide the therapeutic movement that is critical to our riders’ clinical progress, they provide the unconditional acceptance and bond with our riders that often becomes the motivating catalyst for every area of our riders’ lives.
Only the most levelheaded horses are suitable for the special demands of working at a therapeutic riding center. CTRC horses are very carefully selected, evaluated and trained to become members of our therapeutic team. We have horses of varying sizes, gaits and temperaments in order to accommodate our wide spectrum of participants. The demands on a therapeutic horse are multiple and intense. Calmness, patience, intelligence and work ethic number among the strengths of CTRC horses. Physically they must be strong, sound and steady because they are often asked to carry riders who are very off balanced. Our horses must also have unflappable dispositions because they are consistently subjected to situations which are in conflict with their nature – having three volunteers around their head while working in the ring or tacking area; carrying unbalanced riders; being asked to walk in and out of ramps; having balls tossed at them as part of a rider’s exercises; being subjected to sudden movements and loud noises both on their back and on the ground; being led at the walk and trot; even having riders go into seizures while on their backs.
We maintain a herd of 25 spectacular therapy horses. All of our horses have been donated to us by generous individuals in the community. Prior to joining CTRC’s team, our horses have often had careers as school horses, trail horses, hunters, jumpers, polo, driving, show or pleasure horses. Undeniably, our magnificent horses take very good care of our riders. We in turn, take very good care of our horses. Our horse management program emphasizes an optimal nutrition, exercise and preventative care regime that maximizes health, soundness, productivity and well being. Our horses are turned out daily on 30 acres of pasture. In the evening they are retuned to the comfort of individual runs with shelter. Each horse has a “Barn Buddy” –a volunteer who lavishes their assigned horse with special care and TLC every week. Our horses are also the happy recipients of an equine massage each week by students from the Boulder School of Massage.
At CTRC, children and adults continually reach beyond the constraints of their special needs because of the intervention of our remarkable horses. Everyone whose life has been touched by our glorious horses – our participants, their families, our volunteers and our staff – has been moved by their beauty, hard work, unconditional acceptance and unlimited heart.
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