Maxie Formal- Greenlock Therapeutic Riding Center

Over the past couple days I have been volunteering at Greenlock Therapeutic Riding Center. Both the therapists and clients I have worked with have been great.  The majority of the clients I worked with were ones with physical, developmental, and emotional differences. Mainly they have been having me lead their horses during both hippotherapy and therapeutic sessions. Therapeutic riding uses the magnetic bond  between people and horses to teach such skills as listening, balance, gross and fine motor control, as well as a variety of other skills that help people promote independence and  self-confidence.  Hippotherapy relies on the sensorimotor input  provided by the horse’s rhythmic and repetitive gaits to prompt a neuromuscular response in the rider: a  response that  mimics the  movement a child’s body would ordinarily make while walking. They also have me side walking during sessions in order to make sure the clients are secure on the horses.  My primary responsibilities were more with the horses rather then the clients however I did work with numerous clients through out my time at Greenlock. Finally over the course of the two weeks they had me school numerous of their ponies and hope for me to do so in the future. Today I had a client that I worked with who from the second she gets on to the second she gets off has a smile ear to ear. I swear I could work with her all day, whenever she does a trick or does something the therapist asks she exclaims, tada! I also worked with students from The Wolf School twice a week. At the moment, Greenlock is trying to raise money to put a new roof on their indoor so I decided to organize a bake sale to help fund raise. Currently Greenlock is "Raising the Roof" and their goal is $80,000. Less than half of the cost of services provided is covered by fees. The support of generous donors is vital toward making up the difference and ensuing that Greenlock can continue to provide the care needed by its clients. Overall I had a blast working at Greenlock and plan to do so this summer one to two times a week.