Children
Many people think of equestrians as young girls, and they do make up a large portion of the community. Pretty much every barn will have a flock of pre-teen girls running around riding as much as they can and doing barn chores. Elizabeth M. Klish illustrates the basic benefits of being an equestrian for adolescent girls in her dissertation. She interviewed multiple members of the community, focusing on how the participants’ adolescent development was impacted by their interactions with horses and their barn.
She found many positive impacts of the barn community, such as learning to identify and name feelings, opportunities to develop their relational selves, and form an identity separate from others.
One of the biggest impacts Klish describes is the impact on a girl’s self-esteem and confidence. My trainer knew a young girl who when she first came to the barn, she hid behind these long bangs that covered her eyes. After just a few rides, my trainer told her she had to flip those bangs up into her helmet so that she could see as she rode. After a few months, she had grown those bangs out, and she never hid behind them again.
Being able to control a twelve hundred pound animal is empowering and teaches the girls self-control as horses are very sensitive to the rider’s internal state. “It can be assumed that, in learning to control themselves within the horse – rider dyad, the girls are able to internalize this ability and thus increase their self-esteem” (Klish 40).
This has a massive impact on any young girl or boy learning to ride and boosts their self-esteem. Adolescent girls are not the only demographic that benefits from horses and gain this confidence, children having trouble in school, or who are differently-abled can benefit just as much.
Fei New and Margaret Bass both conducted studies on somewhat behaviorally challenging children that introduced horseback riding into their lives. Margaret Bass’s study examined whether enrolling 34 autistic children with no prior riding experience in a 12 week riding program would help improve a variety of skills. Fei New’s study instituted a three month equine-assisted learning program measuring character skills for youths that had difficulties with the mainstream curriculum. They measured five character skills;
- Persistence
- Thinking flexibly
- Taking responsible risks
- Managing impulsivity
- Listening with understanding and empathy.
New found that intervention led to progressive improvements in the five character skills (which also correlated to their grade point averages) and Bass found the participants exhibited greater sensory seeking, sensory sensitivity, social motivation, and less inattention, distractibility and sedentary behaviors.
The following video is about one autistic girl’s journey learning to ride.
It is amazing how many different people can benefit from therapeutic riding. When I was volunteering at a therapeutic riding facility, I saw so many people from so many walks of life. And in all of them, the benefits horses had were astonishing. I’ve known a little boy go from being terrified of his helmet, to trotting around on a pony. I’ve seen a young girl’s face light up every time she gets into the ring; she may not have been able to talk, but over several weeks/months I watched her learn how to point and communicate with us. I’ve seen grown men be tickled pink by getting to groom and care for the horse after their ride.
While none of the participants in either Bass’s or New’s study had prior riding experience, they improved dramatically in the short time frame. Both studies examine the effects of riding over a fairly short learning period (three months) which shows how quickly being an equestrian can have an impact. From my own personal experience, I usually see it take longer for people to come out of their shells and get long term benefits. I’ve seen timid girls grow into a confident young women – over several years. Both New and Bass concluded that therapeutic riding could help these separate groups of children with behavioral developments.
Klish may have described her findings in one narrow demographic, but New and Bass’s would likely believe that their demographics would gain the same self-esteem and confidence from horses that adolescent girls gain. The following video is about a young man, Andrew, who is wheelchair bound and what riding has done for him.
His parents wrote the caption for this video: “My son Andrew is 20 and has been riding at Giant steps for 15 years now. That fact alone attests to our belief in the therapeutic value of riding to our son’s overall health and well-being. The benefits to Andrew are numerous. Andrew’s diagnosis affects his physical ability to walk. He is highly social and loves being active, and is in his wheelchair for long hours. Riding on the back of a warm horse stretches those tight muscles like no human therapist can. I know this has limited a lot of pain that can occur with someone who is wheelchair bound.
Riding on the back of a horse gives Andrew an opportunity to develop and maintain head, neck, and trunk control. I believe this is why Andrew has been able to develop speech habits that, despite his dysarthria, enable him to communicate effectively most of the time. Learning to ride and direct a horse isn’t something that just anyone can do, and Andrew’s self-confidence grows as he learns new skills during his sessions. His charisma shines as he interacts with his instructors and the volunteer staff who assist in his lessons!”
As we can see here, there are so many different children who can benefit from being an equestrian, and so many different types of benefits. New even found a correlation between the character skills improving from riding and an improved grade point average! Klish and Bass would likely agree that the same improvement/correlation could be found in adolescent girls and autistic children.
But you may be wondering if it is too late to start. And the answer to that is no.