Thank you Rie Batten for writing this review.
We absolutely love our Thursday night party with Kira, Nat and Kobe.
The benefits of equine (also called hypocamp) therapy are well touted, but to actually see them in person, right before your eyes for the SN parent, is nothing short of a miracle. Firstly there is the instant bond that was formed between Kira and her horse Gracie. It is wonderful watching Kira reach out for Gracie to give her a big sloppy kiss right on her muzzle. It is like Gracie senses there is something different about Kira, and oh my she is so gentle and loving towards her. Then there is the bond between Kira and the other disabled riders. Thursday night is party night at Totoka, with the tunes cranked up loud everyone is smiling, dancing and best of all making eye contact. Happiness truly abounds. There is definitely no use of the word torture here. Everyone is at play, therapists, carers, participants, horses and SN parents alike. Such a wonderful atmosphere. When we first started Kira barely tolerated the helmet and wouldn’t have a bar of her riding gloves. She refused to hold her head up for much longer than a few seconds and spent her time trying to remove the gear she just didn’t feel belonged. This meant her balance in the saddle was all over the place. Her carers had to work really hard trying to keep her positioned right, Paula constantly needing to call out encouragement to help Kira think about her positioning; sit up tall, holding on, looking up, put your knees in etc. This first night, she only managed a small ride, but our sense of euphoria and accomplishment at doing an activity we never thought possible for our girl was truly moving.
Watching Kira on Goblin (another of Paula’s amazingly gentle horses) last night, a year and a half later, not only were the carers barely supporting her position in the saddle, but she was independently balancing, sitting in a relaxed cowgirl stance, checking out all that was going on around her, rocking out to the music, socialising with her SN friends and best of all smiling, giggling and having the time of her life. This is therapy at it’s best! Without even realising it, Kira was making subtle adjustments and positioning herself to maintain proper balance and posture while on Goblin. She was improving her gross motor skills, reducing her abnormal muscle tone, developing her respiratory control, working on her trunk core strength, controlling her spasming extremities and maintaining her postural symmetry.
While Kira was dancing around the arena with Goblin and her SN friends Natalie, Kobe and their horsey partners, they were all reaping the benefits of improved attention span, visual coordination (especially when shooting hoops from horseback), increasing their capacity for sensory input, tactile responses and how to grade and express them. Best of all our kids who usually experience “therapy” as nothing short of necessary torture, found that their experience of equine therapy at Totoka gave them that intangible gift of friendship and enjoyable interactions with the horses they ride. Considering a good deal of Kira’s last year and a half has been in lockdown due to COVID, these breaks in the drudgery of our daily routine at home have been welcome opportunities for social interaction with other SN kids, therapy staff, carers and parents.
So in summation I can only wish that there were more Paula’s in the world. She is a truly astounding lady, who’s passion for her horses and the joy of interacting with them, is only rivaled by her great love of making this joy accessible to SN individuals. The therapeutic benefits are truly immeasurable, the psychological and self esteem boon that our kids glean from this experience irreplaceable. 💜👩🏽 🐴👨🏻 🐴👩🏻 💜
