Equine therapy helps kids with disabilities

Like Lopez, many parents of kids facing physical, mental and emotional challenges are surprised by how much equine therapy can improve their conditions. Early last year, Colorado State University launched a five-year project to study the benefits of such therapy and gather existing research.

“We have clients that say their first words from the back of a horse,” said Lili Kellogg, Equest’s operations director. “Or maybe they can button their shirts, or swallow food, or their handwriting improves — things we take for granted.”

Kellogg recalled sitting in the bleachers at Equest’s Wylie facility with a woman who had adopted a severely abused girl as a 3-year-old. At 10, the girl was among a number of children taking riding therapy classes. The children were lined up with their instructors, about to go through a trail pattern, when the girl’s horse sneezed. The girl laughed, and her mother suddenly went silent, a look of shock on her face.

“She said, ‘In the seven years I’ve had her, I’ve never heard her laugh,’ ” Kellogg said.

Some of those visits will feature miniature horses Equest calls “mini ambassadors.” Cisco and Dare, a pair of 36-inch-tall beige-and-white beauties, were already enjoying their moment in the sun at the park’s grand opening event on a recent Saturday.

The minis were scheduled to visit the Dallas Library’s Polk-Wisdom branch as part of the Big D Reads program, currently featuring Charles Portis’ novel “True Grit.” Such appearances will enable teachers to illustrate horse-related book passages with a live animal.

“We’re taking what’s in literature to real life,” Kellogg said.

By also allowing kids to interact with horses and teaching them to interpret the animals’ moods through visual cues, Equest also hopes to encourage socialization and empathy.

“You never know which kids it might motivate,” said Joan Cutler, Equest’s program director. “If you can teach them empathy, that carries over to every other part of their world.”

Animal-assisted therapy is said to aid a range of issues, from bipolar disorder to post-traumatic stress, and, by giving individuals purpose outside themselves, it can foster self-esteem and independence.

For physically challenged clients, hippotherapy — hippo is the Greek word for horse — can be effective because the animals’ gait echoes that of humans, helping improve posture and core and muscle control.

Brooke Grall discovered equine therapy while seeking out-of-the-box approaches to treat daughter Zoe, who was born with spina bifida and started using a wheelchair when she was 18 months old. Zoe started at Equest in the fall of 2013, when she was 3, riding sideways on a horse named Crunchie.

“She started out that entire hour the first time just crying,” Grall said. “It was so scary and different and she had never experienced anything close to walking before. But because the gait of the horse is so similar to that of a human, it was causing her muscles to actually feel like they were working. It allowed her hips to function the way they were designed to.”

By midyear she was straddling Crunchie; eventually her feet were in stirrups. Lately she’s been working on core strength and sitting tall, gaining confidence and stamina.

“Two weeks ago, she got to trot for the first time,” Grall said. “It was the most thrilling experience she’s ever had, with her hair blowing in the wind and giggling the whole way around the arena. It’s a big ego boost for her.”

For Rockwall’s Lopez, too, the therapy has been a godsend. While other boys Jonathan’s age whooped and climbed and ran and jumped, her son, now 7, seemed locked away behind a wall of silence and immobility.

But after Jonathan’s first session, his personality seemed to change. With some help, he took some small steps.

After the second session, he sat up straighter in his highchair and car seat. He didn’t need a pillow in front of him to keep him from collapsing forward.

Usually, as Lopez drove around doing errands, she’d need to stop to feed Jonathan. But this time she handed the cup to him, and he held it and started drinking.

What was going on?

Years of dealing with the challenges of cerebral palsy had been a series of defeats, maybes and not-yets. Over and over, Lopez had lost hope.

Now into his second year at Equest, Jonathan is nearly walking on his own.

“It has been a window in a dark room for me,” she said. “I can see the light. It may not make my child 100 percent normal, but it’s given him quality time. An opportunity to make a better life.”