Due to the variety of disabilities our clients have, the horses can be under very unique circumstances. We have to have the confidence that the horse is okay under those circumstances. Some of our clients have difficulty controlling their muscles or, due to their cognitive impairments, what they say and do are very different things. A horse may hear a command to stop, but the rider's feet are telling the horse to go. Therefore, the horse has to be able to discern between the two. Some clients have limited mobility and have to be mounted on the horse via an electric lift. That is not something that many horses would be comfortable with. We want to be sure that the horse is happy with the Cheff Center lifestyle.
At one time, Cheff Center's stalls were full. We had 40 horses. Now we only have 15. We take horse donations from all over the country, accepting horses between the ages of 7 and 12. We are fortunate that there are a lot of gracious people willing to donate their horse to our organization. Unfortunately, on average only one in 15 horses make it into our program. They go through a vigorous trial period. Instructors and volunteers observe the horse to determine if they are a good fit for the program, but most importantly if they seem happy.
Clients are carefully paired with the horse that best suites them. The relationship between client and horse is very important. Cheff Center is always looking to add more therapy horses so that we may continue to serve our growing network of clients. We thank everyone that considers donating their beloved horse and hope they will be a fit for our program. These horses truly change the lives of our clients every single day. *This was done for course content purposes and is in no way associated with the organization.*
No comments:
Post a Comment