iRide Dressage
New member
You don't have to read all this unless you want to know all the details or unless you're considering ranting about how unsafe it is (even though the horses are as safe as can be)....
My mom has 4 minis, two of which are trained and certified therapy animals for hospital visits and stuff like that. They haven't been brought into that situation in a couple of years but knowing them, they'll get right back on track. Obviously to be safe we need to do tests, exercises and all that.
Anything creative you guys can think of? We'll also be doing those with our non-certified ones but we can't bring them into hospitals, but they can go into schools and parks and such.
We will bring them to the local playground (on a rainy day so there aren't kids around) to go on different things, like going up stairs and down ramps (they can't go down stairs), doing obstacle courses and so on.
What is there to do at home with them? I'm very willing to build stuff this winter to be ready to do this in the spring, so don't be afraid to go crazy!
PS: before anyone goes after me about having to do this legally, I know. That's why it's not going to be done until spring- Get all the legal stuff out of the way and get our certifications in order before getting in that situation. We'll do everything in our power to desensetize the crap out of the horses in all aspects so no matter how much horse smarts the people don't have, the horses will be as safe as possible.
My mom, sister and I attended a 2 week therapy course to learn the ropes, how to handle the horses in various situations, how to talk to the kids so they understand to be safe but don't get scared, different things we can do with the patients or kids to let them have fun but remain safe, etc, etc. We are NOT new to this and neither are the minis we will be bringing to the big events. They've been doing therapy for 5+ years. They're old pros at it.
And like I said, we won't be doing this until spring at the earliest, and won't bring them into public until they are beyond ready.
Thanks!
My mom has 4 minis, two of which are trained and certified therapy animals for hospital visits and stuff like that. They haven't been brought into that situation in a couple of years but knowing them, they'll get right back on track. Obviously to be safe we need to do tests, exercises and all that.
Anything creative you guys can think of? We'll also be doing those with our non-certified ones but we can't bring them into hospitals, but they can go into schools and parks and such.
We will bring them to the local playground (on a rainy day so there aren't kids around) to go on different things, like going up stairs and down ramps (they can't go down stairs), doing obstacle courses and so on.
What is there to do at home with them? I'm very willing to build stuff this winter to be ready to do this in the spring, so don't be afraid to go crazy!
PS: before anyone goes after me about having to do this legally, I know. That's why it's not going to be done until spring- Get all the legal stuff out of the way and get our certifications in order before getting in that situation. We'll do everything in our power to desensetize the crap out of the horses in all aspects so no matter how much horse smarts the people don't have, the horses will be as safe as possible.
My mom, sister and I attended a 2 week therapy course to learn the ropes, how to handle the horses in various situations, how to talk to the kids so they understand to be safe but don't get scared, different things we can do with the patients or kids to let them have fun but remain safe, etc, etc. We are NOT new to this and neither are the minis we will be bringing to the big events. They've been doing therapy for 5+ years. They're old pros at it.
And like I said, we won't be doing this until spring at the earliest, and won't bring them into public until they are beyond ready.
Thanks!