SEBASTIAN RIDING ASSOCIATES INC
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Mission Statement
Sebastian Riding Associates is a local non profit organization providing equine assisted learning and therapies for children and adults living with mental health, intellectual and physical disabilities.
About This Cause
Sebastian Riding Associates' (SRA) equine assisted learning and therapy programs are therapeutic riding, driving and hippotherapy. Therapeutic riding benefits Sebastian’s clients physically, psychosocially, and educationally. Physically, improvements in posture, coordination, and muscle tone are acquired through carefully structured exercises carried out on horseback. Psychological well-being (self-esteem, self-confidence, responsibility) evolves from the special relationships established between horse and rider and from the rider's growing awareness of his/her ability to care for the horse. Socially, our clients mature by establishing positive interactions with disabled and non-disabled peers, volunteers, and staff members. Educationally, the program stresses the development of thinking and communication skills, task orienting, increased focus, as well as basic riding proficiency, grooming, and tacking. A trained and certified instructor with the aid of volunteers administers therapeutic riding lessons. Therapeutic Driving offers many of the same benefits as therapeutic riding but due to weight, interest and disability, driving provides additional opportunities. Many people don’t realize that driving offers similar benefits to therapeutic riding in that to drive a horse correctly you must sit upright in the cart and not depend on the back of the cart for posture. Hippotherapy is a treatment approach that uses the movement of the horse to achieve the physical goals of improved posture, balance, mobility and function in select clients who have possess movement dysfunctions. The word “hippotherapy” means “treatment with the help of the horse.” Hippotherapy provides a controlled environment and graded sensory input designed to elicit appropriate responses from the client. This treatment approach does not teach specific skills, but rather provides a foundation of improved neuromotor functioning and sensory processing that translates to daily activities. These sessions are conducted by a physical therapist (with the aide of a therapeutic riding instructor and volunteers) that will analyze the client’s response and direct the movement of the horse to achieve specific goals. Our therapeutic programs include our Riding Free program designed specifically for students with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and our Intro to Horses program. For more than a year, we have been working on our Riding Free, pilot research program for adolescents with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sadly, PTSD has become a prevalent disorder in our youth today with very few programs established to address the needs of this group. Symptoms of PTSD reach into emotional, mental, social and physical aspects of life. Moreover, living with PTSD poses serious adverse consequences and risks that may manifest into adulthood. We established a curriculum and received full IRB approval from Arcadia University. The goals of the program are 1) increased trust and relationship skills, 2) increase self confidence and 3) increase self-efficacy/autonomy. Every session has specific objectives in order to achieve these goals. SRA has underwritten the cost for our pilot group of ten students to complete the 12 week program which helps these students build relationships and trust, nurture self esteem and increase self efficacy and autonomy. This is a topic of great interest to me as my family and I experienced trauma as a result of the loss of my daughter to Leukemia in 2008. I know first hand the amazing healing powers of the horse and credit our family horse in large part for my families healing. Sadly, there are many people, both children and adults suffering with PTSD but I believe the world is far more open to alternative therapies than once was the case. I am committed to documenting and proving the positive effects so that our equine partners can further help those in need. Intro to Horses Program is offered for community organizations providing services to similar populations as an introduction to horses. These sessions are unmounted and students learn about horse language which provides opportunities to compare and discuss the importance of human body language; we teach our students to groom the horses and discuss what the horses liked and didn’t like and the importance of respecting their feelings; we teach the students to lead a horse through an obstacle course and how qualities like trust and body language plan an important part in the success and finally a student learns that the qualities of leadership can empower the to accomplish great things.