SOUNDSLIDE: Small successes go a long way with therapeutic riding

A therapeutic riding program at Synergy Equestrian Centre is helping those in need gallop toward a sense of renewed strength and confidence.

The program was launched in early June by naturopath and riding instructor Jeannine Bastien, on the 20-acre farm in East Hawkesbury that houses her business and stables.

Synergy currently provides weekly therapeutic riding lessons for six students, which usually involves a half-hour or hour-long ride around the property.

On a recent visit to the stables, Bastien introduced The Review to Synergy's first therapeutic rider, Niki Villeneuve, as she began her weekly visit by grooming and tending to 28-year-old horse Bobby.

Bobby was given and brought to Synergy Stables in the summer to live out his new retirement, and Bastien explained his calm, quiet and cooperative demeanour makes him an ideal horse for therapeutic riders. During their excursions together, she continued, Bobby's movement and the general calmness of a walking horse bring a sense of peace and relaxation to her riders.

In therapeutic riding, the rider does not sit on a traditional saddle, something which Bastien noted has allowed Villeneuve to gain "a lot of upper-body strength through the riding."

"At the beginning she could do 15 minutes and then she was too tired to continue, but now we go an hour and it's great, no problem. It's almost like a workout for her."

Villeneuve, carefully grooming the horse's side with a brush, adds: "Physically, I like being on the horse, [the riding] has developed my strength."

Another benefit of therapeutic riding is that the movement of the horse will bring sensation to different parts of the rider's body.

"I've also worked with people who have multiple sclerosis and often they'll come to the barn, telling me what they can't feel today, but they leave the barn telling me everything that they can now feel," said Bastien. "So it really changes their outlook on their disability."

Furthermore, it brings a different perspective to her therapeutic riders: "First of all, our rider is up high. Niki, for example, being in her wheelchair, is always at a very low level, basically at knee level of everyone who's walking. Once she's on her horse, she's like a queen, she's up high, she's on her throne and she has a whole other outlook on life and her surroundings."

Jim Mullin, a support worker at Community Living Glengarry - an organization that provides support to people with developmental disabilities - said he's noticed a big difference in Villeneuve's personality since she began her therapeutic riding.

"Definitely, it's more of an 'I can' attitude that she's developed," Mullin said. "She's always loved animals, and she's very drawn to them and very passionate about them. I'm noticing a huge developmental change in her, both in confidence as well as her strength, and her abilities are constantly expanding."

Bastien said she will continue to work with her new clients as they come, aiming to gain as much experience as possible. In the meantime, she said the experience has equally opened her own eyes to the potential and power of therapeutic riding.

"It's totally different; when you're giving a riding lesson for an able-bodied person, the successes are in leaps and bounds. When we're working with our therapeutic riders, the little successes are amazing, and it just makes your day to see them smile up there."