Tristan with Zena, @ Hearts, Hands, & Horses
July 6, 2012
Day One
June 1, 2012
I almost struggle with the words to begin this post, as there is so much emotion tied into what I'm about to start writing about & sharing with my readers. Hippotherapy is like tonic for the soul of anyone with special needs. I happened upon an article, or it happened to find me, a while back and wondered @ the possibilities of it working for Tristan. I explored further by researching riding for individuals with Autism, especially children and specifically children under the age of five yrs. I also had to come to understand that Therapeutic Riding and Hippotherapy are two totally different things; something I will get into with another post. What I want to share this first time are pictures, and hopefully provided the video loaded properly, you can see for yourself (and probably hear my voice in there somewhere) the blossoming of a love for horses.
Day Two
June 22, 2012
I am noticing with each session that Tristan has, along with the Sensory Integration he has following the riding, he has increased with his verbal content, along with interaction with others. And he knows when he's going to the stables; we do talk about it before we go, but I sense he knows. His posture has improved, along with balance (which still has a way to go, along building his muscle tone) and coordination. It was also on this day, in the afternoon with a session in the pool, he got mad @ me for not getting in the pool with him, then for taking him out thinking there was something wrong. "I'M MAD......AT YOU!" Verbal expression linked to emotion; I'll take it!
Day Four
July 6, 2012
When I mentioned a love for horses blossoming, I really mean it. As of the date for the video and this last picture for this post, he had been trying to get Zena (our lady with the purple pad & lovely long eyelashes) to go faster. On this day, it was decided to take him a pace faster; the previous week, his crew stepped up the pace from a casual walk to a faster pace before our trotting day. Only one "spin" around the ring, but it was worth every second. My bud went home a happy camper after his session was over.
We still have sessions for the summer, so we are far from done. I also have Tristan into Adaptive Swim with a local facility, of which I will also be expounding upon later. I have alot to write about here, as this is now Tristan's blog and his story. Please join us, and remember this: all children are wonderfully unique. Treasure the gift while the moment is @ hand, for time waits for no one.
Momma
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