Therapeutic Riding Offers New Opportunities For Students

WOODBURY — Thanks to generous matching grants from Friends of Children, Inc and Naugatuck Savings Bank Foundation, 50 children attending Little Britches Therapeutic Riding’s Summer Bridges program at Children’s Community School (CCS) are participating in horseback riding lessons and learning to groom and tack horses. In addition, there are art lessons and environmental activities every day.

Since 1979, Little Britches’ mission has been to provide unique, equine-based therapies in an outdoor environment and foster growth for people with cognitive, physical, emotional, and economic challenges. Children’s Community School is Waterbury’s only private, secular school dedicated to urban youth. CCS provides a safe and supportive environment for children in prekindergarten through fifth grade.

The CCS Summer Bridges program is designed to prevent “summer slide” and is primarily an academic curriculum. But there are things that cannot be studied in the classroom, and summer is an ideal time to introduce outdoor activities that supplement learning.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings, a group of CCS children come to Four Winds Farm to ride, hike, take art lessons, study nature, and to learn about the environment in a hands-on fashion.

The environmental activities help combat nature deficit disorder, which refers to a lack of a relationship to the environment. Children who live in an urban environment often do not have the opportunity to experience the natural world. In this program, students have seen fawns and rabbits in the forest, and visited a nearby beaver dam. They are learning how the dam is built and how the beavers live in their environment. Their art activities tie in to all of the experiences, and give them a chance to visually express what they are learning.

The riding program promotes responsibility, discipline, and an understanding of direct consequences on outcomes. The horses and pony serve as great motivation for children to listen to and follow directions. If they don’t ask the horse to “walk on” properly, they don’t get to move.

They are also learning to halt and steer, and most are beginning to post in preparation for trotting. They are all building core strength, balance, and muscle tone through a series of exercises done while riding. Trained volunteers  help prepare the horses, and lead and side walk with the riders.

Little Britches Therapeutic Riding could not run its programs without volunteers, and Little Britches officials encourage anyone who is interested in helping out to visit www.littlebritchesct.org or to e-mail little.britches@yahoo.com.