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The Riding Centre is located at 1117 E. Hyde Road in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The grounds occupy 60 acres of land that is part of the 1,000-acre Glen Helen Nature Preserve owned by Antioch College and overseen by the Glen Helen Ecology Institute. Through the generosity of Antioch, the Yellow Springs community, and countless volunteers, the Riding Centre has been able to offer lessons, therapeutic riding and day camps to the Miami Valley at affordable cost for over 40 years. Facilities include two barns, rolling pastures, a large outdoor ring, a lighted indoor ring, a cross-country hunt course, several wooded trails and stables.
In 1974, The Riding Centre got in on the ground floor of therapeutic riding with the institution of its Therapeutic Riding Program. Carolyn Bailey, Head Instructor for this program, is certified by North American Riding for the Handicapped (NARHA) and the Cheff Center for the Handicapped. For over 25 years, the Riding Centre's Therapeutic Riding Program has successfully served children and adults with disabilities in group and private lessons. Regional agencies and private physicians refer individuals for therapy at the Riding Centre. This treatment, also known as hippotherapy, is quickly earning worldwide respect as an excellent alternative therapy.
The physical and psychological benefits of horseback riding for physically, mentally and emotionally challenged children and adults are enormous. Only specially trained, gentle horses can provide such therapy. The horse's slow, rhythmic motion helps work the muscles around a rider's spine and encourages gentle movement of arms, shoulders, head, trunk and the rest of the body. Students enjoy improved balance, coordination and muscle tone, and doctors have identified benefits that can only be obtained by this alternative therapy. Mentally challenged students increase confidence, concentration and retention. Instructor Carolyn Bailey remembers a particular class of four mentally challenged adults who progressed from being led by volunteers to walking, trotting, cantering and negotiating small jumps on their own. Carolyn was especially pleased with their ability to retain what they had learned from year to year.
