• Horseback Riding

• Accessible by Public Transportation: No
  
  
• Transportation Provided by the Program: No

Happy Hooves is a nonprofit organization. Our mission is to provide therapeutic riding and other equine related activities to individuals with special physical, emotional, and cognitive needs in a safe and fun environment. We are a NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) Operating Center and adhere to the standards of this association.

At this time we are offering riding therapy designed to meet the specific needs of each participant. The prescribed program may include grooming, saddling, and learning riding skills or may be passive in nature.

Riders participate one time per week for each session. Spring and Fall sessions last for ten weeks. Summer is an eight-week session and Winter is a six week session. There is a maximum of four riders per group lesson. Happy Hooves one-hour lessons are divided into two sections. The first one consists of 30 minutes of groundwork, which includes grooming, tacking, and mounting. The second involves 30 minutes of mounted work, which includes exercises, riding skills, and games/activities.

• Grooming and tacking (putting the saddle and equipment on) address the following developmental areas: fine and gross motor skills, spatial awareness, vocabulary, motor planning, sequencing, memory, endurance, attention span, hand/eye coordination, bilateral involvement, balance, crossing midline and muscle strengthening. The groundwork part of the lesson is vital for maximizing the therapeutic benefits of the program. Not only is this where the rider experiences responsibility and discipline, but also the satisfaction that comes with caring for another living being. The riders spend as much time grooming and tacking as they do riding in the arena. Grooming and tacking are an integral part of riding therapy.
• The mounted segment of the lessons includes exercises, riding skills and games. Riding challenges the rider in these areas: balance, coordination, fine and gross motor skills, right and left handedness, motor planning, sequencing, communication, body awareness, muscle strength, flexibility, vestibular stimulation, teamwork, socialization, and self-esteem.
• Developmental Vaulting consists of thirty-minute lessons in which the horse is already prepared for the rider and therefore, the rider is not involved in grooming and tacking. Riders for this specific type of therapy are determined according to age, ability level, attention span or individual therapy goals. In this 20-30 minute mounted lesson riding skills may or may not be taught. Our primary focus is physical therapy using the horse as a moving bolster. The rider may be positioned various ways on the horse to maximize the effect.