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¨La Instructora Internacional¨

I gave this 5 year old kid and his two older siblings a riding lesson in San Juan, Argentina (note the pre Cordillera in the background!!!). They were awesome, riding just to ride and have fun.

On the riding in south america: most hipicos (riding clubs) have horses and plenty of trainers from which you can choose to do jumping or dressage. When I start explaining that you can jump but ask your horse to be slow, consistent, and balanced the general reaction is ¨que?¨ ... huh? You can have fun and practice equestrian sports without entirely dehabilitating the horse´s legs by the time it is 17? But why would you want to go slow? Then you can´t jump as high, and if you dont jump as high you are not as manly...

No, english riding doesnt exist here yet, so I generally say I did sort of, dressage without the patterns. It sounds really boring that way. So I say, yeah, i jumped, somewhat reluctantly because it isn´t ¨Jumping.¨ It seems to appease my audience and is true.

I even explain that the horses that never stop at the fence, that hit fewer rails, that don´t fall down in their turns, are the ones that have a firm basis in groundwork- and likewise with the riders. The riders that have a good seat, light hands, and feel minute changes in their horse´s rhythm are the ones that don´t come off when the horse refuses. The idea of working at the walk first, then the trot, then the canter seems incredibly patient, more so than argentinians or brazilians have. Though they do have beautiful horses.

Fortunately this doesn´t translate to the therapy arena. Everyone I have seen has worked with their kids and adults on the basics first, and understand the significance of small victories - relaxing a fist, grabbing a ring, uttering a sound. By enforcing basic balance, trunk control, and gross motor skills the rider will automatically gain futher benefits - without having to do anything! Riding in circles and extending both arms (together or one at a time) works muscles on both sides of the torso. Suddenly the rider can sit up at home, walks more easily, in many cases abandons a wheelchair or walker, has more energy because they are able to breathe more efficiently, and speech patterns improve. Why? Because they worked on something basic first. Patiently.

OK, I can apply my patience to riding and all things horses. Now i just have to learn to apply it to airport security and the omnipresent dude who leisurely rolls his Lacoste Rolling Carry-On Accessory across the entire airplane exit ramp, because neither he nor anyone in the 37 rows behind him, has a connecting flight leaving in 32 minutes.

probably wont write for another 3 months now

The following is what i sent to the Fellowships Coordinator after nearly 3 months into the project. it´s true, i probably won´t write in this blog until the halfway review. i would rather spend my time with the horses.....

enjoy.


“Equinoterapia is pretty much the same everywhere; one may use more games or different toys, but basically it is the same. You will come to realize that on your trip.”

This was told to me by one of the riding instructors who built a therapeutic riding program in Uruguay after having gone to school for therapeutic riding in Italy and Argentina. At the time I was 10 weeks into the year-long journey to note the differences, or lack thereof, of therapeutic riding centers around the world. If this woman was right, would the 52 weeks and $22000 be wasted? For a while I was worried that at the end I would find nothing I couldn´t have learned about therapeutic riding at the center I worked for at home in Pennsylvania. I would have good stories, but little new about therapeutic riding.

Then I realized that she just meant that all centers use the horse as a therapeutic facilitator. In that case, of course all centers are the same, that principle allows the community to have national and international associations, hold conferences, and exchange ideas under the common name of therapeutic riding, or equoterapia, or equinoterapia. But the differences from one center to another are important. Compare these centers to doctors. All doctors can evaluate your health and prescribe medicines, but not all are equal. One must feel comfortable with the doctor, the office location, the office staff, and his or her qualifications, or you don´t return to that doctor. Now imagine there is only one doctor in the county, or even the state. If you don’t have a choice, the differences are less important as getting healthcare, but the doctor should not take that fact for granted.

Likewise with therapeutic riding. Though it is new and there are few centers, those who choose to supplement therapies for riders with cerebral palsy, autism, multiple sclerosis, Down´s Syndrome, paralysis, or any of the other disabilities served by therapeutic riding, deserve the best possible experience. Thus the games one plays, the setting, the staff, and the philosophy of the center does matter, apart from the horse itself.

This is what I have been thinking about while in Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina. Though my original proposal was to stay in Brazil for this period, I met people from centers throughout South America in the International Congress of Therapeutic Riding and it became clear that other countries would be as important, if not more, to visit than seeing only ANDE (Asociacao Nacional de Equoterapia) affiliated centers in Brazil. Before the Congress, there was no way of knowing this as both in Uruguay and Argentina, there is very little internationally published literature for the small and new programs. However, they proved invaluable contrasts to the military-run structure of the Brazilian program. For example, I was surprised at how many South American programs are run by or aided by the government. In Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina, the cavalry is a long standing tradition that has become obsolete with the mechanization of armies worldwide. However socially they are prestigious and not eliminated. Many have given space and three or four horses for a therapy program as a social responsibility. Other private centers provide jobs by employing people to lead the horses and act as auxiliars for more highly compromised riders. In both cases, though, the rider must not be going to therapy, but rather for riding lessons. Making it sportive increases the quality of life of the rider by providing an escape from their disability, where they are just practicing a sport with other riders.


A very brief summary of my travels thus far is as follows:
August 4 – Sept 4 – ANDE-Brasil (Brasilia, Brasil)
Sept 10-24 – Centro de Equoterapia de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brasil
Sept 28-30 – Equinoterapia, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Oct 2 – 7 – Equinoterapia “Sin Limites” Montevideo, Uruguay
Oct 9 – 14 - Escuela de Equitación del Ejercito, Montevideo, Uruguay
Oct 15-21 – Fundación de Equinoterapia San Juan, San Juan, Argentina
Oct 22-24 – “Chicos y Caballos,” Mendoza, Argentina
Oct 27 – Nov. 5 – Asociación Hondureña de Equitación Terapeutica

The Federation of Riding for the Disabled International Congress in August was a convenient way to begin the project, as I was able to make plenty of contacts who assured me I could go visit their centres and fully support the project. It also introduced all of the scientific work that had not been published before the congress. I learned much more about the work and the different schools of thought than had been available before the Congress occurred. One in particular was Mexico and the Central American association of therapeutic riding. Mexico is one of the strongest associations of therapeutic riding, and had a large contingency in the Congress. They are working to integrate other alternative therapies such as music, as well as quantify the benefits of riding with neurochemicals released by riding. One problem for therapeutic riding programs is a lack of acceptance in the medical community due to the largely anecdotal benefits of a riding program, with little quantified results. Several centers in Mexico are working to change this. For this reason, I would also like to revise my proposal to include Central America. I will spend November and December, before the vacations, in Mexico, in addition to visiting Honduras where issues of poverty also are included. I have several contacts in central Mexico that have agreed to host me, though I plan to stay with one center and travel briefly to others nearby.

Finally, I am struck by how excited my contacts have been about the project. Everyone has requested frequent emails, particularly once I reach the exotic locations like Singapore and Germany. They want to know not just what works these places present at conferences, but what the lessons are like day-to-day. Do they play the same games, do the same exercises, use the same horses, have the same professionals? These area all questions I have been asked about equinoterapia in the United States. They have just as many questions for me as I do for them! Furthermore, that someone from the first world has come all the way to South America – to their center – to learn about therapeutic riding is special and fulfilling for them. I received Official recognition from the government of San Juan, Argentina, for the project, and was received by Colonels and Commandants of the Brazilian and Uruguayan army. The more people I meet, the more I realize the fact that I am interested in them is as important for their work, that they continue to grow and to realize the difference they are making. Sometimes it just takes someone from the outside to point those things out.

I know all centers are not the same, I have already realized that. They all are built from the basic principles of therapeutic riding, namely the tridimensional motion of the horse and the warmth transmitted from the horse´s back. Yet each director of a program imbeds a different personality in the center. For that reason, they are not equal. In Montevideo, riders can choose between riding in the country´s finest polo club with three women who do nothing but therapy, or in the country´s finest riding school with soldiers conducting the horses. Neither is better, but providing an option of different styles allows the rider to find one that best suits their own personality. Providing a comfortable, enjoyable, and fun experience is essential to this therapy which is not clinical but sport; this is the only way to improve the quality of life, physically as well as mentally. I look forward to many more unique programs, not only to learn more myself but to share methods and techniques that I have seen elsewhere, help make appropriate contacts, and even more promises to return or at least meet in the next International Congress in Germany in 2009.