Otterbein curriculum provides equine-assisted therapy

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Westerville

Get back on the horse. That’s what the participants in Otterbein University’s therapeutic riding courses are learning to do.

Just a year ago, Otterbein’s equine program added an innovative new minor: equine assisted activities and therapies. This new minor is multifaceted and involves helping individuals with physical or mental disabilities, who have been shown to respond positively.

 “The movement of the horse is supposed to help to move your pelvis in a way similar to if you were walking,” says Dr. Steffanie Burk, who created the minor at Otterbein. “So, for somebody who’s unable to walk, they’re still getting that type of movement from the horse. It can help them to build up similar muscles that you’d be using as if you’re walking.”

Therapeutic riding and other activities such as driving the horse help to develop core strength, says Burk.

“Most people think you’re just sitting up there like you’d be sitting in a chair, but the horse is moving in three dimensions while you’re up there,” she says. “So you have a lot more movement and it kind of shifts you on and off balance.”

Allie Rubenstein, a New Jersey native who graduated from Otterbein this past May with a bachelor’s degree in education, was part of the first round of students to graduate with the equine assisted activities and therapies minor.

“The end of my sophomore year is when Dr. Burk brought up the idea of the equine assisted activities and therapies minor, and I thought that was the greatest thing ever,” says Rubenstein. “I was actually on the curriculum committee, so I definitely pushed for it when the proposal came to the committee.”

Both Burk and Rubenstein have begun to witness the benefits of therapeutic riding, such as improved confidence and sociability.

“One of our participants has autism, and his mom has told us that he doesn’t talk so much, which is very typical for an individual with autism,” says Rubenstein. “The first day that I taught him to trot, he went home and he talked to his mom all about it, told her everything about riding and the horses. She thought that was so great, that her son actually came home and talked to her.”

“I’ve definitely seen improved confidence,” says Burk. “There was one girl who, at the beginning, when we had the therapeutic riding class, took 20 minutes to get on the horse. But by the end, she was straight on.”

The creation of the minor has also been an important development for the greater Westerville community, especially through its partnership with the Special Olympics.

“I needed a population for the students to work with during the lab time because I wanted them to get hands-on experience with teaching actual riders with disabilities riding skills,” says Burk. “So I thought Special Olympics would be a good population to work with.”

Prior to the development of this minor, the Westerville Special Olympics didn’t have an equestrian program. Now, Westerville residents with disabilities can participate in equestrian events.

“Last year, and this year we’re going to do it again, we took two riders to the state (Special Olympics) competition in Cincinnati,” says Burk.

Rubenstein hopes that the program will continue to expand to meet the needs of the community.

Otterbein offers an assortment of classes under equine assisted activities, including therapeutic riding, in which students learn how to teach those with disabilities how to ride, and equine assisted learning, in which students learn to teach those with disabilities other facets of horse care without actually riding the horse.

Moreover, in equine therapies, a licensed social worker teaches courses on equine facilitated psychotherapy, where the focus is more on mental health than riding skills.

“I think it brings more to Otterbein and the community,” says Rubenstein.

Hailey Stangebye is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.

Straight from the Horse’s Mouth

Meet Socks. He’s one of the horses involved in the Special Olympics partnership. He’s a chestnut colored appendix, which is a cross between a thoroughbred and a quarter horse. Socks is an old timer at Otterbein at 23 years old.

Meet Ted. He’s the large Irish sport horse with brown and white coloring. Ted is particularly valuable to the therapeutic riding team. He’s often used for lessons, regardless of the rider’s skill level.

Meet Elvis. Elvis is the newbie of the bunch. He’s only been with Otterbein for about a month and is a delightful Haflinger/paint cross.

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