Peteyfoozer’s Journey (because journaling’s not enough)

[peteyfoozer]

L

Will some of the cowboys butcher? Have a pig roast! It's labor day weekend

i wish. There’s no help here on the ranch.

 

[Baymule]

I would think that there would be a sense of community on the ranch. How disappointing.

 

[peteyfoozer]

Thinking back on some of the cool things I used to do. One of the hardest, but most rewarding, was opening an Equine Assisted Therapy Center. I was giving a lesson in the round pen one day, when our Asst Pastor showed up with his 3 yr old son who had Downs. He wanted to sit on the horse, so I lifted him up and the joy on his face was incredible. I thought how sad it was, that kids with disabilities didn’t get to experience things that other kids did. I was new in my relationship with Jesus and He had such a fun way of getting me to do things. I was just dinging around on the internet a few days later and happened across an article about Down Syndrome kids and Equine Therapy.
Too weird to be coincidence. Suffice it to say, a year later I took a couple months off from horsetraining to take classes and be certified as an Instructor for NARHA (North American Riding for the Handicapped Association) qualifying in treating both physical and cognitive disabilities. I put all the money I had, into getting ramps built, special tack, making props, getting a 501c3 and other legal paperwork done, connecting with the powers that be which give support services to special needs kids, acquiring and training horses to deal with wheelchairs, crutches, aforementioned props and every possible thing a child could do on its back without spooking.
I found a few volunteers (but hardly enough) to help execute the lessons and we began.
Tehachapi, my town and home, was just a tiny little mountain community. Imagine my shock to find there were 640 special kids in our school district!! That was a lot.

Every child had to be evaluated by me prior to entering the program. I found a physical therapist who didn’t like animals but came on board anyway, as an advisor. I will spend the next several posts sharing stories of some of my “kids” and pray that it touches any of you who might have a spare afternoon, or dollar, or anything to give, to a similar program near you. Volunteers to walk alongside the kids while on horseback are always in short supply and are mandatory.

There is a program in Bakersfield (MARE) The largest percentage of their clients present with Cerebral Palsy. I assumed it would be the same for us, so spent my 8 weeks of intensive training working with all the clients of the San Juan Capistrano facility where they certify Instructors, working with their CP affected clients.
But God’s sense of humor came through as always and 80% of MY kids presented with autism. The one disability I had the least experience or understanding of.
(If you know Him, you can guess the reasons)

My program was called R.I.S.E. (Riding Instruction for Special Equestrians) and this was our logo

(I still have my red sweatshirt )

 

[SageHill]

There is something magical about sitting on a horse and moving around. No pun intended it is very centering.
I never volunteered that way, my dogs and I went into hospitals and worked with nurses, doctors and occupational therapists. I was among the first to start doing that back in 1981-2. Continued through late 2015-ish, as all of the sudden it became a "thing" and tons of people started doing it for all the wrong reasons.

 

[peteyfoozer]

There is something magical about sitting on a horse and moving around. No pun intended it is very centering.
I never volunteered that way, my dogs and I went into hospitals and worked with nurses, doctors and occupational therapists. I was among the first to start doing that back in 1981-2. Continued through late 2015-ish, as all of the sudden it became a "thing" and tons of people started doing it for all the wrong reasons.

I would love to certify Boone as a therapy dog. I had that lady beg me to take him to the group home where there were lots of hospice patients. She said seeing dogs helps them so much and Boone would love it, as he loves meeting people and he’s so gentle. But being this far from town, getting gis CGC and going through the cert process doesn’t seem possible for us

 

[Mini Horses]

I had 2 very tiny mares in my mini days, who went to nursing homes & they were soooo loved! The people with farm back-thoughts had wonderful stories they remembered at the touch of the little horses. Of course, they were as "large" as the old friends they were remembering & loved.

We hosted all manner of scout troops, special needs groups and such at our farm in summer. There were rides in carts, petting, brushing, question & answer times....bunnies to pet, goats to milk, chickens to watch and, of course, the tiniest of foals to be adored!

It took a group of volunteers for such gatherings! Great fun. A teaching and learning experience.

 

[SageHill]

I would love to certify Boone as a therapy dog. I had that lady beg me to take him to the group home where there were lots of hospice patients. She said seeing dogs helps them so much and Boone would love it, as he loves meeting people and he’s so gentle. But being this far from town, getting gis CGC and going through the cert process doesn’t seem possible for us

I know things have changed, but if you wanted to do it I'd contact them, explain he's not "certified" but is in training for being an SD and if they would like you could do visits. When I first started I contacted a nursing home nearby and offered - they asked to meet the dogs, which we did and then said they would love to have us if we would commit to a year -- I said sure and it was several years visiting there until we moved to CA.
PS -- at the time there was no such thing as certification - yeah that long ago. Now certification is a "feather in everyone's cap" so to speak and looked upon as a title for many dog people.

 

[peteyfoozer]

One of the most amazing results of RISE were made by a little 4 yr old girl. She had been completely non-verbal all her life, spent a great deal of time self-stimming, and was basically completely out of control. Her mom was a tiny little Asian woman who looked and most likely was, completely exhausted all the time. We didn’t have much hope of any progress being made because of the severity of Aiko’s symptoms, but I accepted her in the program because it meant her mom got 1/2 hr break 2x a week, where she could actually just sit down and breathe while we kept Aiko safe.
I had 2 “sidewalkers” and a horse leader for Aiko, and my goal was to somehow get her attention, as she acted as though she could not see or hear you and was just in constant motion. I explained what I wanted my team to do, then told them to “walk on”. We only took a few strides to realize it wasn’t gonna work. I said “whoa”, came up with a different plan and again said “walk on”. Again, there was no response from Aiko. I said “whoa” and as I was explaining what our next attempt would look like, Aiko begin rocking back-and-forth and very clearly said “walk on”
I was confused because her mother had told us she had never spoken or verbalized in any way. Not even grunting.
As I looked over, her mom was holding onto the top rail with white knuckles and tears were rolling down her face. It was the first time she had ever heard her daughter‘s voice.
As it turns out, Aiko was extremely bright. Her autism created a need for constant movement. For the first time in her life, that movement was being provided for her by the horse. She was content and relaxed while the horse was walking, and it only took her two times to figure out that if someone said
“walk on” the horse would move. Not willing to wait for me to do so, she did it herself. She had no difficulty forming the words and no difficulty making the sounds. We were all pretty much in shock.
The following day her mom showed up with her Special Ed teacher. The teacher told me that Aiko’s mom had explained what happened the day before. She said “you have the motivation, I have the expertise. Let’s join forces and get Aiko to talk”

Using small picture cards, Wilma the teacher had me hold up a card and say what it was. (Ie: ball, shoe, etc) Aiko had to repeat it then we would make the horse walk a bit.
Another breakthrough came a few weeks later, when I showed her a picture of a horse. It was the first time that she made a connection. Prior to this, she would become fixated on parts of the horse. Once, she slipped out of a sidewalker’s hand and was hanging off the other side of the horse upside down watching its feet go back-and-forth. (She had no concept of fear or of hurting herself) I always used a vaulting surcingle so the kids would have as much contact as possible with just a blanket between them and the horse, but they had handles to hold onto in front of them. Sometimes I made them ride backwards. (There are reasons) Aiki was fascinated with the horse’s hips and we handed her the end of its tail. It disappeared when she let go, which baffled her. All she perceived was parts.
The day of the horse, she was on a little palomino mare. The horse on the card was yellow and when I said “horse”, the lightbulb went on. You could see it in her eyes as she hollered HORSE!!!! She squeezed the mare’s neck, twisted around and touched her hips, peeked under the saddle pad, saying “horse!” over and over. She had put all those seemingly separate parts together.

Aiko’s first session was in May.
In August I was invited to her speech therapy session where she named and identified flashcards of colors, fruits and animals.
God uses horses to do miracles in the lives of special children. Aiko was just one of many.

 

[SageHill]

Love that!!
I’ve got one for you (long ago)
My dog Daisy and I worked in a local hospital. We would go once a week and more when asked. Often a therapist would go room to room with us telling me what they wanted the dog to do. A lot of the patients were long term - stroke, brain stem injuries, etc. One young man we visited week after week. Daisy’s job was to work over the top of him, nudging here and there. After many weeks months we were doing the normal routine as I told him the story of Daisy’s weekend. Up till this point he was always non-responsive. This time though Daisy broke through- he laughed. The therapist jumped up and said do that again. So we did, Daisy working and me twllpof her weekend. He laughed again. As I continued our session the therapist disappeared. When we’d finished she returned and said “We’ve called his family and they are on the way”.
Later that year he had a birthday party - sooo many people were there and while ot was his birthday he had Daisy as the guest of honor. Also made sure there was no chocolate in the cake so Daisy could have a piece. He still had a long road ahead, but it was Daisy who broke through.
Each of my dogs has their own stories of breakthroughs. It’s moments like those that make the heart sing.

 

[Mini Horses]

Animals are amazing!! What they bring, sense, offer, and encourage is phenomenal.