By Pauine Meridien | Executive Director
We received a new submission to our "Contact Form" on our website:
"Hello, My daughter Carmel H is 7 years old experiences autism, some low muscle tone. She used to do hippotherapy when she was 3 and 4 years old, and enjoyed it very much. I am wondering if you have any availability in June for her to try it again? We live in Concord, NH and are very close by. Carmel has some funding from her area agency and we wanted to have her use horses to improve her core strength and possibly her fine motor strength. Thank you. NV
We are committed to serving children on the spectrum, free of charge. Most riders do not have alternative funding as Carmel had. Her mom was able to gather the needed MD clearance, and other paperwork, and she bagan riding in June. In August, I received the following email from her mom:
"We also wanted you to know how much we appreciate everything Melissa, Kathy and the volunteers do. An amazing job! Carmel has learned what Stop means! I know this may seem like a small issue, but it's important for us especially when she is trying to run away and we yell at her to stop. She used the hand sign for 'halt' and said "sto" which she learned while riding Gideon, (her pony), and understands it means to stop."
Sometimes the horses are wiser than we are, and teach lessons far more important than the ones we set for them: improving core strength, and fine motor skills. Carmel will be safer this fall because her horse was able to demonstrate the meaning of "stop". I hope you all will take a moment to stop, and consider another donation to support our riders with autism. Carmel is fortunate to have funds to cover this summer's lessons, but many of our riders depend on the generosity of Global Giving Members to help them traverse the bumpy trails they negotiate on the Spectrum.
Thanks to you we will be able to keep our committment of allowing all riders on the Sopectrum to spend quality time with our therapy herd, free of charge to the client!
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