How to Choose a Horseback Therapy Program for Your Loved One

Using horses for physical therapy has been around for ages. I can personally look back to hearing about handicapped riding programs at least 30 years ago. Not all riding programs are created equal. Some are simply fantastic while others are a total rip-off and could in fact make the rider worse. So what do you look for when deciding to choose a horseback riding program that offers therapy to a handicapped person?

First and foremost, always check the background of any therapy program you are considering. Get the names of the people involved and run a simple Google search on their names and the name of the program. Any negative marks on their record should show up. If your underage child will be in the program you want to make sure that the program has screened all of their volunteers and paid employees with a criminal background check. That would be a standard procedure in many states but if the program is not doing that, it would send up a red flag.

Next you want to get a copy of their liability insurance and know if they are a non-profit or a for profit program. Problems with getting that information or being told it is a non-profit when in fact the IRS has no record of them would send up more red flags.

You will want to find out if they have a person that is on staff or on their board of directors that has a medical background. Most fly by night programs don't but the really good ones do. In fact most of the excellent programs were started up by people with medical backgrounds. Also stay away from any program that does not require their volunteers or paid staff that work with the program participants to have CPR and or first aid certification.

Next comes the most important part of the program, the horses and the instructors. You will want to witness a lesson in person before deciding to have your loved one join the program. The horses will need to be quite and extremely well behaved. The instructors must be very caring and knowledgeable of each riders physical abilities. A program that simply puts a person on a horse without first finding out what types of limiting movements that rider has, is a sham.

Lastly, here is a quick list of what to stay away from:
*Programs that use horses that are lame or have physical issues themselves.
*Programs that have moved from place to place in a short amount of time.
*Look at the condition of the horses, if they look to be kept in less than safe areas, underfed or ungroomed most of the time, stay away.
*Programs that are always begging for money. Yes money is tight but a well run program will have an established budget in place and an income flow.
*Programs that have instructors that simply have no clue about the physical well being of the rider. Instructors like that will make the rider worse and put them into a very painful future.

Taking the time to find the right program for a handicapped person will pay off in the long run. If the only program that you could find close enough to you does not measure up to your standards then just skip it entirely. It is best that you think of your loved one first rather than risk their future health on a horseback riding place that is masquerading as a handicapped riding therapy program.

For more information visit the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association at NARHA.com