Weekly Program: S.I.R.E. & Therapeutic Horseback Riding Programs

The mission of SIRE is to improve the quality of life for people with special needs through therapeutic horsemanship activities and therapies, and educational outreach.  SIRE serves the regin from three locations:  Hockley, located west of Tomball; Spring, east of I-45 and north of FM 1960; and Fort Bend, at the Richmond State Supported Living Center.  The need is great with over 700,000 people n the greater Houston area with disabilities.  SIRE provides 26 therapy horses who play a critical role in healing and changing lives.  Riders' diagnoses include autism (the most common diagnosis - 36% of the riders), cerebral palsy, down syndrome, developmental delays, intellectual disabilities, brain injuries, neurological disorders, spinal disorders, psychiatric disorders, seizure disorders, autoimmune disorders, muscular dystrophy, and multiple sclerosis.  The benefits of horseback riding include the strengthening of bodies through improved muscle tone and balance, for example, and through the inputs of the horse's walking, so much like human walking.  It encourages learning, increasing the ability to remember, to listen and follow directions and to sequence activities.  It nourishes spirits by providing unconditional acceptance and unparalleled motivating, by fostering self-reliance and self-control, through providing challenges and competition, and by exposure to the natural world.  Nearly 2/3 of the clients are children.  One parents stated, "My child began as a non-verbal, anti-social young girl.  Through the love and dedication of the SIRE staff, volunteers and wonderful horses, she is a happy, confident, funny young lady". 

 

"Therapeutic riding offers controlled risk so our riders safely enjoy the benefits and stimulation of adrenaline", stated Anthony Busacca, SIRE's Site Director and Master Instructor.  100% of their clients report physical improvement and 98% report social and emotional benefits.  SIRE has 14 certified riding instructors, including 4 master instructors.  They also deliver instructor training and professional education programs with an increasing demand each year.  SIRE's Executive Director, Lili Kellogg, shares, "SIRE's wonderful clients continue to ride beyond their struggles and make improvements in the physical, intellectual, emotional, and communication aspects of their lives.  The power of the horse and human combination never ceases to amaze me."

 

For many, a horseback ride is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon or play out their John Wayne fantasies.  But for riders at the Richmond State Supported Living Center, riding is just what the doctor ordered AND this is why.  Research on therapeutic riding and hippotherapy indicates positive results with benefits that transfer to daily living.  A study published in the "Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation" in June, 2009 found that adductor muscle activity improved significantly after 10 minutes of hippotherapy in a group of children with spastic cerebral palsy. A second follow-up study with a small group of children pulled from the larger first group found that this group had gains in motor abilities that were sustained 12 weeks after the end of the study particularly in those skills involving upright support such as standing and walking.  An anecdotal benefit was that the parents commented that their children showed an enhanced confidence in their abilities that carried over into many aspects of the children's lives.  Also, in a research study published in May, 2011 in "Alternative Therapies", researchers evaluated children with autism after the children participated in a therapeutic riding program for three months and six months.  The researchers found that the severity of autism symptoms was reduced as measured by the Childhood Autism Raing Scale, and the children displayed significant improvements in mood and tone as measured by the Timberlawn Parent-Child Interaction Scale.  A parent-rated quality of life assessment showed improvement as well.

 

As a US Marine, Steven Schulz was living just another day in a soldier's life at Fallujah, 43 miles west of Baghdad when his world exploded along with a large part of his brain.  His skull was penetrated by shrapnel destroying 90% of his right frontal lobe.  A once bright future ended on the desert sands that were being liberated from a deadly megalomaniacal regime.   Steve is finding rehabilitation, fulfillment, and fun, on the back of a horse.  "If I can control a horse, I can control anything," the severely handicapped Marine told Horseback Magazine (November, 2011).