Today was my final session working with Lynette (who suffers from cerebral palsy a condition leaving her non-verbal and wheelchair-bound), I found this session particularly rewarding as her improvement over the last 10 weeks was clear as day. She showed visible excitement before mounting the horse and when we told her we would take her to the garden ( the greener side of the RDA/SPC stables) she began giggling and smiling, which was a welcome change to how shy and uncertain she was of me during our first session. Over the past few weeks, her communication skills have improved drastically and she has clearly enjoyed our sessions together, her mother says that any mention of horses or RDA gets her all giddy and excited at home and Lynette is always without fail the first rider to arrive, she is often there long before we arrive.

Although the mental improvements in Lynette have been the most enjoyable to observe due to the relationship building that followed, she has shown significant physical improvements.  During stretches, I have noticed that she has made the connection of copying my movements and her range of motion has increased as a result of the horse riding. Alice (my partner at RDA) and I have been working on strengthening Lynette’s right hand which she tends to curl around her thumb, we have seen noticeable improvements in this area; she has progressed from tensing her arm up the entirety of the ride to being able to hold thin objects such as plastic spoons, and then bowling pins and finally she was able to support herself on the vaulting girth