TREE House of Greater St.Louis (week two)

My second week at TREE House, I learned a lot about the actual therapy that they do. I learned how and why they use horses to conduct therapy on people. (I’ll save the interesting facts for my presentation) I also learned how I can help, as a side-walker, to make sure that the therapy is getting done right. Side-Walking is when you, as a volunteer, walk on the side of the horse and hold on to the child or adult to make sure that they are safe and using the right muscles in their body to hold them up. It was definitely the highlight of my entire shadowing experience. I got to work with so many different people who were riding and using therapy for all different reasons. There were people who used it for mental illness, behavior, empathy, concentration, focus, to strengthen their proprioception and vestibular senses, and to use the horse for physical therapy. It was really eye-opening to see the range of differences the horse can strengthen.