Centaur Stride’s existence is a process of learning what is needed, what works and what doesn’t, trying to decipher the reasons, and creatively thinking of solutions, without giving up! After all, people with disabilities and their families face this reality every day. Giving up is not a choice! How nice it is to have a helping hand!

One vivid memory is our involvement in the Paralympic Training Camp in California in 1995. My interest really was to learn more and how the competition could possibly be fair, but the real bonus was that one of our riders, Krisie Auffhammer, with Cerebral Palsy, was granted the opportunity to participate. Krisie was our highest-level rider, being able to trot independently, but not anywhere near the competitive level we would have imagined was required to participate on the USA Paralympic Team.

The competition had eligible classifications for people with physical and visual disabilities that were further divided into five Grade levels for each, according to degree of disability.

The master instructors were there to help everyone improve skills so that they approximated flawless communication between horse and rider to the best of the their abilities.

My role as a physical therapist was to offer consultation to whomever wanted it for techniques to improve physical abilities or to relieve symptoms of pain. Interest grew as the word got out to the advantages of seeking my help. Horse legs wraps (in lieu of elastic ace wraps which we didn’t have) were used to show a rider with post-polio syndrome how to wrap her legs to hold her hips in place to avoid joint pain due to lack of hip strength. A rider cannot be attached to the horse or saddle in any way, so the leg wraps held her legs in place as she performed the sitting trot. She was so happy that she no longer had pain during her lessons. The horse was happier also and it showed.

Vicki, a paraplegic who could not get her horse to make a smooth bend in one direction, was looking for suggestions. She had never worked out on a therapy ball before. I showed her how to try to move the ball side to side and in circles while maintaining a centered posture, with a spotter. This was a lesson in retraining how she used what muscles she had. At first, she couldn’t do it. She was trying to lean sideways on the horse to make him turn since she couldn’t weight shift with her seat. With co-contraction of her core muscles and direct biofeedback from movement of the ball, she was able to use her muscles differently to give the proper cues to her horse. Within the week she could already notice changes in her riding. A year later I got a letter from her telling me she won the Gold Medal in the International 1996 Paralympics and thanked me for teaching her about the ball.

Watching the riders who were totally blind compete independently was most amazing. There were “living letters”. In a Dressage arena, properly positioned dressage letters are key to correctly executing the required movements of a test. There was a person at each letter continuously softly chanting the letter. By the sound and the proximity of the sound, the rider knew where they were in the ring. They knew exactly how many strides there were each step of their routine. It was beautiful to watch horse and rider with absolute trust!

The best part though was the changes in Krisie. She was so excited, like she had just won the lottery! It was such a boost in her self-esteem! She recently sent an email testimonial saying, “The experience was worth so much more than I can say and a memory I will never forget and always carry in my heart”.

With your support, the possibilities at Centaur Stride continue to bloom! We love making memories! Thank you! https//linktr.ee/centaurstride