A Senior rider is pictured getting on and off at a lift.

To think, over 100 years ago, people had horses and no cars. Children learned to ride a horse at a very early age, and people rode horses until cars replaced them.

When we first opened, one of our first riders was an 82-year-old woman with severe intellectual disability. She was born in 1912. Miriam could not talk but made sounds that were mostly unintelligible garble. Quite fit and agile, she excitedly walked up to each stall, mumbling something to each horse, with a big smile on her face. The pre-riding evaluation consisted of checking the range of motion in her hips so as to be sure she could sit astride the horse, and that she had no medical contraindications to riding. With two side-walkers and a leader for her first ride, the rest of the evaluation was done on the horse: ability to follow directions, balance, and response to riding. It was apparent that she had ridden a horse before.

After speaking with one of the staff who brought the group, we were told of her background. She lived on a farm prior to being institutionalized. During the assessment, she demonstrated some of the cues to make the horse go and even held the reins and pulled back and uttered something to stop.

Her smile was contagious! It was so fascinating to watch her remember her life as a child, and to demonstrate something she had remembered from so long ago, all with a smile that brought so much joy to those observing. She walked a little wobbly when she first got off but ran again to all the stalls to look at all the horses.

People with intellectual disabilities have memories, feelings and needs, just like everyone else. They just can’t always express them.

I did not grow up on a farm nor was I born before cars were a household form of transportation. Watching Miriam ride was a surprise to me (and most of the others at the barn at that time!)

Who’d have thought?

But for most seniors today (likely baby boomers), who have not been on a horse in many years, or never, there are some precautions. Our bodies do not easily adjust to different positions, such as torque to our knees, or stretch to our hips. We do want people, with or without disabilities, to experience some of the benefits of horseback riding, without increased risk of injury. We also want you to discover the joy of horses and to see what we are all about at Centaur Stride.

We have a hydraulic lift to get on and off the horse, and we match the horse to the rider. Our horses are therapy horses and very gentle. We also recommend flexible stirrup leathers so there is not so much torque (strain) to the knees (English saddles have more flexible stirrup leathers than Western). But horseback riding is exercise and likely uses muscles that you may not have used in a while and may produce some soreness and fatigue. So, you may have a much-needed thrilling adventure to cap off your “bucket list,” but your legs may be a little wobbly when you first get off!

Some of the benefits besides the thrill of being on the horse include improved digestion from the rhythmic pelvic mobility while on the horse, activated postural muscle control, stretching to the ankle plantarflexor muscles and movement on the horse with eyes open and then eyes closed help with balance, to name just a few.

Horses are emotional, soulful animals. They intuitively read human emotions and are experts at understanding body language.

A horse’s electromagnetic field, however, is stronger and five times larger than a human’s, creating a sphere-shaped field that can directly influence human heart rhythm and emotions. Within a very short time of touching a horse, its heart will cause a change in those within their electromagnetic field.

It’s no wonder that “There’s something about the outside of a horse that’s good for the inside of a man!”

Call to schedule a “Healing with Horses” experience, only $35 minimum donation. (716)326-4318. Thank you for your support! https//linktr.ee/centaurstride