Horses also have an excellent sense of smell and can detect changes in human hormones through the chemicals humans release. Cortisol is released when someone is fearful or anxious. Endorphins are released when a person is calm and happy.

When we first opened our center, people said, “I can’t believe you would risk putting someone with a disability on a horse!” I thought the same thing until I witnessed the sensitivity of the horse at training seminars.

I was always most impressed by our horses’ ability to know when someone had special needs. Then I witnessed it with our own horses, especially Whiskey. Whiskey was my husband’s horse, and he could give even an experienced rider a run for their money, maybe just to test them. When we first put someone with a disability on him, he was a totally different horse. He stepped gingerly, always mindful of the movement of the person on his back and working in sync with that person so that that person would not fall off. He would take steps to the side if the balance of the rider shifted. He would change his speed to slow, slower or stop as needed even without cues.

Of course, there were side-walkers and leaders for extra safety until we all learned how this really worked. Trust had to be built both ways. It really was quite unbelievable. I’m not sure what chemicals were evident or how they knew just what was needed, but they always taught me something and they always seemed to know what was needed by that rider. It was like all sense of danger was gone and only nurturing remained.

Our therapy horses go through extensive training to make it into our programs. Horses can be as individual as people, all from different backgrounds and experiences, both good and bad. Not all horses exhibit this outward nurturing nature. It may be suppressed and take lots of love and rehabilitation to express it. To be a therapy horse requires that it is not suppressed.

There is a whole different set of emotions and needs separating siblings of people with disabilities from those with disabilities. Family dynamics shift when there is someone in the family with a disability. Roles of the caregivers are more intense in relation to the greater demands of special needs and dependency for their care. Sometimes, the needs of the siblings come last, not intentionally but out of necessity or exhaustion of the caregiver.

Through a small grant from the M&T Charitable Foundation, Centaur Stride has been able to schedule monthly clinics to focus on the caregivers and the siblings of children with disabilities, through interactions with our therapy horses and guest speakers.

This month, on Thursday, Aug. 14 from 4 to 5:30 p.m., our clinic focuses on Sibs and Kids with disabilities. We will have a Meet & Greet our horses and talk about the extrasensory perception of our therapy horses and give participants a chance to experience the ability of the horses to read their body language. We will also teach participants how to read the horse’s body language and begin to learn how to communicate with them.

We hope to give everyone a small inkling of what it is like to bond with a horse, to allow the horse to read them like a book, without divulging secrets or hidden feelings, but helping them to work through those feelings and feel the connection.

This clinic is for siblings over 6 years of age and their brother or sister with a disability. Parents must stay for the clinic. For more information or to make a reservation, call us at (716) 326-4318. Centaur Stride is located at 8488 Jones Rd., Sherman, NY 14781. Linktr.ee/centaurstride

Claudia Monroe is Centaur Stride president.