I was very pleased today to be able to observe Gwyneth's hippotherapy session. When she started in August, it was upsetting for her to see me nearby because she wanted me to "rescue" her. But now she is comfortable riding the horses, so I watched from a distance today.
Today Gwyneth rode on a golden horse named Heidi. She looked so cute with a giant helmet on top of her little body riding forwards, then backwards on the horse, and then side-saddle. The OT walks along side the horse and holds onto Gwyn while a volunteer leads the horse. They stop and start a lot to work on Gwyn's balance. When they were stopped I could hear the OT asking Gwyn to tell the horse "Go, please" or "Walk, please" and Gwyn would yell it out.
When the riding was done, Gwyn's OT held her hands and asked Gwyn to slide off the horse. It is unbelievable to me that Gwyn would scoot forward to slide off the saddle and fall to ground with only her hands being held. She really trusts her OT. I expected her to be scared and need help down. When she was on the ground, the OT had Gwyn say "Thank you, Heidi" to the horse and pet her nose. As they walked away, they said "Bye, Heidi" and "See you later, Heidi." Extra adorable to hear Gwyn talking to Heidi. :) I love seeing Gwyn so comfortable with an animal that is so much larger than herself. I am thrilled that we were able to get her cleared for hippotherapy after her brief diagnosis of AAI (Atlanto-Axial Instability) was reversed. It has been so good for her!
No comments:
Post a Comment