Harmony Ranch Theraputic Riding Center
 
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Information on Program Director Diana Clemons Musical Instruction, concerts, and camps.

 
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Who is eligible to participate?

Harmony Ranch provides training in horsemanship and therapeutic horseback riding for people with disabilities (physical, mental, emotional, speech, and learning), for persons diagnosed with debilitation or life-threatening illnesses, and for a limited number of able-bodied children and adults. Lessons are designed for the client's specific needs and focus on skills and exercises to enhance the client's quality of life.

Harmony Ranch enlists the help of specially trained instructors, horses and equipment, and is operated by a small staff and a dedicated group of volunteers. Our trained volunteers serve in areas as broad and varied as our imaginations permit. At Harmony Ranch we have volunteer positions available in every capacity from grooming and stable mucking to office work and weed control!

Harmony Ranch needs your help! We gratefully accept financial contributions. It is our policy not to turn any participant away. We appreciate any size donation towards our scholarship program to assist individuals who cannot afford to pay. Harmony Ranch, Inc. is classified as a 501(3)(c) organization, so your contributions may be tax deductible. (Please consult your financial advisor.)
History of Therapuetic Riding
The human body was created to move. We reach, we stretch, we bend and we run. Medical experts tell us that it is healthy for us to walk miles every day or participate in some form physical exercise. Movement relaxes us and fills our bodies with oxygen. Exercise is good for us physically, spiritually and emotionally. However, for many who have physical and emotional disabilities, activities that provide sufficient physical movement can be very limited and their lives become very sedentary. Therapeutic horseback riding programs in one form or another have been around for a very long time. Some experts believe that this knowledge dates back to approximately 400BC. Hippocrates in one of his writings lauded horseback riding as a form of natural exercise. In 1569 the Italian author Merkurialis wrote about the benefits of riding in, "The Art of Gymnastics." Two hundred years later French author Tissot states in his book "Medical and Surgical Gymnastics" that riding at the walk is 'a most beneficial gait.' Although physical therapy using the movement of horses as its source has been considered to be beneficial to humans for thousands of years, it was not until the mid 20th century that equine therapy was catapulted into the medical limelight. In 1952, when a young woman from Denmark named Liz Hartel (who suffered lower extremity paralysis from polio) won a silver medal in Grand Pris Dressage at the Helsinki Olympic Games, equine therapy finally gained the recognition that it needed to become the force that we see today. Pilot programs for equine assisted therapy could suddenly be found popping up throughout Europe and America. Today, with groups like North American Riders for the Handicapped Association (NARHA), Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association (EFMHA) and Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA_ UK), there has been a worldwide movement towards horses in assisted therapy. Equine assisted therapy has been heralded as the catalyst of breakthrough for many, many people. The soothing rhythmic walk of a horse as it moves the human torso gently strengthens and tones the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the entire body. Riding improves balance and posture, and becomes an experience that stimulates both mind and body. Equine assisted activities build communication, self-esteem, teamwork, sequential thinking and problem solving. The freedom and sense of well being experienced by riders in any therapeutic riding center is matched only by the joy of those who are able to witness the interaction of humans and horses. Please come join the fun and become a part of what we are doing at Harmony Ranch.

North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA)

Harmony Ranch operates according to the standards and guidelines of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (http://www.narha.org/).
Benefits of Therapuetic Riding
Physical Benefits
· Improved balance
· Strengthened muscles
· Improved coordination, faster reflexes & better motor planning.
· Stretching of tight or spastic muscles.
· Decreased spasticity.
· Increased range of motion of the joints
· Reduction of abnormal movement patterns.
· Improved respiration and circulation.
· Improved appetite and digestion.
· Sensory integration.

Psychological Benefits
· General sense of well-being.
· Improved self-confidence
· Increased interest in the outside world.
· Increased interest in one's own life.
· Improved risk-taking abilities.
· Development of patience.
· Emotional control and self-discipline
· Sense of normality.
· Expansion of the locus of control.

Educational Benefits
· Remedial Reading.· Remedial Math
· Sequencing, patterning and motor planning.
· Improved eye-hand coordination.
· Visual/spatial perception.
· Differentiation.