Horses as a Path to Healing and Hope for the Disabled
The Therapeutic Equestrian Center in the Hudson Valley (Philipstown, NY) offers a safe place for people with a variety of disabilities -- from children to veterans -- to ride and work with horses as a path to building physical and emotional strength and coordination. www.myfeettakewings.org/ I shot this video for the group, focusing on Jesse Jankus (with permission, of course). Her father, Jordan, sent this note about his daughter's condition and the program at TEC: Jess has ataxic cerebral palsy, an impairment from birth, which challenges her with low muscle tone and poor balance. She's been trying therapeutic riding since she was about ten, on and off, and Leslie's TEC program is clearly the best one we've ever encountered. Other programs never had the same level of support staff around the horse and the training was haphazard. Besides being a beautiful new facility, TEC really has an intensive training element complemented by the eager volunteer staff. At other programs, Jess would complain for most of the time she was on the horse, but at TEC, she actually looks forward to her lessons. Also, the access to mounting is so much better than other places. Getting on the horse with portable stairs was a real challenge for Jess' precarious balance system. I've recommended the program to many agencies in Westchester, Rockland & Putnam. The music is my tune "Song for Lisa." More music here: revkin.bandcamp.com
