raising hunter

Today Hunter had his first Hippotherapy session. Hippo? No not hippos, it's therapy with the aid of horses. Horses are used to help with all different kinds of therapy, from physical to speech to emotional etc. Riding a horse takes a lot of core muscle strength which is also the same area in which your speech comes from thus helping quite a bit with projecting speech. I'm not explaining it like I wish I could so here's a link to more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippotherapy

The idea was brought up not long ago to have Hunter maybe try it out, after all it can't hurt any. Generally there is a 4-6 month waiting list for kids to get in on the program. Hunter was lucky enough to snag a spot quickly though, I'm guessing someone graduated from the program so a spot became available. I was pleasantly surprised how quick this all happened. I mean what a great opportunity for Hunter. I want to say a huge "thank you" to both Jenny and Emilie for helping make this happen...you two have been beyond helpful with so much...

We made the drive out to the ranch east of the city, it was about a 40 min drive but actually quite nice and didn't seem like that long of a drive. We walked into a huge barn/arena where they were just finishing up the previous session. All the kids got lollipops after, they were quite happy about that...I knew Hunter would be too ; )  We first talked to the therapist, I liked her right away, she was very good with Hunter and explained how things were going to work. She asked about his history and what Hunter was into....we told her planes, trains and automobiles, he's aaaallll boy. She took Hunter to a little toy area in the arena where she interacted with him and she quickly slipped on a belt that he would wear while on the horse, she would be holding onto him the entire time as well. After a few mins they walked over to the horse and hunter got right on no problem. I was sure Hunter would freak out a bit, but to my surprise, he did great. Maybe nervous a bit but no major issues. It was quite a sight to see, my little boy on this huge horse! I'd never imagined I'd be seeing this. Very cool stuff they do here. I've never been into horses but man watching them today, it sure was fascinating. I wonder if they know how much they are helping people..? I am very excited to see Hunter's speech improve that much more..

(I couldn't get very clear pictures inside but you get the idea)...

excuse my terrible filming....again...need to work on my skills...