Our Programs and Services
At Horses Help SWI, Inc. our mission is “to provide equine-assisted therapeutic services in a safe and inclusive environment for individuals with physical, cognitive, emotional, or social challenges.”
Using our trained herd of both full-sized and miniature horses (we call them our “minis”), Horses Help SWI serves clients from southwest Iowa and southeast Nebraska with diagnoses such as Down syndrome; autism spectrum disorder; and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We can also work with individuals with Cerebral Palsy and those who have had a stroke. Our programs are also accessible to local at-risk youth and adults.
Horses Help SWI currently offers adaptive riding lessons, carriage driving and horseback therapy. All of our riding and “on-the-ground” programs are interactive and can combine therapeutic components, such as helping the client with stretching, reaching, grasping, gaining core strength, and improving balance, along with incorporating educational games and exercises—such as a full sensory course. Most of our sessions are done on a one-on-one basis, but some can be facilitated in a group setting.
We currently have three instructors who are certified by Spirit Horse International. This organization, which is headquartered in Florida, provides specialized training to those offering equine-therapy services for individuals with disabilities. The SpiritHorse Mission is: “To assist riders with disabilities in reaching their full potential through interaction with horses.” SpiritHorse provides equine assisted healthcare, which is one-on-one lessons, heavy family involvement, love as the major ingredient, the use of specific methods developed and being developed by SpiritHorse for each disability and the specialists who work with these disabilities. SpiritHorse teaches our people how to help the clients themselves interact safely and effectively with our horses.
The “Horse-Human Connection”
Our programs rely upon the essential “horse-human connection” to serve our clients. This timeless relationship is based upon equines being highly intuitive creatures, and therefore capable of sensing and mirroring peoples’ physical and even emotional behaviors.
When a client becomes comfortable with a horse, both can experience a calming effect, and even learn to understand each other’s cues. Here’s an amazing fact for you: horses are able to hear a human heartbeat from up to four feet away, and in response, they can actually synchronize their own pulse rate with it!
Our Location
Our peaceful, secluded 20-acre property features extensive pastureland, a brand-new Round Pen, perfect for groundwork and lessons, an enclosed and covered 4,300 square foot riding arena, which is great for use on hot days, or during inclement weather. Additionally, we have under construction, a state-of-the-art sensory riding trail incorporating educational and recreational elements meant to entice sight, smell and sound! We are also building a 15,000 square foot outdoor arena that will provide clients room for classes while allowing unobstructed views of the beautiful scenery as they are surrounded by the sights and sounds of nature! Near our arenas, you will find a special barn and pastures where we house our miniature horses. They were intentionally housed near all the action due to their adorable looks and often comical antics! Our miniature horses are certainly amazing ambassadors for the program.
FUTURE PLANS: Although not yet ready, our “Welcome Barn” is located in the center of all the action. We have hopes that this 1960s era horse barn will become the hub of activity for Horses Help SWI! This barn will house offices, a counseling room, public restrooms, waiting room and viewing areas of the arenas nearby. The upper floor can be used as classrooms, crafting stations, for board/private meetings or even possibly a place for yoga classes!
The Benefits of Equine Therapy
To promote positive outcomes for our Horses Help SWI clients, individual lesson plans for equine-therapy and related activities seek to emphasize and maximize each participant’s skills, strengths, and capabilities. Clients will work with a team, which includes the certified instructor, the horse, and generally a horse lead and one to two side walkers. The horse lead directs the horse during the session for activities directed, while the side walkers help keep the client balanced and steady while in the saddle. The instructor works with the client while mounted on the horse or during groundwork to help meet desired goals.
Our beautiful rural location just outside of Council Bluffs affords our participants the opportunity to interact directly with our horses outdoors in the fresh air, all while encountering a variety of captivating natural sights, sounds and smells. These stimuli can help enhance each client’s equine-therapy experience—which, for example, can be particularly beneficial for those with sensory deficits.
Gaining Socialization Skills
Over time, our clients will establish unconditional and non-judgmental relationships with our horses, staff members, and volunteers—thus providing these participants with strong senses of belongingness and accomplishment.
Additionally, we teach clients to properly touch and command our horses, so that these interactions can be as safe and pleasant as possible. More broadly, though, this guidance allows participants to develop better awareness of how their behavioral choices affect others around them: both animals and people.
Building Confidence
Participants in equine therapy may become more willing to experience unfamiliar things and strive to achieve new goals. For example, some clients may be afraid of horses due to their large size—but overcoming this initial fear can help these participants gain confidence in facing other challenges.
And clients feel empowered as the horses either carry or pull them around the property; this can be especially therapeutic for those participants with mobility limitations. In fact, even just sitting atop a full-sized horse can give many clients an “up-above” perspective on the environment that they’ve never experienced—particularly true if they typically view life while seated in a wheelchair.
Improving Strength, Mobility, and Coordination
In order to properly mount and dismount a horse, a client must engage in a series of coordinated movements, which can help build strength and mobility.
And, once a participant is in the saddle, the horse will walk in a pattern that includes forward motion and swaying—much like a human. Consequently, to retain good posture and stay upright while stopping, starting, and riding, the client must adjust to these movements by using and stretching muscles in the legs and core (stomach and back). This is especially helpful for those with ambulatory difficulties.
Along the way, we’ll enhance this experience by providing clients with activity options while they’re on horseback—such as shooting baskets, throwing and catching a beanbag, and fishing a pool noodle through rings. These can help build physical skills, fine-tune hand-eye coordination and afford confidence while allowing participants to engage in activities that they enjoy.
Educational Activities
We’re able to provide clients with games to be played on horseback that help teach letters, counting/numbers, colors, shapes, and sizes. These exercises can improve remedial reading and math skills. What’s more, effectiveness may be enhanced since these activities are delivered while riders are engaging in fun, low-stress interactions with our horses.
Therapeutic riding can also help develop sequencing, patterning, and motor-planning skills: for example, by riding around obstacles, or hitting the appropriate “marks” at the right times. This can also lead to improved hand-eye coordination and better visual/spatial perception.
It’s Good for the Horses, Too
Our horses benefit from all this interaction, as well. Like humans, they are social animals; in fact, the two have always been drawn to each other. Horses are herd animals—their dynamics are very similar to those of human families—so they want to be part of a group, whether it be with other horses or people.
And, as with any working animal, horses enjoy and appreciate being actively engaged in doing a meaningful job—as with the members of our herd at Horses Help SWI.
