Equine Gifts
All horses deserve, at least once in their lives, to be loved by a little girl.... I’m Susan Allen welcome to Mondays Open Range I’ll be back after the break with why that works both ways. There is a saying in the horse world that “all horses deserve at least once in their lives to be loved by a little girl.” I would counter “all little girls deserve to be loved by a special horse” as horses have helped countless children, (myself included )survive the trials and tramas of childhood and teen years. Yet the relationship between horses and children goes much deeper. Therapeutic riding programs serve children with various disabilities including: ADD, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Downs Syndrome, Emotional and Behavioral Issues, Hearing Impairment, Learning Disabilities and Multiple Sclerosis. One father of a disabled boy noted that "on the back of a horse disabilities melt away, boundaries vanish and all things become possible each time my son takes the reins.” The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development wants to research this phenomena in more depth to discern the true impact service, therapy animals and family pets have on children’s well being. Among the components are, why are relationships with horses more important to some children than to others, also how animals impact child development. It might be tough to quantify what wise men like Ronald Reagan and Winston Churchill inherently knew, “ Theres nothing so good for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse. I’m Susan Allen
