My daughter Shay is seven years old and started taking therapeutic riding lessons at HHH ranch on July 24, 2020. In her first session, you could see that she was unsure, unsteady, and maybe even a little scared! She has a history of having epilepsy since she was four months old and still has seizures daily. She also has a global developmental delay due to her epilepsy. She is unable to speak or walk without assistance, but she is overall a happy, silly, wonderful little girl.
Since starting at HHH, we have noticed remarkable changes in Shay, and we are so excited to see how she continues to learn and grow! Some of the improvements we have seen in Shay is her core is so much stronger and her balance is markedly improved. She wears a gait belt during her lesson so Miss Christine has something to hold onto in case Shay has a seizure. In the beginning she needed a lot of support and was very unsteady.
After five or six sessions, we all could see the difference in how much more secure and stable she was in the saddle. It seems as though every weekly session is better than the one before! Miss Christine has also taught Shay how to give commands to her horse Charlie to stop and go during her lessons. To “stop”, Shay must touch Miss Christine‘s hand as If giving a high five, and to “go” Shay must touch her hand as if to give a low five. Shay sometimes has trouble with motor planning, so doing these simple movements requires a ton of effort for her. She has gotten so good at these movements since starting her lessons, she has even started giving us high-fives at home!
Even when she is having a harder time getting her hands to do what her brain is telling them to, Miss Christine is always so incredibly patient and encouraging, cheering Shay on the whole time! You can really tell that everyone wants her to succeed as much as I do. Another huge triumph for Shay is how happy she is when she is at her lessons. She even knows when we pull into the Triple H driveway that we are here to ride Charlie. Her face will light up, and she will yell out her well known holler to let everyone know she’s there! She also “talks” in the arena while she is riding and laughs and smiles so much! She was even brave enough one session to get to trot on Charlie!
To say I was a happy mom to see her joy and excitement, watching her trot on a horse, a task I never imagined possible, would be a huge understatement. I may have even shed a tear of joy that day. Having to watch your child struggle every day is absolutely heartbreaking, so to get to see how excited and happy she is when it’s Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM, has been simply priceless for me. I’m so happy to have found Miss Christine and HHH Ranch and I can’t wait to see what else they can do to help my sweet Shay girl grow.”
~Tara