11/22/2016
On Saturday, November 19th, 2016, from 8 to 11:00 am, STAR members partnered with Rising STARS Equestrian Therapy. Equine therapy aims at helping disabled children build confidence, self-efficiency, communication, trust, perspective, social skills, impulse control, and learn boundaries. They provide therapeutic and recreational horseback-riding lessons to children and adults with physical and intellectual disabilities. For example, since riding horses closely mimics that of moving when walking, riding horses provide paralyzed children waist down with therapy. Members also encountered blind children and bolster trust between animals, the surroundings, and other volunteers. STAR members either sidewalked (which maintains the safety of the rider and fixes the rider's posture, or lead (which assists the horse's direction and rider's sense of direction). STARs also clean the stalls to provide the upkeep of the environment that is vital to the horse's' conditions, saddles, and discard of dung. Working together, they worked on the maintenance of the infrastructure and handled horses and their associations to further our understanding of ecology.
