Our first horse, "Paper Tiger", being returned from the show ring at the Children's Horse Show, Flintridge Riding Club in 1996.

The whole horse for the whole rider

MACH 1 uses horses and ponies according to our students' strengths and interests. Based in the Hahamongna Watershed Park with the Rose Bowl riders in Pasadena, the program is a NARHA North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (www.narha.org) Premier Center. The purpose of NARHA Accreditation is to provide a process of evaluation that recognizes a center's program as meeting basic standards for health and safety to promote the well being of all participants and horses.

MACH 1 is a tax exempt non-profit 501© (3) corporation that depends on private contributions for the bulk of its funding, and its generous volunteers for their many hours of loving assistance with program clients and horses.

We are located at "Rose Bowl Riders." The program is co-sponsored with the City of Pasadena's Adaptive Recreational program.

All lessons are based on traditional NARHA therapeutic horseback riding techniques to achieve goals designed for each individual rider. Our volunteers help as horse leaders, sidewalkers, and groomers.

Since 1997, students have grown rapidly. Faithful volunteers assist in providing safe and fun lessons for students with a wide variety of disabilities, including Cerebral Palsy, visual and hearing impairments, Downs Syndrome, Rett's Syndrome, autism, and learning disabilities.

What is therapeutic riding?

"Therapeutic horseback riding uses equine-oriented activities for the purpose of contributing positively to the cognitive, physical, emotional and social well-being of people with disabilities. Therapeutic riding provides benefits in the areas of therapy, education, sport and recreation and leisure." (NARHA, cited in Strides, 1996).

What are our intervention methods?

Often our clients are referred to us because of postural weakness. We then focus on the correct positioning of the child on the horse, and engage the child in various exercises and activities on horseback, while making it fun for our students. The child is then monitered closely.

Research shows that the horse's movement, combined with exercises and occupational games, promotes body awareness and proprioceptive and vestibular stimulation, while affecting balance, strength and postural control. The movement of the horse is being transferred by the therapy horse to the pelvis of the rider, thus enabling the building of optimal movement patterns. This can correct abnormal musculature and allow the body to work evenly on both sides (Ingrid Strauss, 1995, Hippotheraoie).

Many times, we can not only help the child with muscular strengthening but also incorporate meaningful activities into the program. Activities on and around the horse that are fun and challenging but feasible for the children can help them practice and acquire necessary daily living skills.

Through the process of working with the horse and volunteers, children develop relationships that are nurtured through our games. The volunteers and therapists model positive interactions and discourage negative ones in order that the child might learn appropriate tools for connecting with both humans and horses. Many of these children do not have skills or opportunity for the variety of interactions that can be offered in the MACH 1 community. Even severely disabled children benefit from the contact and support provided. Through the therapy, children are stimulated to develop contact and support.

According to L.Llorens, a well-known scholar and occupational therapist, disabilities can interrupt the normal growth and developmental progress in children. Such growth interruption will cause a gap between the skills that meet the societal expectations and the skills the child processes. Based on Llorens's theory, well-adapted developmental activities can foster the learning of specific target skills. (Llorens, 1970, AJOT)

Other times, a child is accepted into the program because of his or her interest in the horse sport. With creative adaptation of the equipment, a gentle, obedient horse, and the right instructions, this student can not only learn to ride but practice horse skills and grooming as well.

Families are encouraged to visit tack shops and horse shows to enlarge the children's knowledge of the horse world.

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