About this forum...

[Moderator_1]

Welcome to the new Riding with Disabilities forum!

The name of the forum may be subject to change, but we wanted to provide a place for the exchange of ideas, recommendations and support for equestrians who face the unique challenges of physical or mental disability when riding, are involved with therapeutic riding programs, or who are returning to the saddle while recovering from serious illness or injury.

The forum is malleable to suit your needs, so please take advantage of this opportunity to communicate and network with others.

We may establish more guidelines for this forum if it becomes necessary, but as a start:

Please be advised that any medical advice dispensed in this forum is the OPINION of the poster providing it. As with anything posted here, the Chronicle of the Horse magazine and its affiliates are not responsible for the comments in this forum and individuals should seek proper medical attention for any problems they may be experiencing.

That being said, it’s understandable that in the course of discussion of physical or mental issues that affect a person’s ability to ride, there will be references to related courses of treatment, rehab methods, etc.

This forum shouldn’t be used as a avenue for discussing general medical issues, but you are welcome to ask for input or give advice re: overcoming or handling these specific issues or symptoms as they DIRECTLY RELATE to riding.

We want to keep the focus away from becoming a “Human Care” health forum, a la our existing “Horse Care,” as there are lots of existing sites that focus on human medical issues. We want to keep our focus here on addressing aspects if these issues that are unique to our equestrian community.

So, chat about your therapeutic riding program and techniques that have worked for your students, share a tack modification tip that helped you overcome a problem, give trainer recommendations, etc.

Have fun and please let us know of ways you think we could improve the forum. Also, if there are existing threads you think would be a great fit here, please send us a link or an alert (by clicking on the triangular exclamation point icon in the upper right corner of a post in that thread), so that we can move them over.

Thanks and enjoy!
Mod 1

[Tamara_in_TN]

what a very nice idea!!

best

[Moderator_1]

Also, thanks to whicker, Invite and DressageGeek for their suggestions and input!

[twofatponies]

Cool. Does it include riding while in a temporary situation of disability, such as recovering from injuries or illnesses that might require modifications of riding technique or equipment?

[Moderator_1]

[QUOTE=twofatponies;4419524]
Cool. Does it include riding while in a temporary situation of disability, such as recovering from injuries or illnesses that might require modifications of riding technique or equipment?[/QUOTE]

Absolutely! As long as the post isn’t very general or focused on general medical/treatment advice, like “I have a splinter and it hurts. Should I put Neosporin on it?”

Tack/riding modifications are exactly the type of issues we had in mind for those recovering from injury/illness.

Thanks for the question!

[ChocoMare]

How cool!

You guys rock!!!

[Rubyfree]

How cool. I’m very interested in learning more about riding’s therapeutic benefits. Thanks mods!

[whicker]

Wahoo Wah! The forum is UP!!

I am bouncing around the computer with glee! Invite will be so excited to hear this!

[KLS]

how cool!

very, very jazzed about this! I just hope it gets and keeps enough interest to stay afloat…but that shouldn’t be hard.

[Bluey]

Thanks!

As we get older, some of us have problems that may handicap our riding.
What a neat way to see what others do to keep riding with those problems.

[BasqueMom]

Great idea!

[mtngirl]

Awesome addition!

Awesome…will be easier to search for opinions/experiences under this heading. Thanks!

[Tiffany01]

I have a learning disabitly does that count??

[Wayside]

[QUOTE=Tiffany!;4422376]
I have a learning disabitly does that count??[/QUOTE]

I would think so. A friend of mine has a child with severe ADHD, and I know they had challenges with things like memorizing showmanship patterns as a result. And I think they actually got permission for him to use a “reader” for his pattern from 4-H.

[Ashemont]

What about those of us who are physically challenged and so DRIVE??? Can the title be changed to include riders AND drivers?

[DressageGeek_Ribbon]

Good point! We tried to come up with ideas that would be inclusive but descriptive…not so easy!

[whicker]

Any Variety of Working with a Horse Counts

Of course you should be included!

I haven’t driven in a long time, but I still have a Canadian Cutter sleigh up in the loft of my barn,:lol: My grandparents courted in a sleigh and my grandfather trained his horse so he could turn the sleigh over in a snowbank and have an excuse to hold my grandmother!

I have a mini that is a candidate for driving, but I don’t know how to keep the shock from the bouncing cart from zapping my back. I have to drive on fields as the roads aren’t safe. It would be great if he could at least pull the muck cart or the kids sled up the hill when it snows.:winkgrin:

[IronwoodFarm]

This is a great idea, but I highly recommend that it not just be riding. A number of people too disabled to RIDE can DRIVE. I work with a vrey gifted paraplegic driver. He’ll never ride a horse again, but he can beat the able-bodied in an open show and he will start competing at CDE’s next year. So I encourage a broader topic area.

[Moderator_1]

Absolutely, discussion of driving is welcomed!

As we said before, we’re happy to tweak the title, but in the meantime, we wanted to get the forum rolling instead of holding off while we figured out the perfect title.

It’s good to hear of your concerns to point out ways to reword it.

Thanks!
Mod 1

[baymare]

This is an excellent addition to the Boards. I hope that this particular forum can also serve as a venue for exchange of info between those of us who run therapeutic programs. There is no such thing as too much support or too many sources of help and information!